quote:

---

Lesson 183 - Q&A – Movements and automatic yoga

Yes, the jerks are normal. It is energy opening inner pathways.
The movements will reduce as the pathways open and offer less
resistance.

Sometimes movements point to "automatic yoga" positions. For example,
if you feel compelled to go down to the mat with your head and torso
while sitting, this is the sushumna (spinal nerve) wanting to stretch
itself for more purification. If you do some maha mudra as part of
your asanas before pranayama and meditation it can help pre-empt the
tendency during sitting practices. The basic version of this is a
sitting toe grab with legs out straight and head toward knees with
chin toward chest. Or, if your head and torso irresistibly want to go
down during sitting practices, then let them for a few minutes. Or
you can let yourself go into it for as long as necessary at the end
of your sitting practices. It is a natural expression of the
connectedness of yoga through your nervous system.

Obviously, we don't want to interrupt our sitting practices too much
with spontaneous yoga positions, but sometimes these things happen,
so we let them if the urge gets to be strong enough. The best way to
minimize movements in pranayama and meditation is with a good set of
asanas before we start. And, if the movements become too much, we do
as we always do when symptoms of purification become excessive. We
use self-pacing in our practices and back off for a while until we
find stability in our routine, and continue from there. When we hit a
few pot-holes in the road, we slow down until the road smoothes out
again.

The occasional jerks are common at certain stages of development, and
a sign of purification going on. Milestones on the road to
enlightenment!

---