Chakra Bandhasana (Chakra Bond Pose) registers as 31* on BKS Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty in Light on Yoga.
As Iyengar explains, in Chakra Bandhasana all of the chakras are stimulated. You can see why! This pose is a major backbend requiring opening across the entire length of the spine – from Muladhara Chakra (Root Chakra) to Sahasrara Chakra (Crown Chakra).
As I journey toward the final twenty poses in Light on Yoga, the backbends grow increasingly challenging and, at this point in my practice, inaccessible! Given that I can’t yet reach my hands to my heels in Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana II, I’m not quite ready for Chakra Bandhasana either. But, I delight in exploring the pose from wherever I am – marveling at the power and grace of the human form as it expresses itself in my poses or in the drama of Iyengar’s. With just twenty poses out of 200 left, the goal is not to “do” the most advanced asanas. The goal is to celebrate the practice from exactly where we are on our mats, right now.
What will you celebrate in your practice today?
