quote:
Originally posted by Lavazza
Some fellow practitioners are convinced that I must have been practicing in an earlier life, but then I must been quite sloppy concerning many of the other asanas, pranayamas and bandhas, which I do not get at all.
Hi Lavazza, and welcome!
Yes, I would agree. Our tendencies in this life are coming from somewhere, and reincarnation is as good an explanation as any. But that is neither here nor there. The real question is, where do we go from here?
Success with mudras like kechari is a chicken and egg thing. They foster what we call in AYP, "ecstatic conductivity" in the nervous system. That is, a mudra like kechari is both cause and effect. When we are moving into effect mode (and further cause) we will know beyond any doubt that the "secret spot" in about half way up the edge of the back edge of the septum inside our nasal pharynx -- that is the divider between left and right nasal passages. We need go no further than that (stage 2 kechari) to achieve a good connection, and it is very easy to be there once we have gone above the soft palate. The rest after that (stages 3 & 4...) is icing on the cake. Check AYP
Lesson #108 for details (diagrams included there).
But how to get that chicken and egg ecstatic conductivity going? It begins with deep meditation, and that is where I recommend you start, just as the AYP lessons suggest if you take them in order. Then there can be a logical buildup from there into spinal breathing pranayama, mudras, bandhas, samyama, tantra, etc. In this approach, it goes from inner silence to ecstatic conductivity and onward to the unity of outpouring divine love, which is working from the inside out instead of the other way around (beginning with physical techniques), which can be problematic.
As it says in the New Testament, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all will be added..." That is the underlying approach in AYP -- inner silence first by very easy means (deep meditation), and all the rest follows naturally.
As for doing kechari now, if you are a natural, it will not hurt. It will have more effect when you have some inner silence coming up and are cultivating ecstatic conductivity with spinal breathing and the additional means suggested in the lessons. It all works together like that.
The most important thing
by far is to establish and stick with a stable daily practice. It does not take a lot of time -- just regularity of 20-30 minutes twice each day like clockwork, with a commitment to do it for as long as it takes. With that, we find steady progress over time, and will be in a position to take on more according to our inclinations. Along the way, we also find ourselves developing essential skills in "self-pacing" of practices as the energies begin to move within us, which is navigating the process of purification underway in our nervous system. And so it goes, ever-onward in expressing the infinite divine within us. You can read a lot about it in the AYP lessons, books and here in the forums.
Wishing you the best on your chosen path. Practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.