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Stille
Germany
76 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 12 2019 : 2:25:58 PM
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Cheers friends!
In yoga we often say that one will know when to change something regarding life and also practises. So how do you experience the inner urge/guru which tells you to adjust your practises/lifestyle?
Is it "just knowing"? A distinct feel? Are you thinking about it subtly for weeks before you actively consider it or is your body showing it to you clearly? Or maybe something totally different?
And if you then do make a decision - how do you know it's not just your mind playing tricks on you?
I'm curious and it might be I am procrastinating my thesis as well 
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SeySorciere
Seychelles
1571 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 02:15:13 AM
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Let's say you have started AYP DM and after some months you feel stable, you are aware of your energies and you can feel it stirring from the belly and going into automatic yoga. A good pointer that it is time to add SBP to move that energy in a more directed manner - up the spine. After weeks of SBP, you notice that you automatically want to squeeze the anus to give the rising energy that little extra boost; you add mulabandha. After that you start noticing that mulabandha automatically gives a sharp tug on the spinal nerve and makes your eyes want to roll upwards; time to help this movement by adding sambhavi. As you breath in and out in SBP, your diaphragm wants to pull in and upwards and lock - you encourage it with uddiyana.
As for lifestyle - the day you pour yourself a nice glass of wine, settle into your deckchair to enjoy it and you want to throw up after one sip; yes, you have guessed it.. time to give up alocohol
Not everybody waits for their body and energy to give them the impulses to move to the next practice; I get the impression most just decide at some point to add a practice; many do so way too soon, piling up practices in a short period of time, then crash.
Sey 
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Christi
United Kingdom
4515 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 03:42:42 AM
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Hi Stille and Sey,
That would certainly be one way of going about adding practices. Waiting for kundalini to become active and letting the prana take the lead and introducing practices to follow the energetic transformations that take place. However, it could lead to the possibility of slow progress on the path for many people. Many people may simply never reach the point in this lifetime, where energetic changes in the body lead them towards adding another practice after Deep Meditation.
Another way of deciding when to add new practices is to add them when you feel ready and have the desire to do so. There are certain regulations around adding new practices in the AYP system. One guideline is to already be stable with your existing practice routine before adding a new practice. Another guideline is to wait at least three to four weeks between adding one advanced practice and another. If you follow the main lessons through in order, then it gives a good general guideline as to the order in which to add practices.
There are certain practices for which awakened ecstatic conductivity and the ability to sense the flows of inner energy are pre-requisites to taking on the practices. These include some of the more advanced practices like targeted spinal bastrika and crown practices. But for the most part, an awakened kundalini is not a pre-requisite for taking on new practices in AYP.
Over the last 10 years of teaching AYP around the world, it has not been my experience that many people take on practices too quickly and then run into problems. In fact, I would say that the opposite is true. That most people are over-cautious and take on new practices too slowly, hindering their spiritual development. Cases of people taking on too much too soon do exist in AYP, but they are certainly the exception and are usually driven by a very strong bhakti (spiritual desire).
Christi
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uniath
Finland
30 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 08:43:07 AM
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Just for the sake of a different perspective..
If you look at the reality in such a way, that everything exists in the eternal Now, including past and future.
In the past, this lifetime and others, you’ve gone through experiences and gained wisdom. Because of this, you don’t have to go through similar experiences over and over again. And this wisdom is available to you each moment. It’s not a memory, simply a knowingness to choose the right action based on past experience.
And then we have a desire towards a future potential, which already exists in a different Now moment. In yoga, we call this continuous desire towards liberation ’bhakti’. So, we cultivate this desire towards a potential that already exists. What happens, is that we draw intuitive information towards that particular goal, because it already exists in a future Now. And it is not only intuition that comes to us, but that which is needed for our unfolding; whether it be a certain practice, a scenario in our life or something else.
So, it is a simple knowingness. On one hand, it is a knowingness(based on wisdom) not to repeat the past mistakes; and on other hand, it is a knowingness(based on intuition) to choose the action that takes oneself toward a particular goal.
In reality, it is of course not always as simple, as the mind has a tendency to get in the way. This is especially true, if we’re going through some challenging times. Our clarity can easily get a bit blurred and actions guided by strong emotions such as anxiety. But as we open up and the spiritual unfolding gains its own momentum, there seems to be less decision-making and more knowingness of what to do and when to do.
Words fall short and this might not resonate with many, but it’s simply something that’s been observed here.
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Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Nov 13 2019 : 11:34:02 PM
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quote:
But as we open up and the spiritual unfolding gains its own momentum, there seems to be less decision-making and more knowingness of what to do and when to do.
Words fall short and this might not resonate with many, but it’s simply something that’s been observed here.
This resonates here
In my sixth year  |
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - Nov 14 2019 : 12:16:49 AM
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Hey Stille,
Sometimes, I'm bored and will add something. Sometimes, I'm fried and will reduce.
Take Care,
Lori |
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Stille
Germany
76 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2019 : 05:37:35 AM
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what you all have said is very relateable. The common approach seems to be trial and error based, guided by the AYP safety guidelines until the inner knowingness/guru and energies take over completely.
Reflecting on my past practise decisions there was a progression following this order roughly.
mindlessly piling on practises -> worried about becoming fried -> getting a taste of being fried -> strong self-pacing -> being lead by inner knowingness/energies
For example I just know, for no particular reason, that the next change which is to be done is using the first mantra enhancement. At the same time there is uncertainty about when to change and I adhere to the guidelines because my body is still moving like it's dancing during practises.
All the while asking for advice here and being told im stupid helped with the self pacing
Another question: the purification process in yoga is laid out like a linear progression in time. Do you experience the opening of your nervous system like this?
In my experience the overall process does feel linear but the process for specific areas is rather unpredictable. For example I had a really strong block in the lumbar spine area. It was being streched constantly and I could feel it basically all the time. Some days it felt like something really opend up but the next day it felt completely shut again. Until at some point the sensation of feeling a blockage just passed.
Sometimes the purification process of the energy body seems to be much less linear than is often assumed. Maybe the whole concept is just a crutch to calm the mind which is used to think in categories.
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Christi
United Kingdom
4515 Posts |
Posted - Nov 16 2019 : 10:24:22 AM
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Hi Stille,
Yes, purification often changes over time and goes in "waves". There are times when quite intense things seem to be going on in specific regions, or throughout the subtle body. Then there are other times when little or nothing seems to be happening in terms of purification.
There is an extent to which the system regulates itself. The subtle neurobiology has a certain intelligence of its own and knows what needs to happen, when and in what order. It also seems to know when things need to slow down. Meanwhile, we do our practices every day, not minding if there are symptoms of purification happening or not. 
The system is not perfect in terms of regulating itself, so if things become uncomfortable, self-pace downwards. It is really about finding the razor edge, where we are making maximum progress whilst not going beyond our comfortable limit. If we are at the razor edge, then very little needs to be done in terms of self-pacing. Just a little downward adjustment occasionally, or a little upward adjustment occasionally, in terms of increasing practice times or adding new practices on. But, if we become good a self-pacing, then in general, nothing dramatic will happen requiring any extreme intervention. We will simply experience a gradual transition towards pure-bliss-consciousness (sat-chit-ananda) and liberation.
Christi |
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How do you know when to add/change practises?
