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compassion
90 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 14 2014 : 01:58:38 AM
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During pranayama about a week ago, it started that I would get some automatic movements in the form of twitches in my right foot. This slowly progressed to more organised movement, which from time to time occured outside of practise.
Last night, however, this progressed to intense contraction of some muscles, for example pulling the little toe out and downwards until some ligaments in my foot went pop-pop-pop, and then the muscles release pop-pop-pop. It was if my foot was pulling itself apart and putting itself back toether again.
I should add it is completely painless, and my foot feels like it's had an amazingly intense massage. It actually feels that there would be more space between the bones in my foot, and I can feel a very pleasant coolness there.
I'm curious though, if this kind of exercise is desirable or not. It sounds like it could be put into the overload category, but at the same time, without this kind of stretching, I have no idea how I could have come up with the same result. In general, I have done very little in the way of asana practise, though I am changing that slowly. Am I at risk of damaging my foot, or other parts of the body, if this proceeds? Or is blind faith in Kundalini all that's required? |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2014 : 1:39:29 PM
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There's your kundalini starting to move. No, your foot will not be damaged. On the contrary, there were probably some issues there that are being resolved. As Yogani puts it, K likes to give you a good house clean.
"Blind faith"? Not to the extent that you let this energy build up indefinitely and run riot. As long as you are comfortable - as you seem to be at the moment - it is all well and good. But it is also a sign you need to heed - the energy might intensify from here on. Be ready to adjust your practice before you run into discomfort.
Smooth practice and steady progress   |
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compassion
90 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2014 : 01:21:36 AM
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Dear BlueRaincoat,
Thank you very much for your comments. Indeed "some issues" might be an understatement. Judging by the number of intense weird dreams I had last night, I would say this is an extremely thorough house clean! I would never have guessed so much could be stored or repressed within a foot!
A common theme seemed to be running away quickly and successfully in unfamiliar places, including from a dwarf who was playing aggressively with fire. When I wake up, my foot is bending itself rhythmically.
On a related note, usually upon having an intense dream I try to get out of bed to write about it before it is forgotten. This often allows some insight into the issues that isn't immediately obvious otherwise. During this kind of Kundalini house cleaning, is it necessary to pay such notice to the dreams? There seem to be so many that it might be rather impractical to do this.
Thanks again |
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2014 : 11:35:44 AM
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Hello Compassion
I've not heard of yogis analysing their dreams. That is not to say they never did – my knowledge is hardly comprehensive. I don't even know if any traditions mention dreams at all.
Interpreting dreams is primarily the stuff of psychoanalysis (started by Freud). It is still done by some psychotherapists today though it's not as popular today as it once was (difficult to prove it works + the psychotherapy world has moved towards shorter, goal-oriented types of therapy).
Personally I rate deep meditation above psychoanalysis. I did get very interested in comparing yoga with psychotherapy at some point (I was doing a psychology degree at the time). When it comes to releasing emotional tensions, DM is a more comprehensive tool in my opinion than 'talking about issues' . That's because DM goes beyond what a person can verbalize i.e. much, much deeper. There may be psychologists out there who would beg to differ.
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compassion
90 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2014 : 01:08:34 AM
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Hello BlueRaincoat,
Thank you again for your response. I'm surprised if interpreting dreams is primarily the stuff of psychoanalysis, since dreams have been around a lot longer than Freud :) I'm not familiar with the details of Freud's analysis of dreams, so when I talk of it, it is more how I have benefited from their consideration in the past. I asked God a few questions related to this before I went to bed, and woke at some point in the night with something that seemed like the start of an answer.
I think in one of these intense kind of dreams that I'm talking about, something subconscious is coming to the surface for the first time since it was buried. The therapeutic value of interpretation is to consciously choose to accept that part of yourself that you have been denying, which is much easier to do once some insight has been found. The insight might simply be to realise that that monster climbing out of the swamp is part of you looking for love from yourself, but that you have previously rejected with fear, etc, due to whatever trauma in the past.
During deep meditation we are establishing the witness state, which is by its nature all accepting, and not conditional on such insight. So I would agree the DM is more powerful for this reason.
Last night I had my right foot and leg twisting, and even more dreams. Didn't write them down this time or I think I'd have been up half the night...
Thanks again!
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2014 : 06:44:35 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by compassion
During deep meditation we are establishing the witness state, which is by its nature all accepting, and not conditional on such insight. So I would agree the DM is more powerful for this reason.
Yes, that is a good way to put it. If we stick to our meditation routine, we will become more aware of ourselves. That is why I think trying to peer into our subconscious using our dreams is less important than developing the Witness state through meditation.
Enjoy your practice! |
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Automatic foot yoga / mudras
