From: Jim and his Karma <jim.and.his.karma@gmail.com>
Date: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:52 pm
Subject: Re: Poor Man's Bastrika (and a digression on self pacing) jim_and_his_...
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Yogani--
Hmmm...interesting phrasing: "building" bastrika!
I'll take that as a cue that VERY modest speeding up may be ok, if I'm
drawn to do so. I hadn't planned on speeding up at all; the plan was
to continue at this speed until I've added enough preparation
practices (yoni mudra, jalandara chin pump) to launch full bastrika.
But maybe I will indeed accelerate this pseudo-bastrika ever so
slightly every couple of weeks, so that by the time I've added the
intermediary practices there'll be a lower hurdle to moving into full
bastrika. I'll be watching extra carefully for bumps, though.
Speaking of watching for bumps, I'm ever so grateful that I had a wee
bit of "kundalini syndrome" when that stuff awakened (note: I was NOT
practicing AYP at the time), and that I later tried bastrika too soon
(though only for a few seconds). As a result, I know what overdoing
feels like. It's something I recognize and understand; it's not some
vague bogeyman hovering over my practice.
If I understand AYP correctly, the concept of self-pacing is not about
preventing any iota of discomfort from overdoing ever. It's more than
a safety mechanism. It's about staying right on the edge (in exactly
the way hatha yogis talk about "edge") between making as quick
progress and cleaning out as much gunk as possible without quite
edging over the line into burntness.
It's important for newcomers to the practice to understand that the
fires of hell don't lurk just over the line! Mild overdoing just means
some bumpy toastiness and irritibility, and perhaps a headache (all of
which will grow more severe if intensity isn't sensibly pulled back).
So i'd encourage readers along to experiment a little to 1. see where
that line/edge truly is for them, 2. get to know what going over that
line feels like (be gentle, and self-observe your "real world"
activities carefully!), and 3. ensure that your practice is indeed
right up against the edge. A few inches either way is no big deal..
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