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zenmonkey
USA
3 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 21 2011 : 03:23:45 AM
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Could you tell me please, if the visualization of the upward movement of prana on the inhale and downward movement on the exhale matters; that is does it make a difference wether you are inhaling or exhaling when you are visualizing the direction of the prana?
Thank you. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2011 : 08:15:42 AM
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Welcome to the AYP forums Zenmonkey. 
Here is what the lesson says:
http://www.aypsite.org/46.html
With basic spinal breathing, a case can be made for one approach or the other. However, later on, it becomes clear that learning spinal breathing going up on inhalation and down on exhalation is the preferred approach. It will become obvious when we get into new advanced yoga practices that involve deliberate suspensions of the breath when the lungs are full. At this time it is necessary for the attention to be near the top at the sushumna for performing yoga procedures in the upper part of the body. Also, there will come a time when the breath suspends automatically with the lungs empty in connection with the internal biology of prana being released from its vast storehouse near the base of the spine. This will manifest as an emptying of the lungs and then a drawing up from near the bottom of the spine. We will learn means to facilitate this automatic drawing up process that occurs when the lungs are empty, so the attention will be near the bottom of the spine then and not at the top. These two types of suspension of breath are primary determinants on which way we go in the sushumna with our attention during spinal breathing.
When our breathing stops, we know without a doubt which way is up. Ultimately, the direction our breathing takes us in the sushumna is not an arbitrary thing at all.
Does this help? |
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zenmonkey
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2011 : 3:34:54 PM
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| Yes and No; :) I've been on and off this path so many times over the past 25 years...so discouraging. I'm an artist, so my nature is to dive into whatever I am doing with a passionate obsession and give it 1000%. That's the good and the bad news - because working like that in my day to day dynamic produces visible results in an expected amount of time...not so with this - at least it has not been for me, even seriously working on a Bhakti path for years at a time. Then I give up and change teachers or methods or both. Coming back again now in the last 6 months, I began the pranayama described in the little Meditation pamphlet I have had since the 70's written by Swami Satchidananda and then came across your site and ordered the AYP book which I have here with me now. But the visualization process that you both describe for the same purpose, are exactly opposite in the prana-up-inhale/prana-down-exhale, so once again, I'm feeling like no matter how badly I wish I could experience these things, I just wind up frustrated, confused and like this is never going to happen for me. There isn't a book on Kundalini I haven't read; I believe this is real and true with all my heart - just that it doesn't seem that I am ever destined to experience it myself. I wonder if there are others out here like me...seemingly up against some impossible obstacle that impedes any significant progress. I will also say that whenever i begin a serious practice in earnest, all kinds of horrible things seem to begin happening on all fronts in my life. This has been so consistently the case, it is frightening. So apart from negligible results - certainly nothing at all approaching peace or bliss described, with devoted practice, all I can verify as true experience for me, has been an immediate hailstorm of bad and dangerous life issues. I am just a human being, so without SOME little visible signs or experiences, how to proceed and not give up yet once again? I really want to get through this somehow but feel so lost and somehow endlessly blocked. Thanks for being there. I've never been able to say this to the Guru I have been with (on and off again over the years). |
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yogani
USA
5241 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2011 : 4:04:24 PM
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Hi Zenmonkey, and welcome!
There are as many kinds of spinal breathing as teachers who are teaching it. It is less important who is teaching what than that you pick an approach and do it with some consistency. Daily practice over time is where the results come from.
I realize this may go against your nature to keep testing alternatives, but it is the same with many things you are already doing every day, like eating, sleeping, brushing your teeth, etc. There are dozens of ways to do any of these, but you must have settled on one way or another for each and you just do them, right? Effective spiritual practice is like that. We just do it and go out and live our life. If we can do that, the results will be coming, and we don't have to think about it. Better we don't think about it too much. That just complicates the whole process, and can lead to an inconsistent approach to spiritual practices.
Wishing you the best on your path. Practice wisely and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
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zenmonkey
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - Jul 21 2011 : 7:38:34 PM
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| Thank you so much for the work you are doing for us here. |
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visualization in pranayama
