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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 2:09:17 PM
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| I've recently added spinal bastrika pranayama to the line-up - just after chin pump and before meditation. It's a good one - I'm noticing results already (I think...) Seems to create more inner space during meditation. I haven't noticed it mentioned here much, or maybe I haven't been paying attention, so I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced the benefits. I find it difficult to go up and down the spine so quickly, and this is a limiting factor in the speed of my breath. I can only handle 2 minutes at present. Any comments or suggestions on SPB greatly appreciated! |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 10:48:44 PM
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quote:
I find it difficult to go up and down the spine so quickly
Same for me. I simply go easy with the going up and down. Sometimes I just drop it altogether and just do bastrika. Try it, my experience is that it has more or less the same results. I think the going up and down will come naturally as I practice more. |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 03:03:40 AM
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| Hi Alvin - I've also done the just the quick breathing part (I've heard it called fire breath or lightning breath) for some months now, but without the same apparent results as with the added spinal observation. I think it adds a good charge to the exercise, once it's mastered. I've only been doing this for less than a week, and it's already getting easier, but still very slow, and my sides ache a little by the time I've finished. But worth the effort, as I do think that it might open things up a bit more during meditation. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 09:16:33 AM
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Hi Meg,
There is something about spinal bastrika and me. I have added SPB into my routine at least 5 times over the past year and half. The first 2 times I had too much purification.. so I had to back off. The next 2 times it went to my crown.. so I had to back off.. and the last one I started 2 weeks back.. well it was going fine.. but not sure if it was the SPB or something else that happened that threw me off again.. so I have backed off it once more. But once I am over this low.. I plan on adding it back in.. I have never hit 2 lows in a row.. so if I hit another low soon.. I will know this one is still not for me.
One thing I want you to keep in mind.. don't add any new routine during your periods. It is better to add it just after.. that way you have a month to get adjusted to the new practice before the energy spike hits.. at least that had been my observation.
As for what I feel.. well, I feel a lot of heat.. a lot.. by the end my back feels like a furnace... and my back is all wet with sweat. I too cannot do it for long.. but I can follow it up and down my spine.. but lose it when I get close to my 3rd eye. I have not felt energy expansion within me yet. |
Edited by - Shanti on Jul 22 2006 09:27:54 AM |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 09:16:45 AM
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Hi Meg,
You're more fortunate than. Actually, my experience in spinal breathing (not bastrika) is not yet obvious. So the spinal obervation which slows down my bastrika tends to weaken the overall effect.
What's your experience in spinal breathing alone?? And how does it evolve over time? Frankly, I am a bit frustrated by my slow (if any) progress of spinal breathing..... |
Edited by - Alvin Chan on Jul 22 2006 09:18:13 AM |
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yogani
USA
5241 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 09:19:21 AM
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Hi Meg:
It helps to just let attention go brow, root, brow, root, brow, root, etc. during spinal bastrika. The in-between will fill in later. Same with regular spinal breathing if there is fuzzy or clunky tracing. This is covered in the spinal breathing pranayama book. Fuzzy or clunky tracing is perfectly okay. We just easily favor the procedure when we realize we are off it, with no forcing.
Brow, root, brow, root, brow, root ... and happy ecstatic conductivity cultivating... 
Don't forget to self-pace ... spinal bastrika is a very powerful practice for loosening obstructions. Easy to overdo for that reason. Keep in mind delayed effects. A minute or two starting out is plenty -- much less if there is sensitivity.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 09:21:42 AM
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quote:
Alvin said: What's your experience in spinal breathing alone?? And how does it evolve over time? Frankly, I am a bit frustrated by my slow (if any) progress of spinal breathing.....
Hi Alvin,
We had a discussion on this a week back.. look here http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=1329
Hope this helps.. |
Edited by - Shanti on Jul 22 2006 09:28:07 AM |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 10:46:26 AM
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Thanks, Shanti. I didn't notice that before. So after that discussion, I suppose there's nothing I can do to speed things up.....
If I approach the practice more aggressively (add more stimulating practices like Yoni Mudra Kumbhaka and do more rounds of Nauli and Navi Kriya which I'm not doing everyday), will I get the energy stuff sooner? I don't need very profound experience, just enough to convince myself that there's something in spinal breathing. Now the feeling is too weak to be convincing.
I'll soon finish my master thesis and before I get to work I will have some time for more practices (and time for buffering the effects of over-practising).
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 11:22:18 AM
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Hi Alvin,
Do you do Mulabandha, Sambhavi and sit in sidhasana? These significantly increase your energy.. and then during spinal breathing you may feel a little more energy than you do now. Of course if you are not doing them right now, don't add them all in together. You know the drill.. self pace.
Nauli.. yes nauli and navi kriya will help I am sure.. I don't have them as a part of my routine.. cannot for the life of me figure out how to do nauli.. but that is another story..
Yoni mudra kumbhaka.. another powerful tool.. use with caution.. chin pump will also increase the energy.. Anything with kumbhaka will increase the energy.. but they are really powerful stuff.. so be very careful how much you add and how soon. The Yoni mudra and chin pump were another set of practices I have had to add and remove from my routine a few times.. Right now they are a part of my routine.. and all of them increase the heat up and down my back..
So once your thesis is done and you think you have a little time, you could play around with a few things.. just remember to self pace. |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 1:32:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
As for what I feel.. well, I feel a lot of heat.. a lot.. by the end my back feels like a furnace... and my back is all wet with sweat. I too cannot do it for long.. but I can follow it up and down my spine.. but lose it when I get close to my 3rd eye. I have not felt energy expansion within me yet.
Hi Shweta - It sounds like SPB has intensified your energy a lot, which confirms to me that it's a powerful exercise. To clarify, it's not an energy intensification that I experience, but an expansion of inner silence (I prefer "inner space", as it's more descriptive of my situation). The distinction probably isn't all that important; the point is that SPB has a lot of power behind it. I'm going to keep at it and try to master it.
Thanks for that tip, Yogani. Brow > root > brow > etc. is a whole lot easier than what I was trying to do.
Alvin - My spinal breathing is pretty boring where energy is concerned. I'm now convinced this is because I've been doing it very sloppily until recently. The post that Shweta linked you to helped me get it down, and now spinal breathing is starting to make some sense, altho I still don't get any energy from it. Again, it's more conducive of the inner expansion of space for me, but that seems to be true of most of my practices at the moment. Are you yet in kechari? That may help to bring some energy to your spinal breathing, as it can have a profound ecstatic effect on ajna. I felt it immediately in my brow. Lastly, fwiw, I feel very little below my heart chakra during spinal breathing, or anything of the practices for that matter. All in good time... |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2006 : 10:27:02 PM
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Hi Meg and Shanti,
I've add Mulabandha, Sambhavi and sit in sidhasana almost right from the beginning, for some months. Not yet in Kechari, though. My mind is too worried recently to remember to do the milking, which I found necessary after snipping (otherwise, not much stretch is gain despite the snipping).
My experience resembles yours in many ways, meg, except Kechari. I'm going to hear from you if Kechari helps and how much, to determine whether I should add it.
May be I should try more SBP during sex to intensify the effects. Just not sure how to sequence the practice then. No meditation should follow that, i suppose??
Alvin |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2006 : 01:07:17 AM
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| Alvin - I think you'll find that kechari improves most everything. It definitely intensifies spinal breathing. I don't know yet if it improves spinal bastrika pranayama, or if SBP improves sex, or if kechari and SBP improve sex. Maybe you can report back. :) But I think you should be able to get into kechari without too much milking; I didn't stretch at all. You may be closer than you think. But this is another subject.... |
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spinal bastrika pranayama
