Advanced Yoga Practices
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Lesson 217 - Responsibility  (Audio)

AYP Plus Additions:
217.1 - Increasing Responsibility in Unity  (Audio)

From: Yogani
Date: Sat Jul 10, 2004 4:11pm

New Visitors: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Note: This is a followup on the previous lesson called, "Kundalini jolts and self-pacing in practices."

Q: Thank you for the advice. I'll tone it down, per your suggestions, and see how it goes for a month or two. 

From this experience, I really get your message about not going too fast. I no longer feel the intense need to burn through all the practices. My desire to keep it up and experience the divine is still strong, but I now feel that the later practices can wait. I realize this process is actually quite fast enough without me charging ahead.

This experience and your advice have really helped me to see this.

A: Yes, now you have it. It is a journey that requires prudent regulation of practices. Only the practitioner can do that. 

I have been very impressed with the level of responsibility nearly everyone has shown in taking on these powerful advanced yoga practices. There have been perennial predictions that open knowledge of spiritual practices would lead to disastrous results. It is not true, at least not here and now. Self-pacing is a concept and a practice that is easy to understand. The "learning to drive the fast car" analogy is one we can all relate to. 

It seems that the tendency toward desperation and overdoing in practices is driven more by the lack of practices than by the open availability of them. What is withheld we tend become desperate for, and we often overcompensate with the practices we do have. What is freely available, we must develop the skill to use responsibly, and we will. It is that simple. 

So, my hat is off to you (and everyone) taking up the challenge of advanced yoga practices and developing good self-pacing skills at the center of your approach. 

It means you are well on the way to self-sufficiency in your spiritual endeavors. That is a very important part of the enlightenment process. It means you can do it yourself. Once you know that, then there is no stopping you. Bravo! 

The guru is in you.

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Note: For detailed instructions on building a balanced daily practice routine with self-pacing, see the Eight Limbs of Yoga Book, and AYP Plus.

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