Poor Man's Bastrika

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From: Jim and his Karma <jim.and.his.karma@gmail.com>
Date: Wed Jul 13, 2005  2:49 pm
Subject: Poor Man's Bastrika  jim_and_his_...
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A while ago, I posted about a technique I called "The Poor Man's
Kechari Mudra", that yielded some of the energetic results of kechari
for those not able to get the tongue too far back into stage 2
kechari. You can read that at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AYPforum/message/814

I also posted about some problems I had from adding bastrika too early
and out of sequence. You can read that at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AYPforum/message/636

I'm still attracted to bastrika for some reason, though i have reasons
for not wanting to add on the intermediary steps (yoni mudra, chin
pump, etc) at this point, so it'll be a while before I'll get there.
So I've struck upon a way to get a taste of bastrika without
overloading. I get zero symptoms of overdoing from the following, but
I enjoy at least a small taste of the good results of bastrika.
Everyone's different, though, so use caution. Try this just a little,
if at all, and pay careful attention to your bumpiness in the world
for a day or two before trying it again. Also I'd recommend not trying
this unless you're doing pranayama with mulha banda and sambavi mudra.

It's simple. After pranayama, do a few rounds of faster pranayama.
Bastrika is done really really fast, with panting-like breathing.
Don't go anywhere near that speed, and don't change the quality of
your breathing. But go faster - maybe one or two seconds up, one or
two seconds down. Don't tense up (especially in the throat and
diaphragm), don't change ANYTHING about what you're doing. And don't
do too much. Just a little bit. This isn't a "real practice", just
something to try. So don't get too wrapped up in it.

what it gives me is a much tighter feeling of connection between root
and third eye, a slightly keener visualization of the energetic
pathway, and a better sense of energetic balance, generally. it
doesn't unlock ajna like bastrika does, and you don't get the same
"flossing" feeling (from vigorously scrubbing out deep blocks).
But....give it a try!
 

[yogani]

Hello Jim:

A very creative approach to building bastrika. This is the essence of
self-pacing -- gearing our practice to our capacity to accommodate
results.

The guru is in you!

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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..

[Jim and His Karma]

quote: like you said and I agree, I can't speak for others experiences, only my own and what I have observed in others

That's very true. So I'm not sure why you're continuing to publicly dismiss cautions that Yogani has made (on the basis of working with a lot of people via email) and which I've concurred via my own experience (which was not, btw, due to hyperventilation - bastrika isn't just breathing fast; if it were, it wouldn't be much of a yoga practice). With respect and affection, Victor, I don't think it's responsible to generalize re: safety on the basis of your single personal experience in a public setting where people are reading along. I'm glad bastrika's gone smoothly for you. That's a good data point...and nothing more.

[Jim and His Karma]

I worked pretty darned hard on that reply to not make it seem snipish or argumentative. And failed!  It's hard to communicate online, the emotions don't ever come out like in "real life".

I didn't mean that one tenth as lashy as that read, Victor!