Skip to content

AYP Wiki

A living encyclopedia of AYP

Yoni Mudra Kumbhaka

AYP's primary intentional breath-retention practice. A hybrid technique that combines kumbhaka (holding the breath in) with gentle pressure on the eyes toward the third eye, mulabandha, modified sambhavi, beginning kechari, beginning jalandhara bandha (chin lock), and beginning uddiyana bandha (abdominal lift) — all done together inside the held breath. Performed at the end of spinal breathing pranayama, before deep meditation. Yogani's plain description: "the granddaddy of all the kundalini stimulators."

Lesson 91: "Yoni mudra kumbhaka is the most powerful of all the direct kundalini stimulators."

The Sanskrit name means "seal of the goddess." The practice is one of AYP's two most powerful direct energy techniques alongside maha mudra.

Procedure

Performed sitting in siddhasana at the end of the SBP session, before transitioning to DM. Three repetitions to start.

For each repetition:

  1. Place the tips of both index fingers near the outer corners of the closed eyes, against the lower lids. Gently push the eyes up and toward the center — toward the point between the eyebrows. Gentle nudge, no strain. Trim long fingernails first if needed.
  2. Inhale slowly up the spinal nerve from perineum to brow, just as in SBP. When the lungs are full, your attention is at the brow.
  3. Close the nostrils by pressing both middle fingers on the sides of the nose. Index fingers stay in place pressing the eyes toward the brow.
  4. Lift the tongue to the roof of the mouth, sealing the mouth so no air can escape through it. (This is beginning kechari — see below.)
  5. Hold the breath comfortably — but not by gripping with the epiglottis. Instead, let the natural pressure of the filled lungs come up easily into the nasal passages and sinuses. Small natural pressure, not forced.
  6. During the hold, also do:
  7. Mulabandha (continue from SBP — light flex of the perineum).
  8. Modified sambhavi — fingers on the eyes are doing the lifting/centering, so you don't physically lift the eyes again. But continue the brow furrow with the head muscles (gently bring eyebrows toward the center).
  9. Beginning jalandhara bandha (chin lock) — let the head come down comfortably toward the chest. Halfway is fine; full chin-to-throat-hollow is full jalandhara. Lift the head back up during inhale and exhale.
  10. Beginning uddiyana bandha — gently lift the diaphragm and pull the belly in slightly. Less than full uddiyana because the lungs are full of air. "Just a little."
  11. Attention stays at the point between the eyebrows for the whole hold (or extending out beyond it — see below).
  12. Comfortable duration — maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute, maybe longer. Going a bit toward the edge of capacity, but never to strain or gasping. If you need air desperately when you exhale, you held too long.
  13. Release. Let the middle fingers leave the nostrils first (index fingers stay on the eyes; tongue stays raised). Exhale smoothly down the spinal nerve with attention from brow to perineum, slightly faster than normal SBP exhale but still controlled.
  14. Repeat — three times total to start. Brief rests between cycles are fine (Addition 91.2).
  15. Then transition immediately to deep meditation. Yoni mudra kumbhaka ends; DM begins.

A video demonstration is in Lesson 91.

Building up

Start with three repetitions. Stay there for at least a month. Then maybe four. After several months, maybe five. The buildup is deliberately slow because kumbhaka is the most aggressive direct kundalini stimulator in the AYP toolkit.

Lesson 91: "Don't start doing five or ten right out of the gate. A very slow buildup is the way to go, and then only if you are smooth in all your practices and in daily activity."

Prerequisites

This is an advanced practice. All of the following should be solid first:

Lesson 91: "All the same cautions apply here as detailed at the beginning of the recent lesson on siddhasana." Yoni mudra kumbhaka on a shaky foundation will produce overload. Don't rush.

⚠️ Health prerequisites — kumbhaka edition

Special caution because of the breath retention component:

Lesson 91: "If you have a heart condition, respiratory problems, high blood pressure, or any other condition that could be aggravated by holding your breath, then either skip this advanced yoga practice, or get your doctor's permission before getting into it."

Yogani's safety analogy: "If you know your doctor would not approve of you holding your breath and swimming underwater in a swimming pool, then you should stay away from yoni mudra kumbhaka."

What it does inside us

Lesson 91:

  • Purges the third eye — the multiple angles of stimulation at the brow produce a major cleansing effect at the upper end of the sushumna and throughout the head.
  • Stretches the entire spinal nerve. Jalandhara stretches the sushumna from the third eye down. With ecstatic conductivity rising, the stretch is felt all the way to the perineum.
  • Pulls kundalini up by creating an extra demand for life force. The combination of siddhasana + mulabandha + uddiyana + held breath drives a substantial upward movement of prana from the pelvic storehouse.
  • Cultivates whole-body ecstatic conductivity. The integration of all the mudras and bandhas under retained breath drives ecstatic biological functioning.
  • Purifies "every nook and cranny" of the nervous system.
  • Trains the body for "Whole Body Mudra" (Lesson 212, not yet ingested) — the spontaneous, automatic, micro-movement integration of all mudras and bandhas that emerges much later as a refined natural state.

The sushumna extends beyond the brow

A felt sign that yoni mudra kumbhaka is working: attention is naturally drawn out in front of the point between the eyebrows during the hold. The sushumna is discovered to extend outward beyond the body, not stopping at the brow endpoint. AYP encourages following this naturally — let attention go the full distance the sushumna leads, both during YMK and during normal spinal breathing pranayama once this extension is happening.

Lesson 91: "There is something out beyond the body that calls us with ecstasy. We find that the sushumna keeps going, and it is okay to go there as we are naturally attracted. What will we find there? Oh, we will find out. It is all good."

The tunnel and the star

Lesson 92 addresses what is sometimes seen as the brow opens during yoni mudra kumbhaka: a bright circle with a star in the middle, often surrounded by a rainbow of colors. AYP's interpretation: you are looking out from the inside of the sushumna, seeing the inside of the central channel as a tunnel of color, with the bright star at the far end being the infinite realms of pure white light at the end of the channel.

Lesson 92: "The colors ringed around the star are the inside of the sushumna. You are looking out from the inside, so you are seeing the inside of the sushumna in your body, and the end of the sushumna off in the distance, which is the star. You are looking through the tunnel of the sushumna, seeing 'the light at the end of the tunnel.' … Inside the tunnel, we are literally a rainbow of light, beginning with dark red at the bottom and ending with blue and violet at the top."

Similar imagery appears elsewhere — near-death experience tunnels, the Sri Yantra, Self-Realization Fellowship literature — but AYP treats it as a byproduct of the practice, not a tradition to be matched.

What to do about the star

Mostly, nothing. The star is "scenery along the way" — a beautiful purification milestone, not a destination. The instructions are:

  • During practice, just let it happen. Don't grasp it; don't push it away. Continue the procedure of yoni mudra kumbhaka as instructed. If attention is naturally drawn out beyond the brow toward the star, follow easily.
  • Outside practice, if you experience the star or related visions, enjoy them. Consider yourself a tourist in your own spiritual anatomy.
  • Never make seeing the star a prerequisite for the practice working. Many practitioners never see it. Many see it once and not again. Many see it differently than the description above. Visions are not the measure.
  • Don't try to enter or stay in the star at the cost of the procedure. The star "is heaven" and where we go when we die — but the work of this life is purifying the nervous system, not running off into the star prematurely.

Lesson 92: "Enlightenment is not about running off to heaven and leaving an unpurified nervous system behind that we will have to come back to and finish later in another life. It is about doing the work of completely purifying the nervous system. Then we have it all, become it all — heaven, earth, the cosmos, everything. Then we become an expression of heaven on earth."

The angels are jealous of incarnated humans, in Yogani's playful framing — because incarnated humans have a nervous system to purify and the mortality to motivate them to do the work, opportunities the angels lack. So make the most of being here.

Kechari mudra (the tongue at the roof of the mouth)

The tongue lift in yoni mudra is the first stage of kechari mudra. For YMK, the only requirement is that the tongue seal the mouth comfortably so air can't escape — wherever it can comfortably reach, that's fine. Behind the front teeth, partway back, or at the junction of the hard and soft palates. No need to push beyond what is comfortable for YMK purposes — but if you're drawn to the higher kechari stages (tongue actually entering the nasal pharynx), see the kechari page for the full treatment including frenum-snipping and the five stages.

Addition 91.1 clarifies: internal kumbhaka (holding the breath in) is what yoni mudra uses, and this is gentle and safe in moderation. External kumbhaka (holding the breath out with empty lungs) is a different practice taught in some traditions — and AYP does not recommend it as a deliberate practice for extended periods.

Reason: the lungs are designed to hold air in, not to be held empty under negative pressure. Forcing external kumbhaka over time can damage them.

External kumbhaka shows up briefly and naturally in: - Uddiyana / nauli during asana practice (a few seconds). - Spontaneous breath suspension in deep meditation. - Automatic yoga during practice.

These short, natural occurrences are fine. Deliberate extended holding-out of breath is not.

Tunnel-and-star imagery is not a prerequisite

Addition 91.3 responds to traditions that make the visualization of a yellow ring with a five-pointed star a required component of yoni mudra. AYP's position: AYP yoni mudra kumbhaka is a neuro-physical practice, not a visualization practice. The tunnel and star, when they appear, are "scenery." Making them a requirement creates inconsistency — "any practice that requires a particular prerequisite inner sensory experience is anything but consistent."

Addition 91.3: "It is about awakening and cultivating kundalini in tandem with the cultivation of abiding inner silence in deep meditation and samyama. … Less fluffy stuff, more substance."

⚠️ Don't add reps just because the experience is great

Lesson 94 addresses a specific failure mode: yoni mudra kumbhaka is producing a flood of divine light through the third eye, the practitioner wants to do more reps to chase the experience. Yogani's response: stick to the planned number.

Lesson 94: "Stick with the number of repetitions of yoni mudra kumbhaka you are doing. Well, maybe add one, if it is that terrific. But keep in mind that it is easy to overdo when such wonderful experiences are occurring. Then, the next thing you know, you are frying inside for a few days because you did too much."

The "frying" effect is real — too much energy through the nerves before they're ready produces days of recovery. The practice schedule is the schedule. Adding one rep is the maximum response to a great session, not five or ten.

Build slowly, especially given delayed reactions

Lesson 95 gives the entry guidance for yoni mudra kumbhaka explicitly: when first introducing it, start with one or two repetitions per session, not three. Be very measured because kumbhaka has delayed reactions — what feels fine today can show up as overload days later.

Lesson 95: "Yoni mudra kumbhaka is very powerful, and you want to be sure you are stable before getting into it. When you do, start slow, maybe with only one or two repetitions per session, and see how it goes. Be very measured with it, as there can be a delayed reaction with kumbhaka."

⚠️ Cautions / self-pacing

  • Never strain. Holding breath beyond comfort is overdoing. Find the edge, don't cross it.
  • Build very slowly. Three repetitions for a month minimum, then maybe four, etc. This is not a place to be heroic.
  • Self-pace if symptoms appear. Energy practices have delayed reactions, and YMK is the most aggressive of the bunch. Watch for kundalini imbalances and back off promptly.
  • Don't combine with siddhasana too aggressively. If sitting in siddhasana plus yoni mudra is producing too much, simplify.
  • Health prerequisites apply (see above).

How it relates to other practices

  • Initially placed between SBP and DM. Yoni mudra kumbhaka comes between SBP and DM when it's the only kumbhaka practice in the routine.
  • Shifts to after DM when dynamic jalandhara is added. Lesson 139: once the chin pump is added, chin pump kumbhaka goes right after SBP (before DM), and yoni mudra kumbhaka moves to right after DM (before rest). Two kumbhaka sessions, one before DM and one after, produce a powerful combination. The yoni mudra procedure itself doesn't change — only its position in the routine.
  • Includes mulabandha, modified sambhavi, beginning kechari, jalandhara, uddiyana — it integrates many AYP practices into one combined sequence.
  • Comparable in power to maha mudra — both are AYP's most aggressive direct kundalini practices, and both should be approached with the same care.
  • Optional in AYP, like all energy practices. If ecstatic conductivity is rising naturally from DM and SBP alone, YMK may not be needed.

Source lessons