Jālandhara bandha, the throat lock

The name

Jālandhara is usually explained as जाल (jāla), a net, a web, and धर (dhara), holding: "the one that holds the net". The Monier-Williams dictionary records jālaṃdhara as "a kind of mudrā", citing the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and also as the name of a people, a sacred place and a demon. The yoga texts explain the "net" in their own way, as we will see. Some traditions also link the name to a Nātha teacher, Jālandharanātha; that is a tradition, not something the texts state.

What the texts say

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines the lock in one line:

कण्ठमाकुञ्च्य हृदये स्थापयेच्चिबुकं दृढम् । बन्धो जालन्धराख्योऽयं जरामृत्युविनाशकः ॥

kaṇṭham ākuñcya hṛdaye sthāpayec cibukaṃ dṛḍham | bandho jālandharākhyo 'yaṃ jarā-mṛtyu-vināśakaḥ ||

Contracting the throat, one should set the chin firmly on the chest. This lock, called jālandhara, destroys old age and death.

The next verse explains the name: it binds the network of channels (sirā-jāla) and the "water of the sky" that flows downward, the nectar which, in hatha imagery, drips from the moon in the head and is burnt by the fire of the belly. When the lock is right, in Pancham Sinh's words, "the nectar does not fall into the fire, and the air is not disturbed" (3.72). By contracting the throat, "the two channels" are held still (3.73); the next verse names them, iḍā and piṅgalā (3.74). These numbers follow the Sanskrit text on GRETIL; subtract one for Pancham Sinh's edition.

For practice, the key verse is in the chapter on breath: jālandhara is made at the end of the inhalation (2.45), that is, during the inner retention. The full verse is on the bandhas page.

What the lock does physically

Two movements make jālandhara:

1. The neck flexes and the chin comes towards the notch at the top of the breastbone; the back of the neck lengthens.
2. The throat closes gently, so that the held breath stays quietly in the chest without pushing into the face.

Many teachers today add a third: lift the breastbone slightly so that chin and chest meet halfway. It spares the neck.

Steps

Stage 1: the movement, without holding the breath

1. Sit firmly, knees lower than the hips, on a cushion or a chair. Hands on the knees.
2. Lengthen the spine and lift the breastbone a little.
3. Slowly lower the chin, sliding it slightly back, as if making a double chin. The head does not drop; the neck grows long.
4. Stay a few natural breaths. Feel the stretch at the back of the neck and a slight narrowing at the throat.
5. Lift the head slowly. Five times.

Stage 2: with a short inner retention

1. Breathe in slowly and fully, but not to the maximum.
2. Lower the chin into the lock and let the throat close gently. Pressing the hands on the knees with straight arms helps to stay upright.
3. Hold for three to five comfortable seconds.
4. Lift the head first, then breathe out slowly.
5. A few normal breaths. Three to five times.

Rhythm for beginners and progression

What you should feel

The breath held quietly, without pressure in the face, ears or eyes. Redness in the face, ringing in the ears, a pounding head or a strong urge to breathe mean the hold is too long. No study has measured a specific health effect of this lock; we do not claim one.

Common mistakes

• Dropping the head forward like a weight instead of lengthening the neck.
• Rounding the back so the chest collapses.
• Clenching the jaw or pushing the tongue hard.
• Breathing out with the chin still down.
• Holding too long and finishing with a gasp.

In context

Jālandhara is the first of the three locks to learn, before mula bandha and uddiyana bandha; the three together form mahā bandha, described on the bandhas page. It accompanies the classical forms of ujjayi and bhastrika, and the types of pranayama page shows where the retentions sit.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translated by Pancham Sinh, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV part 3 (1914), Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
2. Svātmārāma, Haṭhayogapradīpikā, Sanskrit text, 2.45 and 3.70-3.74 (GRETIL, University of Göttingen) checked October 17, 2026
3. Srisa Chandra Vasu (tr.), The Gheranda Samhita, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV (1914-1915), lesson 3, verses 12-13, Internet Archive checked October 17, 2026
4. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899), entries jāla and jālaṃdhara, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries checked October 17, 2026

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