Mastering Bhramacharyasana: A Complete Guide for Yoga Practitioners

Bhramacharyasana
English Name(s)
Celibate’s Pose
Sanskrit
ब्रह्मचार्यसन/ Bhramacharyasana
Pronunciation
bruh-muh-chahr-yahs-uh-nu
Meaning
Bhrama: The Hindu god of creation
Charya: Conduct, behavior, or way of life
Asana: Pose
Pose Type
Arm Balance
Level
Advanced

Bhramacharyasana at a Glance

In Sanskrit Brahmacharya or the Celibate’s Pose means to have control over the senses and the sexual urge. This pose helps to redirect the energy inward of oneself and this inward focus helps to purify your energy and make it more useful by harnessing your natural energy and using it to cultivate inner strength, peace, and clarity.

Benefits:

  • Bhramacharyasana strengthens the arms and shoulders.
  • It helps to strengthen your abdominal muscles and tone it.
  • It helps to modify the sexual energy into a subtler form of energy called ojas.
  • It improves blood circulation and helps improve your digestive system process.
  • It helps to relieve stress and anxiety and has many strengthening benefits to the entire body.

Who can do it?

People with strong core and upper body strength can do this pose. Intermediate and advanced yoga practitioners can do this pose. Individuals with good flexibility and strength in their hamstrings and calves can do this pose. Sportspersons can do this pose. Individuals looking to achieve higher levels of consciousness can do this pose.

Who should not do it?

People with weak core muscles and issues with flexibility should avoid this pose. Individuals having any injury to their legs, arms, neck or back should avoid it. People undergone any surgery should avoid this pose. Pregnant women should not do this pose.

How to Do Chakorasana?
Follow the Step-by-Step Procedure

  • There are two variations of seated Bhramacharyasana, the first is the Dandasana lifting the body weight with your palms on the ground and the second is the kneeling position and sitting gin between the feet and thighs. The strengthening benefits of celibate pose are unparalleled, even in comparison to a gym workout.
  • First, will go through the Dandasana variation.
  • Begin with the staff pose, keeping your legs straight in front of you your hands beside your body and your palms touching the ground.
  • Keep your hands and elbows straight and let your spine be elongated and neck relaxed.
  • Take some deep breaths and keep your entire body active, broaden your chest, and engage your core, and leg muscles.
  • Inhale deeply and press your palms against the ground, exhale, and lift your legs and buttocks at the same time.
  • only the hands touch the ground, the weight would be on your hands and shoulders, and strengthening energy keeps traveling up and down the stretched-out arms and eventually hits the shoulder blades.
  • The entire weight is on the hands, squeezing your buttocks and engaging your leg muscles and your core strength.
  • You can hold this position within your physical limits keep breathing gently and gaze forward at a steady point.
  • Once you are ready to exit, inhale and slowly lower your buttocks and legs to the mat relax with a few gentle breaths, and shake your legs.
  • You can rest in the Shavasana pose after you are done with the Bhramacharyasana pose.

Now the Second Version

  • It’s mandatory to warm up and stretch before you do this pose.
  • Sit down in the Vajrasana pose on the yoga mat, with knees at hip-width apart.
  • Inhale place your hand on the mat in front of you, but keep your back straight.
  • Exhale and widen your legs at your back and your heels should be pointing upward.
  • Keep your body straight from your head to your heels and your knees touching each other.
  • Place your buttocks in between your feet and place your hands on your knee and the index finger and thumb should touch each other.
  • Keep breathing and you can close your eyes and meditate for about 10 to 15 min in the final position.
  • While you exit, open your eyes release your legs, and relax in the staff pose of Balasana pose.

What are the Benefits of Bhramacharyasana?

Benefits of Bhramacharyasana
  • Furthermore, it transforms sexual energies into finer energies that are necessary on the path to enlightenment
  • This helps to strengthen your wrists, arms, shoulders, and legs.
  • It helps to strengthen your abdominal muscles.
  • It helps to stretch your forearms and opens your chest.
  • It helps to reduce your belly fat.
  • It helps to tone your inner thighs and also strengthens it.     
  • Bhramacharyasana helps heal and control your sexual desire and modifies to increase the power of your inner strength and reach higher states.

Health Conditions that Might Benefit from Bhramacharyasana

  • It helps to strengthen your spinal muscles and enhance your posture.
  • Regular practice can help to relieve your stress and anxiety levels.
  • Practicing this pose can help to relieve mild digestion issues.
  • This positive pressure impacts the blood flow in this area, carrying more amounts of oxygen and nutrition in the muscles.
  • This pose can give you relief during your menstrual cycle.
  • This can help improve your focus and concentration.
  • This pose can strengthen your core muscles, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, and transversus abdominis.
  • Bhramacharyasana plays an important therapeutic part in yoga, as this position, therefore, strengthens and gives the practitioner sexual control.

Safety and Precautions

  • Warm-up is mandatory.
  • Listen to your body and move accordingly.
  • Use props like blocks soft cushions or folded blankets.
  • Any spinal issues should be avoided.
  • Flexibility issues in their knee or wrists should be avoided.

Common Mistakes

  • Avoid rounding the back.
  • Avoiding to engage your core.
  • Locking your knees.
  • Holding your breath.
  • Avoiding any discomfort or pain.

Tips for Bhramacharyasana

  • Warm-up and preparatory poses are a must.
  • Gaze to a steady point.
  • Keep your legs stretched out in front.
  • Be consistent and progress gradually.
  • Keep your wrists strong palms grounded and fingers spread.
  • Initially do it under the guidance of the yoga teacher.

Physical Alignment Principles for Bhramacharyasana

  • Keep your spine lengthened.
  • Chin away from the chest.
  • Head to buttocks in one line
  • Press shoulders down and back.
  • Bring your hands forward to find the balance point.
  • Stretched out arms, and align them with your torso.
  • Your palms are grounded and your fingers spread wide.
  • Engage your core muscles and legs actively.
  • Gaze forward at a steady point.
  • And for another version:
  • Back straight and elongated.
  • Your hands on your knees.
  • Both knees are close to each other.
  • The feet spread wide at the back.
  • Knees folded as in Vajrasana.
  • Buttocks are placed in between your widened feet.
  • Heels pointing upward.
  • Soul of the feet facing upward.

Bhramacharyasana and Breath

The breath will coordinate with your movement of the pose. Inhale press your palms against the ground and exhale as you lift your buttocks and stretched leg and keep breathing while you hold the pose. Next version, keep breathing continuously inhale and lift your buttocks, widen your folded feet at the back exhale sit in between take relaxed breaths, and meditate by closing your eyes.

Bhramacharyasana and Variation

  • Bhramacharyasana with folded leg.
  • Using blocks under your hand and heels.
  • Pendant pose
  • Celibate pose prep

The Bottom Line

Bhramacharyasana is said to change sexual potential energy into ojas, a subtle energy that improves the well-being of the physical and mental body. These asanas are related to conserving sexual health and making it potential into subtle energy which helps to attain a higher level of consciousness. I

It is an intermediate to advanced level, which yogis can choose to practice according to their physical limits. It has physical as well as mental health benefits. Consult your doctor if any health concerns and do it under the guidance of the yoga teacher initially. This is also a meditative pose and can help your mind and body to attain internal peace.

Engaging in Bhramacharyasana which is commonly known by the name of Celibates posture, not only strengthens your physical fitness and sharpens your concentration, but also creates an intense connection to you and your practice. To help you improve your yoga practice, You might want to consider enrolling in the 200 hour yoga teacher certification online, which provides in-depth information on different asanas, such as Bhramacharyasana. Additionally, if you wish to help others with your yoga journey, taking the yoga prenatal teacher training course can provide you with the ability to assist mothers-to-be. You can also start with our 14-Day Free Trial to explore our courses and see the benefits firsthand. Join us now!

Meera Watts
Meera Watts is the owner and founder of Siddhi Yoga International. She is known worldwide for her thought leadership in the wellness industry and was recognized as a Top 20 International Yoga Blogger. Her writing on holistic health has appeared in Elephant Journal, CureJoy, FunTimesGuide, OMtimes and other international magazines. She got the Top 100 Entrepreneur of Singapore award in 2022. Meera is a yoga teacher and therapist, though now she focuses primarily on leading Siddhi Yoga International, blogging and spending time with her family in Singapore.
Contact on WhatsApp