Hi All:
Here is an interchange from my email:
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Q1:
I have just ordered both your books and look forward to receiving them. A search on Kechari Mudra led me to your site.
I have a question about Kundalini.
I had always been a very relaxed and laid back guy. Slowly I got interested in Yoga, then meditation, pranayam...As my practice deepened, I became more and more calm, more content and peaceful. Then one day, about 2 years after starting my practice, all this changed.
I started feeling a pressure in the throat area, as though someone was gripping my throat. It feels somewhat like having a lump in the throat, when someone is about to cry. I started becoming very anxious and mentally agitated. I also started suffering from insomnia. Since that day (almost 2 years ago) I have been trying to cope with these things. To this day I still feel as though there is a blockage in my throat. I don't remember the last time I felt physically relaxed.
I was wondering if it's possible my symptoms might have been triggered by kundalini coming up to fast. I am a sensitive Vata type person and perhaps my nervous system was not strong enough to handle the kundalini what was being roused from all the pranayam and to a certain extent, meditation.
Would starting my practice up again only agravate the these symptoms if in fact it were related to kundalini?
A:
Thank you for writing and sharing, and welcome to AYP!
Yes, it does sound like a kundalini imbalance and/or energy blockage in the throat area. Since I do not know the particulars of your practices in the past, it is hard to say what has caused the difficulty -- how things got to be imbalanced. However, the important thing is to to move forward correctly from here, and AYP can offer quite a few suggestions on that.
AYP includes a lot of preventive and curative measures for kundalini, including managing the inner energies in a progressive and safe way. Check
lesson #69 for a review of some of the factors and possible measures for dealing with an energy imbalance. Near the top of the list for remedies is spinal breathing, which is a core practice in AYP. It has very good balancing properties and can help resolve blockages like you have described, and also help with the emotions and sleep problems that often come with energy imbalances. These are caused by having too much energy running around inside without balancing the ascending and descending energies in the nervous system. Spinal breathing addresses this directly and immediately.
Also, in the particular case of a throat blockage, the "chin pump" practice, done in moderation, can be very effective for clearing up the problem. See
lesson #139 and related followup lessons on that.
Normally I would not recommend jumping around in the lessons like that, but these are two that come to mind that might offer you some measures for immediate relief. It would also be wise to take the lessons from the beginning and go straight through. That way you will have the whole picture and see how all the practices are interrelated and logically managed in AYP using "self-pacing." It will also give you some useful perspectives on the practices you have been doing in the past, and help you reach decisions on where your practice should go from here. These are all your choices. AYP is not a rigid tradition. It is an open resource for independent practitioners.
If you don't mind, I'd like to post our interchange anonymously in the AYP forums so others can benefit from this discussion. You can read and interact with many practitioners from beginning to advanced in the AYP forums.
Please let me know if it would be okay to post this there.
I wish you all success on your chosen spiritual path. Practice wisely, and enjoy!
The guru is in you.
Q2:
Thank you for your advice. I have no objections against posting our exchanges on the forum. I felt it was somewhat strange that I had felt so peaceful and calm, and that in one instant, that all changed. hopefully, with your suggestions, I will be able to go back to remove any blockages in the throat and help the energy circulate more freely.