Note: For the complete lessons, with additions, see the AYP Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living Books.

Lesson 172 - Q&A – Spinal bastrika energy, sleep, and time of practice routine

From: Yogani
Date: Mon Apr 26, 2004 3:22pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"

Q: I've been practising 3-5 minutes of spinal bastrika in my sessions for the last few days. Amazing! Could not sleep last night I was so charged after the practice. I'll continue as is with the practices for a while with no further changes to see how stable I am in this routine. It also all adds up to 40-45 minutes twice a day now, so from a time perspective it is starting to get a little heavy for me at this stage.

A: Keep in mind that there can be some delayed reaction with powerful practices like spinal bastrika. It might feel great while doing it, and then a few hours or days later there can be a jam-up. So, it is wise to ramp up the time slowly to make sure the energy is flowing okay. Everyone will experience the energy a bit differently. And yes, the energy can be running around inside in a variety of forms (light, sound, physical vibration, etc.) for quite a while after practices, so doing your second routine before dinner and having a reasonably active evening is important to stabilize things before bed. If it isn't happening, then consider backing off a bit on practice time for a while until you find a good balance between practices, activity, and sleep. From that stable balance you can explore steps to safely increase your speed. We want the energy awakening every nook and cranny of our nervous system for sure, and shall have it, but we want to pace things so as not to be wearing ourselves out. Rome was not built in a day, and we all need our sleep. Letting our rest go by the wayside continuously is not a sustainable path to enlightenment.

On the time of the practice routine getting a bit long, I recommend you keep it manageable in your overall day. Better to be doing a little less every day for months and years, than too much and burn out on it over the short run. This has been discussed in earlier lessons on time management (lessons #18 & #50). Of course, it is getting a little more complicated now with more practices in the mix, but the same principles apply.

Not much more time will be added to the practice routine in the lessons -- a little more optional practice for targeted spinal bastrika near the end of the routine. The rest of the new practices will remain within in the current routine time (such as a second mantra enhancement). There is always flexibility to trim things to take a smaller bite out of our day. We will get into that in more detail once all of the practices have been covered, in a couple of months. Then we will lay them all out and look at them as a whole, and do some further refining and optimizing.

There are many ways to skin the cat of enlightenment, including ways that enable us to get a lot of deep purification done in two economical sittings each day. I know this is important, having spent many years in the business world myself. In a fast-paced culture, an efficient use of yoga practice time can make all the difference. So we will deal with it. Where there is a will there is a way!

The guru is in you.

Note: For detailed instructions on building a balanced daily practice routine with self-pacing, see the AYP Eight Limbs of Yoga book.

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