AYP Lesson 375 - Out of Our heads

Advanced Yoga Practices
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Lesson 375 - Out of Our Heads (Audio)

From: Yogani
Date: December 31, 2009

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: An interesting thing has happened since I began using the solar centering enhancement with deep meditation. Not only do I find less physical head pressure during and after practice, but I am finding less obsessive thinking going on in my life. It is like a weight I have been carrying around has been lifted, and this enables me to consider self-inquiry in a less mind-based way. It's hard to explain. Do you know what I mean?

A: Yes, this is a good result. We often are focusing attention in the head, in both practices and normal daily living, without being very much aware of it. As soon as we introduce a shift in attention as we do with the solar centering enhancement, it can have a dramatic effect, depending on how much we have been in our head in the first place. The result can be both physical and mental. Therefore, we can say that solar centering takes us out of our heads.

This is not to say that everyone should be diving into solar centering, especially not if we are new to deep meditation, or have recently added new components to our practice. It is important to be stable in our daily practice before undertaking anything new. On the other hand, if we have been engaged in practice at a particular level for some time, and are still "stuck in our head," then solar centering may be just what is needed. It can balance our attention physically, which can lead to more space between our thoughts and a more abiding inner silence. Then that can open the door for us in other areas of practice that rely on the presence of inner silence (witness), just as you say.

Other sensations we may experience when adding solar centering are a sense of being more in the world, while less of the world, and with more energy radiating from us into the world.

These are symptoms of purification and opening occurring on more refined levels of our nervous system, leading to correspondingly more refined levels of experience. Much of this will seem paradoxical. We may feel more sensitive to what is going on around us, while less affected at the same time. When we have a down mood, we may feel happy inside as we witness the play of our mind and emotions rattling on. It all evens out in time. We come to know we are beyond the ups and downs of life, and it becomes much easier to navigate through them.

The more we release in stillness within, the more we find the outside world to be an aspect of ourselves. The more we let go of the world, the more we become the world, and the more we can influence the world in positive ways. It is the true meaning of "neti neti" "not this, not this." As we release our identification with the objects of awareness in stillness, the more we will become them, and the more we will influence them. Solar centering is a cagey way of helping this along, taking us out of our heads and into the realm of unity. From there, the divine pours out through us, and we live in greater harmony with our surroundings, no matter where we may be.

All of this awaits us as we let go of our clinging, including to that habitual thing going on in our head, whether it be to a physical fixation, or to the thinking process itself. The mind will be going on anyway. There is no way to stop it. But we do become less identified as we continue with our daily practices, and that is freedom. The mind cannot be tamed by supervision. Only by the redirection of attention into more productive channels. It is the essence of all effective spiritual practice. This is why easily favoring the mantra in deep meditation works, and why the solar centering enhancement works.

While it is well recognized that most of us use only a small percentage of the minds capacity, it is less well known that the rest of the mind is churning away at full throttle all the while. As we become the witness, with attention less localized in the head and mind, that very release increases our access to the full resources of the mind. The natural evolution of less identification with the mind due to effective yoga practices brings more utilization of the mind as part of the divine flow. Less is more. Much more.

The guru is in you.