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Cate
USA
29 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 28 2013 : 1:16:52 PM
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Hello everyone! :-)
I started exploring Tantra and Yoga last year and have been desperately searching for comprehensive information on both topics which led me here to AYP.
I have been stumbling around in the dark, not sure of where to start or what to do. So I just dove in and picked up practices I read about here and there and experimented to see what worked for me and what didn't. Very haphazard, to say the least.
Many of the sensations and experiences have been wonderful, but I've been frustrated because I don't know why they happen or what they mean, and I don't know what to call them.
For example, I get these blissful shivers that go straight to my head, and the frequency has increased so that they now occur outside of meditation with a focused breath, physical exercise, chewing, a thought, feeling an emotion, etc. I didn't know what this was called until I read some of Yogani's posts describing "ecstatic conductivity. " So that was one mystery solved and about another thousand to go! :-)
AYP is a treasure trove of information! I have found many answers here and am grateful for everyone's contributions to provide insight for other seekers.
My first question is about chakras. I am baffled about the chakras in my head. I feel my 3rd eye at the back of my head and rarely the front between the eyebrows. But when I was younger (about 10+ years ago), I felt it between the eyebrows strongly and never at the rear of the head. I don't understand why this change?
Also, there is another energy center higher up where I wear my ponytail -- what is that? And the top and sides of my head seem to have multiple energy centers giving me sensations sometimes confined to a small circle at the top of my head, and other times branching out to something like a cap pulled down over my forehead to the tops of my ears, as well as sometimes emanating from just one side of my head, either left or right side . And also sometimes I feel energy centers higher on my forehead above the 3rd eye.
So, just how many energy centers are there in the head, and where can I find more information about them? And what does it mean when one feels their chakras at the back of the body and not the front of the body?
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yogani
USA
5201 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2013 : 10:39:21 AM
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Hi Cate, and welcome!
Wonderful that you are finding some help from the AYP writings. It is an open source baseline system that covers the full scope of yoga from A to Z. It can be used as stand alone, or to supplement any other path.
Regarding chakras, we do not place a lot of emphasis on them in the AYP system, mainly because experiences of them are generally more symptoms than causes in yoga. Which is not to say they are not involved behind the scenes in both general and specific ways with the techniques provided in AYP. But the analysis of effects in the chakras can become an extensive intellectual undertaking, which can be at the expense of focus on the underlying practices that are the real cause of spiritual change in our life.
That said, there are seven classical chakras, and innumerable other ones with varying definitions, depending on the system we are looking at. Most important is our experience in everyday living, and the practices that cause change in us, leading to steadily improving quality of life.
In AYP, we use the analogy of driving a car using the main controls -- steering wheel, accelerator and brake. "Under the hood" we have the engine, transmission and all the other equipment that makes the car go. We don't have to manage the minute details of the equipment with our head under the hood. We only have to manage the main controls, and all the rest will happen as it should. If we get all caught up in managing the stuff under the hood, we might forget about the main controls and run off the road. The relationship between practices (main controls) and chakras (under the hood) is kind of like that. 
Here are a few lessons that discuss chakras from the AYP point of view:
http://www.aypsite.org/47.html
http://www.aypsite.org/73.html
http://www.aypsite.org/77.html
Wishing you all the best on your path. Practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
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Cate
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - Aug 02 2013 : 12:51:24 AM
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Hi Yogani!
Thank you for the welcome and for your explanation about the chakras and practices. It is good food for thought.
I have paid a lot of attention to my chakras, but I didn’t realize I could be doing so at the expense of my practices, which are the real cause of spiritual change in our lives as you say, and I certainly don’t want to diminish my spiritual progress. So after thinking on this I decided to ease up on my chakras and shift my focus to practices.
And speaking of practices, I started with the Ayam meditation a few days ago and am enjoying it so far. And interestingly, after I decided to let go and shift my focus away from my chakras, my 3rd eye then became very active between the eyebrows. Go figure! lol
Thank you so much for your website and for sharing your knowledge and experience. It is a joy to read here and I am thrilled to find such a comprehensive storehouse of information and a forum of wonderful people who are also knowledgeable and supportive. It is a comfort for people like me who have no one to turn to for answers as we struggle along trying to find our way.
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2013 : 2:18:43 PM
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| Welcome to the forum! |
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Cate
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2013 : 8:33:06 PM
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Hi Lalow33,
Thank you for the welcome! I'm glad to be here and am wading through a lot of wonderful information. I feel like a kid in a candy store -- I've had so many questions and I'm finding a lot of answers now. :-)
Cate |
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Yonatan
Israel
849 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2013 : 03:15:15 AM
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Hi Cate :)
Welcome!!
Enjoy |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2013 : 08:29:54 AM
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Welcome, Cate! |
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faileforever
USA
190 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2013 : 4:37:17 PM
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| Welcome |
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mr_anderson
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2013 : 4:55:03 PM
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| welcome Cate |
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Cate
USA
29 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2013 : 9:47:38 PM
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Hi Yonatan, Shanti, Falleforever and Mr. Anderson
Thank you for the warm welcome! I look forward to getting to know everyone better and I hope to improve my Yoga practice with all the fantastic information here. I really can't express enough how much of a relief it is to me to have found this place!
Namesté!
Cate |
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Greetings! :-)
