Mulabandhasana (Sanskrit:मूलबंधासन) is a sittingasana inhatha yoga.

The name is from the Sanskritमुलmūla, "root, base";^[1]बंधाbāndha, "lock";^[1] andआसनāsana, meaning "posture, seat".^[2]

The pose is entered from the seated poseBaddha Konasana, in which the soles of the feet are pressed together and the knees rest on the floor. The feet are turned by grasping the toes to point the toes straight downwards, the heels upwards. In a variant, the feet are turned with the toes pointing backwards, when it becomes possible to sit on the outer sides of the feet, the heels remaining pressed together in front of the body. The body is balanced by the arms stretched straight down to the ground behind the back, the shoulder blades pressed together.^[1]

The yoga masterB. K. S. Iyengar claimed in his 1966 bookLight on Yoga that Mulabandhasana helps to control excessive sexual desire.^[1]Mula Bandha, which can be practised also in other asanas, is one of the three principalbandhas, along with Jalandhara Bandha and Uddiyana Bandha (which precede it). He emphasises their importance inpranayama, stating "Without the bandhas, prana is lethal".^[3] TheSivananda Yoga centres, describing it as "advanced breathing",^[4] claim, as Iyengar does,^[3] that retaining the breath, contracting the anal sphincter, and tightening the abdominal muscles in Mula Bandha (hence the name bandha or lock) prevents the escape ofapana, enabling it to rise up the body to join withprana.^[4]

InAshtanga (vinyasa) yoga, Mulabandhasana is in the fourth series of asanas; it is claimed to activate the rootchakra, themuladhara.^[5]

The central figure in thePashupati seal from theIndus Valley civilization ofc. 2500 BC appears to be sitting in Mulabandhasana; if this association were correct, it would imply an identification as a prototype of the godŚiva.^[6][7]

• Kundalini energy
• Kapalabhati
• Gorakshasana
• Uddiyana bandha

• Iyengar, B. K. S. (1979) [1966].Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika. Unwin Paperbacks.
• Lidell, Lucy; The Sivananda Yoga Centre (1983).The Book of Yoga: the complete step-by-step guide. Ebury.ISBN 978-0-85223-297-2.OCLC 12457963.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Singleton, Mark (2010).Yoga body : the origins of modern posture practice. Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-539534-1.OCLC 318191988.

• Sitting asanas
• Mudras

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Sanskrit-language text
• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list