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From: Yogani
Date: Thu Jun 8, 2006 12:09 pm

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

Q: I finally took the leap. I switched from 8 years of 90 minutes of hatha yoga (asanas - postures) to practicing 30 to 40 minutes of asanas then 20 mins twice a day of mantra meditation. I felt very tired most of the time when practicing hatha and I also felt that I was missing something. I kept reading your book and you would always talk about feeling blissful all of the time. I only felt like that a couple of times but mostly only tired. I was afraid to change because I was always very active my whole life  but I finally realized that yoga is not about getting strong and flexible it is about relaxing and letting go of all your tension and listening to your body.

I have already have felt some of the blissful feeling you have been talking about. Physically, I feel much better. I am not tired any more but I have one problem - my ears ring. I hardly notice it in at all in a slightly noisy environment but when I am in a quiet room it is really aggravating. I don't know if it is something I did to myself from the aggressive yoga I practiced for so long or some medical problem that just cropped up or from the meditation.

A: It is a good move going to more balance in practices. You will find much more progress that way.

As for sounds in the head, it can happen sometimes -- it is usually a symptom of neurobiological purification and a predecessor to OM, on the way to whole body ecstatic conductivity. If it becomes an ongoing concern, getting a medical checkup is a good idea and can give you peace of mind. You can also self-pace your practice (scale back temporarily) during any excessive symptoms of purification, as discussed in many places in the AYP lessons.  

All the hatha yoga you have done has no doubt set up a lot of situations in the nervous system that deep meditation, spinal breathing, etc. can now open up. A period of readjustment is underway that should smooth out over time. One thing about long time practice focused on any one limb of yoga -- if we add other limbs and integrate and balance via self-pacing, there is usually a surge in progress as the inner levels of neurobiology that were not being cultivated before are now linked up with the areas that have been cultivated. In other words, you haven't been wasting your time in hatha yoga -- just needing some balance across the eight limbs of yoga. Now you are finding it. Carry on!

The guru is in you.

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