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AYPforum
351 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 19 2005 : 11:25:10 AM
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All members are encouraged to create new and original topics in the AYP forums. There is no limit on the number of topics that can be put here.
It has been decided to keep the forum introductory posts by Yogani locked and without replies so they can continue to serve as a simple entry point to the AYP forums for all who visit.
In order to accommodate those who would like to reply to Yogani's introductions, they have been copied in unlocked topics (like this one) that can be replied to and will "float" up and down the list with all the other topics.
Here is the introduction to this forum, available for replies:
yogani
USA
49 Posts
Posted - Jul 12 2005 : 09:14:12 AM
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In the old days, aspiring seekers were lucky if they could find someone who would teach them one, two or maybe three advanced yoga practices. And that was only if both the teacher and the student lived long enough for the several transfers of knowledge to happen. According to tradition, the transmission of spiritual practices could only occur over many years, and only to those who had "qualified" themselves through rigorous devotion and austerities. No wonder the world has seen so few enlightened people!
Now we find ourselves in the twenty-first century, catapulting headlong into this still-young information age. The knowledge of humanity in all fields is expanding at a mind-boggling rate. And, as the knowledge expands, the world is shrinking. Thanks to the Internet, the distance between opposite sides of the globe has been reduced to nothing. We are all close neighbors living on the same street in this medium.
It was inevitable that the free flow of information around the planet would wear away the boundaries that have kept the knowledge of advanced spiritual practices divided and unavailable to most of the people in the world. AYP is one example of how ancient spiritual knowledge can be integrated and opened up to all using modern technology. It's a good thing, and the time is right...
Along with the free flow of powerful knowledge comes responsibility -- an obligation we all have to put safetly first, taking things in a logical sequence and not overdoing. We have a long list of practices here in AYP which we are free to undertake at our own discretion. Can we take them all on in a year? Five years? Ten years? It will depend on each person. Everyone has a unique capacity for spiritual practices, and we find out what ours is when we commit ourselves and begin the journey. This is the building of our daily spiritual practice routine.
We all have a present limit on how much we can undertake in practices. It is determined by the remaining obstructions in our nervous system. If we are doing too much, we will know soon enough, and then it is time for us to act according to the principles of "self-pacing."
Most of the questions that come to me are related to balancing practices with each other and daily activity. Overdoing or having an imbalance between practices and activity can yield a wide range of symptoms -- some extremely pleasurable (at least for a while), and some not so pleasurable. Yoga practices affect us in every way -- mentally, emotionally, physically and sensually, and the symptoms of imbalance can show up in any or all of these areas.
When there is an excess in our experience, the advice is to "self-pace," meaning ease back a bit on the practice that is causing the excessive purification. Bring it back to a comfortable level of inner purification. Then we can continue our practice at that level for a while, and consider creeping back up when the symptoms have stabilized. The same applies to taking on new practices. We only do what we can assimilate, taking it step-by-step, always. It is a never-ending balancing act -- a vitally important balancing act on the path of yoga. Without a good awareness and application self-pacing, it will not be possible to progress steadily on this path, or on any path for that matter.
So, in AYP, with so many powerful practices available, everyone is in the position to move forward at their own pace, and that is what this forum is about. Do share your experiences with overdoing, and how you have self-paced your practice to correct any excesses. If you are having symptoms of excess now and do not know what to do, you should be able to find help here.
Practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
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veritasophia
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2005 : 6:32:49 PM
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I've discovered the hard way how crucial self-pacing is. In the kriya yoga tradition in which I was first initiated into advanced yoga methods, the emphasis was on the number of kriyas (spinal breaths) practiced. The more the better. Since I tend toward extremes, I started by doing hours of spinal breathing daily - too much. I soon got burnt out, lost the pleasure of practicing and started meditating on and off, not consistently.
Since I've been following advice from the AYP, I am taking it much slower. The result - bliss is with me all day long, I look forward to my daily meditation. In fact if something is delaying me from doing them, a very strong yearning cries out from my heart. Even if I can only return home at midnight or later, I still happily engage in the practices. Having to wake up early is now a pleasure, not a burden.
All this just to say that self-pacing, keeping things pleasurable and increasing the time and number of practices as guided by bhakti is one of the most crucial aspects of spiritual progress. It keeps us on track.
Bliss to all of you |
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len
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Nov 25 2005 : 5:18:57 PM
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I had been doing kriya yoga for two years before I found AYP. I immediatly recognized it as what I was looking for to put the peaces all togeather of the fractured state of higher yoga teachings out there now. I thought I coud jump right into the lessons with my backround, but I hit a snag when I started siddhasana. The flow of energy from this is very intense. I definitly was very cranky. I have cut back, but still all day I feel stimulation in the pelvic area. If I am very active I can dissapate the energy or if I focus at the third eye take a deep slow breath in and hold it I can channel it upward. |
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Anthem
1608 Posts |
Posted - Nov 27 2005 : 11:18:45 PM
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Hi Len,
Welcome to the AYP forums. Having read enough of the AYP lessons and many of the posts in these forums, you will find that the advice given in your situation would be to step back from siddhasana for the time being. If you aren't already, you will find great relief from doing "spinal breathing" pranayama before meditation. This will help smooth out the excess energies in the pelvic region.
See the lesson on spinal breathing here:
http://www.aypsite.org/41.html
Even though you feel some relief temporarily, you may want to be careful with holding your breath and focusing on the third eye as both these techniques will increase the flow of energy over time which could compound your situation.
Once you feel more smoothness in practices, of course feel free to add back siddhasana as you see fit.
good luck,
Anthem |
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len
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Dec 01 2005 : 10:05:11 PM
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| Thanks Anthem for your good advice. the stimulation has subsided. |
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YogaMaya
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - Jan 26 2006 : 06:46:34 AM
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Len,
I have a similar situation. I have been meditating since 2 years. my initial sitting was painfully 5 minutes but now I can sit for 1 hour without difficulty. Anyone would expect that there would be a tremendous progress but I am sorry to say that I haven't done too well. Last month I went to another teacher in India and learnt some Pranayam. It is stressful and even before doing some of the kriyas I felt the kriyas to be a task. I was always rushed for time doing the meditation and pranayama.
Now I have started on the AYP method. The immediate benefit that I am not stressed out. Secondly, since the whole practice takes 10+20 minutes, i have a different problem. Having adjusted my life style now I have too much time and don't knnow what to do.
Should I continue my old meditation - observing the breath - to fill the gap. i cannot take up exercises beyond lesson # 41 even though i know how to do them. Please advise.
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Jan 26 2006 : 10:40:23 AM
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Hi YogaMaya and welcome to the AYP forums.
It is good to hear that you find benefits from doing AYP. Even if you didn't experience much progress with the other methods, there can still be a lot of progress done "under the hood" which wouldn't manifest until later. However, many see AYP as a very efficient method where a lot is done in short time.
When starting with AYP it is always recommended to proceed from the beginning through the lessons regardless of previous experience. Then, if progress and openings have been done from other teachings, there is the possibility of advancing faster within AYP, but the criteria of stability in and outside of practices should be observed anyway.
AYP is often seen as a "fast track" to enlightenment, and create maximum purification in themselves, so no other practices are needed or even desired in addition. In fact, doing other practices (at least of similar kinds as the AYP practices) in addition to AYP can compound the purification processes and may create symptoms of excessive energy releases or otherwise, and are therefore not recommended. |
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yogani99
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - Jan 26 2006 : 2:49:57 PM
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Hello YogaMaya:
If you have extra time on your hands, that is a yogi/yogini's dream. You do not have to use it overdoing in practices, or sitting around twiddling your thumbs either. You can add some light asanas in front of your sitting practices, take a nice long time coming out at the end, and spend some extra time in service to others if so inclined. There are plenty of things to do that will help stabilize the progress gained in spinal breathing and deep meditation.
You don't have to wait forever to add on either. If things are smooth and you are spiritually hungry, it is okay to experiment according to your inclinations. In doing so you will find your limits. Just be prudent as you do so, knowing that in some cases (with pranayama especially) there will be a delayed effect.
Note: It is pretty easy to leapfrog to samyama without upsetting the applecart. See this lesson: http://www.aypsite.org/269.html
and followup in my July 20, 2005 note here: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....TOPIC_ID=306
Practice does not have to be so intense so as to be difficult. Nor does it have to be too slow and boring. It can be whatever you like it to be. That is the beauty of self-directed practice, and having a full tool kit available as needed.
The guru is in you.
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Jan 26 2006 : 7:20:37 PM
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Yogani,
Could you give example(s) on what delayed effects can come from Pranayama, as you mention? I know that too much meditation can cause irritability, and energy-producing practices like Siddhasana and Yoni Mudra Kumbhaka can create kundalini surges, but how can too much purification of the spinal nerve manifest?
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yogani99
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2006 : 10:51:32 AM
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Hi Weaver:
The so-called delayed effects of excessive pranayama come in the form of various kundalini symptoms, like what has been described in the forum by several recently. The same effects as from the other means. They are all tied together.
It is not necessarily purification of the spinal nerve that causes this. It is the energy going elsewhere due to a buildup that is beyond what the spinal nerve can conduct between root and brow. This is right in line with your suggestion to wait for some clearing and clarity in the spinal nerve in spinal breathing before pressing too hard to awaken the energies further.
To clarify, it is not the tracing of the spinal nerve in pranayama that causes the potential difficulty. It is the restraint of breath that does so, especially kumbhaka, which is suspension of breath. But even slow breathing for long periods has a kumbhaka-like effect, because it produces a prana deficit in the nervous system that is ultimately responded to by the huge storehouse of prana in the pelvic region. This is a primary way that kundalini is awakened, in conjunction with the mudras and bandhas. Spinal breathing is both awakening the energy and opening the channel of the spinal nerve for it, so it is by far the safest and most effective means to conduct this operation. It clears the channel (spinal nerve) and awakens the energy at the same time. All other forms of pranayama (and kumbhaka) in AYP also incorporate spinal breathing (tracing the sushumna) for this reason.
The "doubling up" effect that is warned about has to do with adding more restraint of breath on top of the AYP basics, without spinal breathing incorporated. It may well be that opening of the spinal nerve (sushumna) achieved with the AYP methods can absorb additional energy flow from other causes -- but we do not know that for sure. We only find out when there is a buildup and a release (often time delayed), which can be quite uncomfortable. The caution on doubling up on restraint of breath is for that.
In the Secrets of Wilder, the discovery of spinal breathing came after extensive kumbhaka had been practiced which led to a major kundalini event that took a long time to recover from. The sushumna was not ready for this -- no spinal breathing. Once spinal breathing was discovered and added, the imbalance cleared up quickly and the capacity for energy flow was vastly increased, leading to a resolution of the kundalini issues and opening the door to tremendous progress toward enlightenment. This scenario mirrors what my own path was many years ago. In the case of John Wilder (and me) long time practice of deep meditation preceded the kundalini releases, which made the whole thing bearable (presence of the witness).
The Gopi Krishna case was similar except he instigated the release of kundalini using crown practice, ultimately far more problematic than the kumbhaka approach which tends toward more controllable imbalances. Crown practices can lead to far more chaotic situations, especially if there has been no work to open the spinal nerve, which was the case with Gopi Krishna. What made matters worse for him was the fact that he found no help -- he never did have a systematic approach involving spinal breathing, though he did ultimately use his attention to redirect the energies up the middle channel, which was a sort of poor man's spinal breathing approach.
It is very important for us to be having these conversations, so the process of energy awakening in the nervous system can be fully understood and the most effective means for promoting and managing it applied.
Weaver, the formula is as you suggested: Take it one step at a time, beginning with deep meditation, adding spinal breathing when ready, then looking for signs of spinal nerve (sushumna) clearing and conductivity before charging ahead, self-pace, and, of course, have fun! It does not have to be a perilous journey if one is familiar with the parameters and observes good common sense in applying the means for purification and opening.
The guru is in you.
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Jan 27 2006 : 11:48:03 AM
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| Thank you Yogani for this answer. I really appreciate that you write such detailed explanations of the processes involved. |
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Frank-in-SanDiego
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - Jan 28 2006 : 07:15:35 AM
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Hari Om
~~~~~~~
quote:
Originally posted by yogani99
Hello YogaMaya:
If you have extra time on your hands,
You can just.... enjoy life!
Peace,
Frank In San Diego
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