Jivha Bandha

This is the placement of the tongue on to the front top of the hard palate at the juncture with the teeth (the tip of the tongue actually touches the front teeth). In some schools, just the tip touches, in other schools the front hollow of the tongue also touches the hard palate, while in other schools the tongue is curved slightly backward toward the soft palate. This latter practice should not be confused with khechari mudra where in the gross form the tongue is brought back behind the soft palate to the space between the eyebrows, while in the inner (antar) practice of khechari the wavering of the dualistic mind is dissolved where the tongue blocks the passage of the ida and pingala psychic nerves (nadis) and shunts them into sushumna (the central nadi). The symbolism of khechari mudra is discussed in the mudra section of this book, but here we will simply discuss jivha bandha as completing the energy valve from the throat chakra to the third eye (ajna chakra). This method should remain soft but conscious. It is used in meditation as well as pranayama in order to help accomplish this subtle energy connection.