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MrCuddly
USA
43 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 11 2015 : 11:21:16 PM
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After recommitting to spiritual practice after too many decades I'm feeling very excited about discovering AYP! Even though I only started reading the AYP book (kindle version) 3 days ago and practicing for two days now I find this all familiar yet exactly the approach I've been looking for.
Several years ago I discovered Sadhguru on Youtube and was astounded by his wisdom and humanity. I have no doubt he's a fully enlightened human being - and I'm a very skeptical person.
However it was difficult progressing as fast as i wanted to with ISHA practices as they all required some amount of travel to learn in drips and drabs. To speed my progress I ordered the excellent and comprehensive book "Kriya Secrets" where I could progress as quickly as I wanted. And though it was all from a book, the benefits were powerful for sure.
The biggest problem I had with the book was that the deeper I went, the more time was required. Having a business and family spending 3 hours doing Krya (as I did on the weekends) and 20 minutes per day during the week seemed less than optimal.
I then learned Surya Kriya and Shambhavi Mahamudra from ISHA/Sadhguru. Shambhavi Mahamudra was a great compact set of Kriya practices (30 minutes including warmup) that had amazing health and other effects. But I still missed the deeper spinal breathing and other techniques I learned in "Kriya Secrets"
In the mean time I took up TM (similar to AYP "Deep Meditation") and was amazed at the impact of TM for such a seemingly simple practice.
Until 2 days ago my routine was Shambhavi Mahamudra in the mornings and TM after work with Surya Kriya substituting for TM at times.
I ordered the AYP book several days ago and was obviously impressed by the crystal clear analysis of Yogani as well as his promise of streamlining the process by combining and leveraging the most powerful practices as efficiently as possible. Also Yogani offered by far the clearest and easiest to understand overall objective and mechanics of Kriya yoga.
Being immediately curious as to the effect of combining spinal breathing with deep meditation, I jumped right in yesterday with morning and evening sessions. Just during this first day I was shocked by the sense of stillness, deep relaxation, and spiritual connection I felt.
Again I've used these techniques often before but not in that combination. And just as the author suggested, DM was in fact surprisingly amplified or enhanced by the spinal breathing beforehand.
Today I couldn't wait to jump right back in, but of course was eager to jump ahead. So I added the bandha and Shambhavi to the practice (also as I've practiced in the past). Unfortunately, the first time I glanced at the time I was already 15 minutes in which wasn't supposed to exceed 10 minutes. And I did find that the excess of energy generated was distracting in DM. But of course this is why he recommended not exceeding 10 minutes in the first place.
Despite that I was almost giddy to get back to the second practice in the afternoon. I dialed it back to just the 10 minutes of spinal breathing and 20 min DM. I feel amazing and can't imagine what the heck this will be like 6 months from now.
A deep and sincere thank you to Yogani for your amazing efforts - and looking forward to hanging out with you all on the AYP forum! |
Edited by - MrCuddly on Oct 11 2015 11:41:43 PM |
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jusmail
India
491 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 03:19:34 AM
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Welcome to the forum. Your enthusiasm is infectious. Leave the locks and such for later. For a couple of months restrict yourself to spinal breathing and meditation.
All the very best |
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Bodhi Tree
2972 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 06:51:46 AM
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AYP is a different animal than Sadhguru and his little Isha project. Here, things are much more transparent and in the spirit of open-source transmission of knowledge, not to mention a deconstruction of the typical guru-disciple model, in favor of self-directed practices and a budding community that functions independently and uniquely in relationship to the baseline core. It's the American Spiritual Dream the way it should be run. 
Best wishes on your journey. You sound full of bhakti, so you've come to the right place!
Unity. Strength. Wisdom. |
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 07:57:04 AM
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Hi MrCuddly, similar story here: a busy life with job and family, and the urge to establish a sustainable yet effective yoga practice.
After almost 2 years of AYP I still can't believe that this resource exists. #128516;
Welcome!
And - by the way - be careful: you may already be adding too much practices. Read the lessons about self-pacing and follow them. |
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MrCuddly
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 08:47:47 AM
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Thanks for the support all - and that's good advice about staying with the basics for the next few months. The amount of energy from combining the locks Shambhavi and Spinal breathing (and going 5 minutes over time) I'm still feeling the effects of today.
It's cautionary but also encouraging since I've done much more advanced and time intensive Kriya practices before. But it seems to be the combination with deep meditation that super charges the effect. I'll definitely dial back for the time being.
As for ISHA, I would never diminish their achievements in any way. In these dark days anyone relentless in bringing the gift of spiritual light to humanity is heroic in my view. And ISHA also feeds, medically treats and educates many of the poorest people in India. Really wonderful.
I still believe the intimate guru disciple relationship is the most effective transmission method over all. But of course there are significant difficulties in scaling from an intimate setting to a worldwide one - as badly needed as worldwide spirituality is today.
And for us in the west, the intimate guru infrastructure has never existed - so this transparent community based open system approach could very likely be the next best thing. In any case I'm excited to be part of it - and thanks again for the welcome!
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 09:52:05 AM
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Welcome to AYP MrCuddly!
Great to hear it's working so well for you.  |
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 10:43:49 AM
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Yes, welcome! AYP is all about yoga for the householder in general, where east & west meet in the now  |
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Charliedog
1625 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 12:16:23 PM
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| Welcome MrCuddly |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 1:50:59 PM
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Welcome to the forums!!! I would put self-pacing first and then subtract or add practices depending on it. Looking forward to posts from an experienced practitioner.
Sunyata
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orangesky
Germany
39 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2015 : 6:49:04 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Bodhi Tree
It's the American Spiritual Dream the way it should be run.
Yes, so true!  |
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MrCuddly
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 11:04:24 AM
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Thanks again for the welcome! Self pacing DOES seem to be the key to this approach. The two sessions where I incorporated Shambhavi and the lower lock gave me astounding energy. But even after two days I have so much energy that I still can't totally relax in deep meditation which is a first. On the plus side I played the most explosive game of racquetball ever beating someone I don't usually beat by getting to every shot without getting winded. The guy was stunned, and I hadn't picked up a racquet in 3 months. Even after all that I had too much energy to sleep. Wow again.
The meditation this morning was hard to get into, but hopefully things will be more back to normal this evening. |
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sunyata
USA
1513 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 11:29:58 AM
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quote:
hanks again for the welcome! Self pacing DOES seem to be the key to this approach. The two sessions where I incorporated Shambhavi and the lower lock gave me astounding energy. But even after two days I have so much energy that I still can't totally relax in deep meditation which is a first. On the plus side I played the most explosive game of racquetball ever beating someone I don't usually beat by getting to every shot without getting winded. The guy was stunned, and I hadn't picked up a racquet in 3 months. Even after all that I had too much energy to sleep. Wow again.
The meditation this morning was hard to get into, but hopefully things will be more back to normal this evening.
Congrats on your win! I would be careful with too much energy- yes you can get a lot done with it but sometimes it burns as well if one is not careful. |
Edited by - sunyata on Oct 13 2015 11:40:29 AM |
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orangesky
Germany
39 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 12:03:32 PM
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Yes, MrCuddly, be very careful with too much energy!
Some time ago, after meditating twice with the blue hum (Tibetan Dzogchen meditation), I felt light as a feather, doing a lot of sports and also just like you sports felt perfect....being so full of energy...for one week....then burning blisters appeared on my thigh and my skin started burning. After 15 days the energy disappeared, but the scars will be visible for quite some time.
So, yes, self pacing is so extremely important. Some things that start promising can end badly. It´s very good that AYP puts so much emphasis on self pacing. |
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 12:47:58 PM
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| I completely agree - had my own bad experiences too with feeling soooooo good and powerful for some days after pushing harder on the energy side of yoga, and actually ending with bad overload which in my case means extreme body fatigue. One time (before AYP) I even ended in an emergency room with the doctors wondering why a body that looks in overall good shape collapsed in that way (what the doctors did not know was that I pushed hard on pranayama). After almost 2 years of AYP it becomes experientially clear why in the lessons it is stated that you begin with DM and only after add energetic practices. Maybe the discrimination ability that you build up through DM is required to follow a self-directed path like AYP. |
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MrCuddly
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 1:26:28 PM
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| Sunyata and Orangesky - Good advice! Amazing that happened with two sessions of the Dzogchen meditation but it's not hard to believe. I've overdone other Kriya practices in the past where like Sunyata says feel like you're burning inside (and not in a good way). I'll probably drop back to just the DM for awhile since even that's been disrupted from all the extra energy. |
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MrCuddly
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2015 : 1:30:42 PM
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| Ecdyonurus - your warning was right on. |
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beetsmyth
USA
104 Posts |
Posted - Dec 09 2015 : 10:34:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by orangesky
Yes, MrCuddly, be very careful with too much energy!
Some time ago, after meditating twice with the blue hum (Tibetan Dzogchen meditation), I felt light as a feather, doing a lot of sports and also just like you sports felt perfect....being so full of energy...for one week....then burning blisters appeared on my thigh and my skin started burning. After 15 days the energy disappeared, but the scars will be visible for quite some time.
So, yes, self pacing is so extremely important. Some things that start promising can end badly. It´s very good that AYP puts so much emphasis on self pacing.
any resources on this blue hum? |
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Just WOW
