Lesson 216 - Q&A – Kundalini jolts and self-pacing in practices

From: Yogani
Date: Fri Jul 9, 2004 10:59pm

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Q: Thanks for sharing your knowledge and insights. I had an
experience last night that slightly concerns me. While sleeping, I
felt something like electricity coursing through my body, from the
head to root. There was pain and soreness, throbbing as well. It got
more intense as I relaxed and surrendered to it. After about 2
minutes of this, which felt like massive amounts of electricity
jolting through me, I woke up. I noticed only 2 hours had passed
since I went to bed, but felt alert and fully rested.

I felt giddy and started giggling for a few minutes. I went back to
sleep, and felt tired and groggy for most of today. I do 10 minutes
of pranayama with sambhavi and mulabandha, then 20 minutes of the I
AM meditation. I added the sambhavi and mulabandha about 1 week ago.
I skipped my evening practice on the night this happened, prior to
sleep.

Am I going too quickly? My only concern is the pain. I've experienced
this "painful electricity" twice in the past month or so, and it
tires me out for the day. Otherwise, I feel great and the practices
are of great benefit to me. The pain is bearable, but I wonder if
it's telling me to alter my practice. And what exactly is the
electrical sensation? It causes me to laugh uncontrollably
afterwards. Please advise.

Thank you for listening. You are providing a great service to people
seeking a true spirituality.


A: Thank you for writing and sharing.

Something is going on there for sure. The feeling of electricity is
energy creating friction in not yet fully purified nerves. The
giddiness is from this also, as is the let down later on. It is a bit
too much going on during those short episodes -- it is a classic
kundalini overload, albeit a small and short-lived one.

It is surely not an experience we want to have happening on an
ongoing basis, even though it does have the pleasant short term
aftermath. What we want is a smooth and pleasant long term aftermath,
always. Perhaps you should lighten up a bit until things stay steady
for a month or so. The spinal breathing generally has a stabilizing
effect on inner energies, if not taken to excess. Likewise with deep
meditation. Even so, if you step back from 10 and 20 minutes to 5 and
15 minutes, that would be an appropriate lightening up. As for
mulabandha and sambhavi, it should be okay to use them for the lesser
time of spinal breathing. They are shortened in time by proxy. Try
that for a month, and see if the jolts become less frequent. If not,
then consider trimming a bit more, or at least not increasing
anything significantly until you have a level of stability settling
in that satisfies you.

Make sure you take plenty of rest coming out of your sitting
practices. And make sure you have good activity during the day and
evening after practices - mental, physical, social, a good blend of
these over the weeks and months. If we don't stabilize what we gain
in practices with good activity, it can sometimes lurch through
during sleep like that. Activity is an important part of the process
of purification and the stabilization of inner silence and ecstatic
energies.

A set of light asanas before sitting practices can help with
stabilization also, as can a diet that is neither too light or too
heavy. Moderation is valuable in all aspects of life, including yoga.

One thing I suggest you not do is forge ahead with more new sitting
practices until you find the necessary balance and smoothness that is
just right for your nervous system. Only you can do that. Good self-
pacing is an art -- balancing the speed of purification with
stability in daily life, including sleep time. I suggest you look for
at least a month or two of good stability before stepping up to the
next level.

Except for the electric wrinkle, yoga looks to be going very well for
you.

I think if you work with the elements mentioned, you should be able
to smooth things out. It is up to you. Use your best judgment, and
with a little trial and error you will get the feel for your own
process of unfoldment. Then nothing can stop you from forging ahead
safely and surely toward your goal. It's kind of like learning to
drive a fast car, only there can be a delayed reaction as we put our
foot on the gas pedal, or take it off. Keep that in mind as you move
forward, and make your adjustments accordingly.

I'm honored to be able to help out, and wish you all success on your
chosen spiritual path.

The guru is in you.

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