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Advanced Yoga Practices Note: For the Original Internet Lessons with additions, see the AYP Easy Lessons Books. For the Expanded and Interactive Internet Lessons, AYP Online Books, Audiobooks and more, see AYP Plus. Lesson T28 - Advanced Siddhasana for Women and Men (Audio)
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From: Yogani New Visitors: It is recommended you read from the beginning of this tantra yoga archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "What is tantra yoga?"
Activating sexual energies higher up in the nervous system has prerequisites also, the main one being the presence of resident inner silence (pure bliss consciousness), which is cultivated through deep meditation. This is why the main group lessons begin with meditation and then move into spinal breathing and the other methods for systematically cultivating our inner life force (sexual energy), also known as "raising kundalini." Yoga involving the use of various means for directly cultivating sexual energy for spiritual purposes has been around for a long time, and is controversial for obvious reasons. Sex gets much of the blame for the abuses and misdeeds of humankind, so has often been suppressed in spiritual practices, even though it has a crucial role to play in the neuro-biology of human spiritual transformation. The result of the denial of the role of sex in spiritual processes has been less enlightenment in the world. The problem with sex is not sex. It is our tendency to become obsessed with the deeply intimate energies of sex, and with orgasm in particular. As we meditate and pure bliss consciousness rises within us, we are gradually able to become more objective about sexual energy, less obsessed, and begin to consciously stimulate it into the higher spiritual channels of our nervous system. Hence the usefulness of tantric sexual methods. Siddhasana was described in an earlier lesson as being the best tantric sexual practice. This is because it can be done for extended periods during sitting practices with no effort, guaranteeing that tantric cultivation will be occurring every day at the most opportune time, while we are doing pranayama, meditation and other advanced yoga practices. This is ideal for producing the best results in yoga, yielding lots of permanently flowing ecstatic energy in our life. Our inner silence, cultivated in meditation, naturally comes to reside within our ongoing ecstasy, raising us to a state of permanent ecstatic bliss and outpouring divine love. The two, inner silence and euphoric ecstasy, become one. This leads to the highest stage of enlightenment. Knowing there is such great benefit using siddhasana to cultivate our ecstatic energy during sitting practices, the question arises, is there more we can do to help this process? Yes, there is. There are many things. In this lesson we will talk about enhancing siddhasana. The version of siddhasana given in the main lessons and discussed here in the tantra group so far is the basic practice -- simply sitting with the heel at the perineum. It can be optimized for more effect in sitting practices. It is done in slightly different ways for women and men, due to anatomical differences. In both cases, it involves positioning siddhasana for maximum effortless sexual stimulation, while remaining steadily preorgasmic. In doing advanced siddhasana, we do not enter into an active mode of masturbation. So besides being in preorgasmic mode, we are also in premasturbation mode. We are just sitting in a more sexually stimulating way, which is a boon to our sitting yoga practices. For women, the shift to advanced siddhasana involves letting the heel come forward to rest snuggly in the entrance to the yoni. It is a natural fit, and is easily accomplished by most enterprising yoginis. There is a second part to advanced siddhasana for women. This is to bring the toes of the outside foot up from under the shin of the inside leg and tuck the toes between the calf and thigh, bringing the heel of the outside foot to the yoni with the heel pressing against the clitoris. So, when accomplished, this form of siddhasana for women has the inside heel pressing comfortably up in the opening of the yoni, and the outside heel pressing comfortably against the clitoris. It is a very stimulating seat for doing advanced yoga practices. As with all advanced yoga practices, it takes some getting used to, and gradually settles in to be a steady and normal way of doing pranayama, meditation and the other advanced yoga practices. The result will be much more ecstatic energy moving up through the nervous system during and long after sitting practices. In time, all of life is illuminated by the ecstatic energies taking up permanent residence in the nervous system. The second part of this siddhasana for women involving the outer leg and bringing the heel to rest effortlessly against the clitoris may not be easily performed by everyone. If it is too difficult, it is okay to leave the outer foot down with the toes tucked under the shin, while keeping the inner heel underneath at the opening of the yoni, as instructed. In this case, the yoni can be cupped with one hand during sitting practices, letting the appropriate fingers rest on the clitoris. This is not for active masturbation. It is just a gentle resting of the hand and fingers in such a way so as to provide some steady, mostly unmoving, stimulation. We want the attention to be free for pranayama and meditation, so if having the hand there is too distracting, then back off with it a bit. The stimulation is not for masturbation for its own sake. It is to support the cultivation of sexual energy for sitting practices. In time, the gentle preorgasmic stimulation will become normal in practices, whether the hand and the heel are used, or both heels. Women who find it difficult to reach either the perineum (yoni opening) or clitoris with their heels may choose to use prosthetic objects to achieve the same effects. It is perfectly okay and is valid yoga, as long as the principle of ongoing preorgasmic stimulation during sitting practices is achieved. So, if the legs do not fold well, and/or the heel(s) do not reach, the effects of advanced siddhasana can still be achieved sitting in a chair, or anywhere, if the appropriate stimulating objects are used. The same goes for men, of course. For men, the advanced siddhasana is similar. The inside heel is brought forward to rest comfortably in the soft place just behind the pubic bone where the urethra comes out. Anatomically, it is analogous to where the opening of the woman's yoni is. As the heel presses comfortably up into the soft area a direct stimulation of the inner energies is experienced. This is also where the heel can easily be used to block ejaculation by leaning forward on it. Once preorgasmic stimulation in siddhasana becomes stable, the blocking is not necessary. In some schools of yoga, siddhasana is taught as a tool to prevent erection. This requires a lot of pressure sustained in siddhasana, squeezing the root of the lingam against the back of the pubic bone, sometimes for extended periods. This is not recommended in these lessons. We always strive for comfortable, pleasurable practice. It is not necessary to try and strangle external expressions of sex that come up during practices. In these lessons, siddhasana is always used in a natural and healthy way to gently coax the ecstatic energies upward. Erection will come and go during sitting practices, with or without siddhasana. As the nervous system becomes accustomed to cultivating sexual energy upward during yoga practices, external arousal and erections become less and less. This settling down of genital arousal and erection in yoga is not at the expense of our sexual relations at other times. It is just a different mode of sexual functioning that happens in sitting practices, where the energy is going up instead of down, so the genital energy turns in and up in that case. Then when it is time for sexual relations, the genitals will naturally turn outward. So we find our sexuality can go in one direction or the other. Of course, in full-blown tantric sexual relations, the sexual function is going both outward and inward at the same time, with the key process being the preorgasmic cultivation during sexual relations. That is what keeps sex in the realm of yoga. As soon as sex is primarily for the goal of genital orgasm, it is not tantric anymore. It is the conscious goal of preorgasmic cultivation (brahmacharya) that makes sex yogic. There is also a second part to the advanced siddhasana for men. The toes of the outer foot are brought from under the shin of the inner leg up between the calf and thigh (or the foot can be put on top of the thigh by men who are used to doing padmasana). The heel of the outer foot is then brought to rest snuggly over the genitals in such a way that the genitals are held comfortably between the inner and outer foot. As with the outer foot maneuver for woman, this may not be easy for some men to accomplish in an effortless and comfortable way. If this is the case, then it is okay to leave the outer foot down with toes tucked under the shin, and use the hand to cup the genitals. This instruction was given a few lessons ago, and is being repeated now for those who have difficulty positioning the outer foot. Using the hand is just as effect (maybe more so) than using the foot, so there is no shortcoming here. The same goes for women using their hand instead of their foot. The idea is for steady preorgasmic stimulation with minimal movement in pre-masturbation mode. Siddhasana is a seat we want to be in without any attention required on it. This frees our attention to do pranayama and meditation, while effortlessly being sexually stimulated preorgasmically at the same time. As was mentioned in the main lessons, either foot can be used for going under to the perineum, and the feet can be switched mid-routine if it helps to maintain comfort. Do not remain in siddhasana if it is uncomfortable to the point of distracting pranayama and meditation. If it is too sexually stimulating, then back off and give sexual stimulation a rest also. We can always come back later and resume. It is a process of developing familiarity. Along with familiarity comes an increasing ability to cultivate lasting ecstasy from head to toe. It will happen over a period of weeks, months, and years. Using advanced siddhasana in sitting practices will gradually change our relationship with our sexual energy to be much healthier. As our obsession with orgasm becomes less, we find ourselves more and more in a delightful relationship with our divine ecstatic energies. This change will not do away with our desire or ability to engage in normal sexual relations. Rather, siddhasana will expand our ability to have sexual relations that are more loving, much longer, and more spiritually regenerative. If we choose to engage in tantric sex, we will find that our ability to do it successfully will be enhanced because we have been using siddhasana for so many months and years in sitting practices. Our sex life will be naturally expanded into the spiritual dimension, and we will be walking around with divine ecstasy permanently caressing us inside. This is the essential role of sex in yoga, and in our ongoing journey toward experiencing enlightenment in everyday life. And this is the reason for doing advanced siddhasana with our sitting practices. Click here for a follow-up Q&A on Advanced Siddhasana. The guru is in you.
Discuss this Lesson in the AYP Plus Support Forum Note: For detailed instructions on the methods of tantra in relation to the broad scope of yoga practices and the enlightenment process, see the AYP Tantra book. For detailed instructions on siddhasana, see the AYP Asanas, Mudras and Bandhas book. Also see AYP Plus.
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