Dennis
USA
83 Posts
Posted - Mar 13 2016 : 04:08:12 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Topic Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Message Delete Topic
While I know you should breath slowly in SBP, I can feel the flow of prana while breathing while taking a shorter breath. It goes into my head and across to the ajna chakra. But if I take a slow breath, I lose the prana energy before I finish the breath. So I'm going at a speed that brings the prana all the way up my spine.
I have noticed that as I practice more, I can take slower breaths and still feel the prana all throughout the breath. So I hope I'm doing it the correct way. I'm getting results, with more and more prana moving as the weeks and months pass.
Blanche
USA
556 Posts
Posted - Mar 20 2016 : 8:55:15 PM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Blanche's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Dennis,
We are all different - so the SB might make your breathing faster before it makes it slower. Also, if you focus on how slow or deep the breath is, you might get the opposite effect. As long as you follow the basic instructions for SB, you are doing the right practice. My guess is that your breathing will change in time.
How is your DM after SB?
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Dennis
USA
83 Posts
Posted - Mar 21 2016 : 02:11:18 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Thanks, Blanche. I do Yoni Mudra after SBP. DM is fine. I go deep quickly, sometimes forget to repeat the mantra for a few minutes.
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Blanche
USA
556 Posts
Posted - Mar 22 2016 : 08:31:51 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Blanche's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Dennis,
It is great that your meditation is going well. Of all the practices, the DM is the most powerful and it can take you all the way. The rest of the practices make the process faster and smoother.
If in DM you go deeply too quickly, you could look at the next mantra enhancement, which will increase the purification and slow down the process of transcendence. As Yogani says, "The guru is in you!" Best wishes!
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Dennis
USA
83 Posts
Posted - Mar 23 2016 : 02:27:17 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Blanche,
I thought about the mantra enhancement but I think I should be more purified by the I AM mantra. I don't feel any blockages with SBP or SM but I get the sense the next mantra stimulates the crown and that's far away for me at this point.
What is the process of transcendence you mentioned and is it not desirable to go deep in DM, or should I try to be fully conscious?
I'm just curious how my going deep and the next mantra relate.
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Blanche
USA
556 Posts
Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 08:29:38 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Blanche's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Dennis,
If the mantra I AM is working well for you and you feel that you should stay with it, than you are probably right to stay with I AM. If you start the DM, pick up the mantra a couple of time, and then you are "gone" for most of the meditation time, than you are getting in samadhi very quickly and you might want to try a mantra enhancement. In Lesson 369, Yogani writes about the effects of mantra enhancement:
The equivalent of an up-shift in gear, making a bigger footprint in the mind with additional mantra syllables, making a wider sweep through inner obstructions in the mind and nervous system, going slower into pure bliss consciousness, and coming out slower. This leads to the cultivation of more abiding inner silence in daily activity, and all the good that it brings into our life, which is why we are meditating.
There is no need to change anything. We only need to practice. I AM can take one the all way to eternity - and back.
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Christi
United Kingdom
3545 Posts
Posted - Mar 24 2016 : 09:17:21 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Christi's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
While I know you should breath slowly in SBP, I can feel the flow of prana while breathing while taking a shorter breath. It goes into my head and across to the ajna chakra. But if I take a slow breath, I lose the prana energy before I finish the breath. So I'm going at a speed that brings the prana all the way up my spine.
I have noticed that as I practice more, I can take slower breaths and still feel the prana all throughout the breath. So I hope I'm doing it the correct way. I'm getting results, with more and more prana moving as the weeks and months pass.
Once you can feel the prana flowing in your body during SBP, it is fine to follow the flow of prana and to let the breath be guided by that. You will be ending the inhalation as the prana reaches the ajna chakra and ending the exhalation after it reaches the root chakra. This may mean that your breathing is slow and deep at times, or less slow and more shallow at other times. The breath can even suspend altogether for a time during SBP.
See this lesson addition to lesson 45:
Addition 45.1 - How to Handle Very Refined Spinal Breathing Pranayama
Christi
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Dennis
USA
83 Posts
Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 01:05:24 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Thanks.
I'm trying to slow down the breath while still pulling a similar amount of prana from the root and having success. I re-read the SBP book and I'm concentrating more on visualizing the silver thread. Yogani seems to stress that and I had been more casual with it. I'm also doing more belly breathing.
When I first added mulabandha to SBP, my stomach was tight and I couldn't do a belly breath. Now after time has passed I can do a full breath.
Definitely a good idea to re-read the books after practicing a while to pick up finer points.
Edited by - Dennis on Mar 25 2016 02:35:03 AM
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Dennis
USA
83 Posts
Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 01:18:33 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
One more thing. I assume if I try the enhanced mantra for a while and go back to the I AM mantra, there won't be any problems. Yes?
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1491 Posts
Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 05:44:00 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
HI Dennis
Yes, if you find the enhanced mantra is too much, the advice is to go back to the previous mantra. You don't want to switch mantras too often, because there is a certain amount if getting used to/disruption involved.
Best to wait till you're fairly certain that you are ready for the enhancement. Since you're going through these changes with your pranayama practice, it maybe be best to wait for that to settle down before you make another change to your routine. Especially as you say your "DM is fine".
All the best
