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love_meditation
USA
12 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 2:28:07 PM
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I just started meditation three months ago. Started with two times a day for one hour each time for first 2 months and now doing three times a day. I have developed insomnia and unable to sleep. Is this because of excessive meditation? Here is my schedule
15 Minutes alternative breathing using spinal breathing technique
15 Minutes spinal breathing
10 Minutes Kapalbati (only once a day)
5 minutes of triple lock
30 to 40 minutes of 3rd eye meditation (No Mantra)
During meditation, my body rocks back and forth and feel energy flow to my heart. But I am unable to sleep. Should I cut back on meditation or Breathing?
Thanks for the help
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 2:37:54 PM
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Hi Love Meditation, welcome!
Did you consider reducing the amount of practice and see if your sleep improves?
I say that because doing 2 o 3 times a day such a routine is a big amount of practice, especially considering that you started only 3 months ago.
Also, maybe you could do your evening session a bit earlier. In my case, if I do my evening practice after evening meal I have to do a shorter session in order to sleep well. If I do a regular session at 9pm I can't fall asleep. But if I practice at 5:30pm my sleep is fine. |
Edited by - Ecdyonurus on Jun 25 2015 3:00:36 PM |
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So-Hi
USA
481 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 3:12:14 PM
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Hello,
The first thing noticed is your pranayama technique is doubling up quite a bit with two powerful techniques certain to cause the rise of energy.
The third thing noticed is a the third pranayama technique of Kapalbati even if it is only once per day
So you have allot of field cultivation going on maybe too much.
It is assumed Triple lock is a combination of Mudras and Bandhas it is further assumed pranayama is used here as well.
All in all there is allot of Pranayama, my background is that of a Kriya Yogi for many years and there is allot of this here as well.
30 to 40 minutes of meditation is truly allot if it involves breath work you are into cultivating tilling the soil and may need a meditation technique that actually does something with the cultivated tilled soil, it was found to be the very thing missing here. Now all that is practiced is AYP and it is a much better way to live.
Care to describe the versions of the practices you labeled?
There are some recommendations if you are open to hearing them. Will wait for your descriptions and permission to give recommendations before doing so
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 4:47:46 PM
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Hello love_meditation! Welcome to the AYP Forum!
I agree wtih Ecdyonurus and So-Hi: Your practice is probably the cause of insomnia. The main problem is not the meditation, but the intense pranayama. Also the rather long and frequent schedule of practice. One usually gets to such a long and intense schedule after some months and months of gradual increase in practice.
Looking at your schedule, it seems that you do about 1/1 pranayama and meditation. Doing 1/2 ratio of pranayama and meditation makes a more balanced practice. The intensive pranayama awakens a lot of Kundalini energy in your body, and this effect will be increased when you combine various pranayama methods. In the meantime, the third eye meditation seems not to be able to "sublimate" the kundalini energy. Overtime, this built-up of energy would certainly create problems, and insomnia is one of them. If you continue, there will probably be other symptoms of Kundalini overload.
You might want to make some changes in your practice:
1. Stop pranayama and the third eye meditation.
2. Start doing deep meditation with mantra IAM, maybe only 10 minutes twice a day - read the AYP lessons from the beginning. The IAM mantra is powerful and balanced, and it will help smooth the energy problem you experience. When your deep meditation is stable, increase the time gradually to 20 minutes twice a day. Do only deep meditation for at least a couple of months, maybe more. Deep meditation is the most powerful technique in yoga - and I think you know this, thus the name "love-meditation." By proceeding so, you will build a strong stable base to your practice.
3. Then start doing spinal breathing before deep meditation - follow the instructions in the lessons. Make sure you self-pace.
4. Continue to follow the instructions in the lessons in order to develop your practice.
Best wishes on your chosen path! 
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love_meditation
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 6:43:59 PM
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Thanks you both for your Responses.
So-Hi - Yes; I am very open to any suggestions and grateful for your time. Apologize for not being specific in my first posting
Here is my background
I am a consultant traveling 100% in the past 10+ years, and accumulated high degree of stress, anger, etc.. To end my stressful life I am turning to yoga. I took vacation and attended ISHA yoga called Shambhavi Maha Mudra in March of this year. I am still practicing this Kriya in the morning, but I have modified after studying following resources.
1) http://www.aypsite.org
2) http://sivanandaonline.org
3) http://www.yogamag.net (Dr. Swami Satyamurti Saraswati)
4) Book: Autoboigrapgy of Yogi
5) http://www.yogaindailylife.org
6) swamij.com
I understand Pranayama, Meditation and locks are key to moving kundalini, so I modified my routine as below:
Morning 8.00 AM Modified Shambhavi Maha Mudra program
1) Few Asanas for 15 minutes
2) Nadi Shodhana Pranayama 15 minutes
3) OM Chating 21 Times
4) 15 minutes spinal breathing
5) 10 minutes Kapalbati or Bastrika Pranayama with Antar Kumbhaka, (If I don’t do one in the morning, I do it in the evening) (Kapalbati is typically 200 times X 2)
6) 5 minutes of triple lock ( Three Bandhas with Antar Kumbhaka - Mula Bandha,. Uddiyana bandha, and Jalandhara Bandha. In five minutes, I do this or four to five cycles
7) 30 to 40 minutes of 3rd eye meditation focusing in-between eye (No Mantra)
Note: After an hour, my feet get numb, so I sit in chair for 5 minutes and back to my siddhasana
2.00 PM (Doing this for the past 10 days)
1) Nadi Shodhana Pranayama 10 minutes
2) 15 minutes spinal breathing
3) 5 minutes Kapalbati or Bastrika Pranayama
4) 5 minutes of triple lock ( Three Bandhas with Antar Kumbhaka - Mula Bandha,. Uddiyana bandha, and Jalandhara Bandha. (In five minutes, I do this or four to five cycles).
5) 30 to 40 minutes of 3rd eye meditation (No Mantra)
9.00 PM
1) 15 minutes spinal breathing
2) 30 minutes of 3rd eye meditation (No Mantra)
I see a great improvement in my focus, energy and my running times have decreased and I enjoy running since by heart beat is low. But I have difficulty sleeping.
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love_meditation
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Jun 25 2015 : 6:55:20 PM
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Blanche
Thanks for your response. Does deep meditation with mantra IAM help to move K to the 3rd eye or it is only for stress reduction? |
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 02:03:59 AM
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Hi Love Meditation, after reading your new posts, my opinion is that you are approaching yoga just like you did your job: putting a lot of pressure and stress on it. This does not work.
Yoga is substractive - less is more.
Do less practice and you will be happy.
Just my advice. And personal axperience of a guy having a very similar story (stressfull job -> beginning yoga -> doing yoga like a job task -> having even more stress).
Don't worry, you really, really don't need to do so much practices.
Two short sessions a day lead to balance.
I am currently in the worst phase of my life, with huge pressure on my job and severe problems in my family, but through a short but well balanced AYP routine twice a day and some self pacing it is also the best phase in my life.
Wish you all the best. |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 09:21:05 AM
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Hi Love Meditation!
You are wise to look to balance your practice. Spiritual practice is more of a marathon than a sprint. A stable balance smooth practice will flower over the years in happiness, peace, equanimity, and creativity, that will overflow in all the aspects of your life.
Meditation is the cornerstone of spiritual practice. Meditation quiets the mind. It is not a doing, but an undoing. It is not a doing, but a being. The mind has the ability to quiet down when it is let to do so. If you can just let meditation happen to you, the mind will quiet down. But sometimes it is so hard to do-nothing, when all our life we are conditioned by our culture to do-do-do. When the mind quiets down, the you-the ego goes to take its proper place on the side-line, and your true Self shines through. As you progress in meditation, you start to experience life more and more from the place of the Self, the witness, the abiding inner silence. You change, and the world around you changes - and still everything is the same. You realize that your true nature is bliss, peace, and creativity. When you live from the witness, you experience the stresses of life as small ripples on the surface of the ocean of existence.
The Self is your inner guru, who will guide your spiritual practice, including the kundalini energy. When kundalini is coming up in a balanced way, it is experienced as expanding ecstatic conductivity. Yam! 
Compared with other forms of meditation, mantra meditation is very simple and efficient. As I have used other mantras in the past, I can testify than the IAM mantra works wonders.
Can deep meditation be used for stress-management? Yes, of course. The same way a computer can be used to prop a door open. But you know that a computer can do so much more. In the same way, deep meditation is so much more than a stress-management technique.
You might enjoy ready this lesson about the kundalini energy:
http://www.aypsite.org/69.html
Again, you might want to back off the intense practice. Doing twice a day 10 minutes of spinal breathing+20 minutes IAM meditation should give you a smoother ride on your path. Keep in mind that the real effects of spiritual practice are not felt during sitting, but in real life. Do you feel calmer, happier, more creative?
Let us know how it goes.
Best wishes on your chosen path!
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kumar ul islam
United Kingdom
791 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 09:54:44 AM
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like speech ,is it true ,is it neccessary,is it kind. ,all yoga must start and end in ease . be gentle . |
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So-Hi
USA
481 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 10:33:29 AM
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It is now understood better. You are too intelligent for your own good and have constructed your own practice. :)
There are a few major hurdles for you to overcome by constructing your own practice having done so myself they can be identified.
1. Subjective impediment no matter how objective we may be ultimately we are the scientist / engineer. Experiment and experiment administrator, the observer and the observed.
As such there will come a time where clarity will not be sufficient to continue, this time for you is now, how is this known? It is known because you are reaching out to others. This is a good sign. Your ego however may prevent you from assimilating the simplicity of what others report, been there also.
2.Time, Time is not only against you but all of us and we all are participants of the ongoing inevitable mundane sadhana we have no choice but to participate in and that is called life. What does it profit a person to activate Kundalini but burn in anger and other emotional turmoil?
The greatest Siddhi of all is to live and participate in this life in a state of equanimity where everything just flows, like a dance that has no rehearsed steps a continuing balanced hand of of the moment into the next, this is predicated on the rise of the inner witness but first silence and ecstatic conductivity must be cultured in your neurobiology. There is a catch though it cannot happen any faster than your individual matrix of obstructions may be released without causing too much friction and upset.
So time is against you to experiment and live unhappily while achieving less with more strain and unhappiness than is necessary, if you choose to get down on your hands and knees and push a rock with your nose yes it will move but there are better ways.
3. Lack of a sufficient sampling and control group. Many world teachers traveling gurus etc. put out publications, put on shows are charismatic and handsome have large followings but impose silence upon their followers, discouraging communication even between fellow initiates who have learned the same things even on the same day.
The truth of the matter is it is all about keeping there income flowing to them and creating an environment of mysticism to maintain control. In all cases it has been found where a claim is made it is in order to preserve the integrity of the teaching it is actually discovered it has the opposite effect.
Due to secrecy it has been found the baseline practices have been altered to the point where the practices no longer are recognizable as the source they claim to be from.
So yes that leaves a person with no choice bit to devise there own system.
Many also claim to have done just that, many have failed. That has not stopped them from selling though.
So now bringing you around the block allow me to introduce you to AYP
2. Subjective Work and Time, Yogani is in his late 60's now, he put in the time throughout his life developing his system while raising a family and working as an engineer. This person while humble is something of a spiritual practices genius. Very rare, as such an unique anomaly that cannot be accounted for only respected over time as appreciation for him only comes by practice of what he has shared freely without strings attached.
No other would be teacher / guru has done as Yogani has and put it all out there not only free of charge but with exposure so the techniques can either raise by their own merit or be judged a failure before the eyes of the internet obsessed world.
3. Diverse control group. This site a work of 10 to 12 years has seen so many people come, share openly and ask questions explore what it means to live in these practices and give heartfelt testimony that in this open friendly freely expressed environment it is known how, what, where and why these practices work not just for one individual unique matrix of obstructions within one particular neurobiology but in a sampling of perhaps tens of thousands.
In other words if you do x you can expect y, there parameters and variables are known. The individual however must customize to fit themselves as only the individual can as it is the individual that is subject to their own unique neurobiology.
Customizing is not a matter of regrouping or reimagining the baseline methods it is a matter of time frequency and duration as well as grouping of techniques in a specific order. It is called Self Pacing and with this in mind the guru is in you.
Concerning maintaining the baseline and integrity of the AYP techniques thy are maintained and preserved by the very fact that they are openly discussed and senior AYP practitioners and even Yogani himself can be found to readily chime in and gently point out a persons mistaken understanding of how a practice is to be performed if they will but ask.
Observation: You are doing way to much pranayama. If you have disced up an enormous tract of farm land with a tractor there is no need to get behind the OX with a plow.
Pranayama is for cultivating the soil tilling the soil so a good seed can be planted. Like myself in the past you have tilled up a good tract of land but lacking proper understanding you keep using different tools one after the other to keep tilling. One only needs to till the soil so much and doing more is not better it just makes for a tired irritable farmer.
Unfortunately when the farmer is dome he is tired and leaves the land ready for the crop, but failing to plant the seeds the weeds of ANGER, FEAR, AGGRESSION, ANXIETY take root in good soil because there are still subconscious impurities that have yet to unwind and release into the stillness.
This can not be done all at once “ Less is More” If you try to force too at once and do manage to dislodge a large obstruction it will only move a little and block the tunnel even more. Be like water wear the hardest stone down gently over time dissolve do not break. Gentle is more powerful than hard.
Inch by inch life is a cinch yard by yard life is hard.
1. In the AYP System Spinal Breathing is used to clear obstructions in the system, Strengthen the Sushumna and other nadis to sustain ecstatic conductivity AKA Kundalini and prolonged stillness. Spinal Breathing tills the soil.
2. Deep Meditation with the IAM mantra at first glance looks like weak ineffectual practice, nothing could be further from the truth. DM takes the work of Spinal Breathing to a whole different level and the Mantra is perfect in that it is a duel poled Mantra I =’s the masculine going up and “AM” =’s the female going down when ones neurobiology is sufficiently ready this is observed with some degree of delight. More blockages and impurities are released from the matrix of obstructions.
The subconscious which colors a person’s expression of thoughts as they rise from the depths of silence their origin and become many things.
For example a car stops abruptly in front of you, you manage to brake in time without collision.
All of a sudden there is a burst of anger and cursing and damning the driver in front of you and now you the startled party are placing yourself in the morally superior position as better than them. This is a prime example of awareness being filtered through the obstructions of the subconscious mind.
What if you could simply witness the incident and simply take appropriate action pressing the brake and stopping in time without all the extra that only serves to heat up your system and further obstruct your mind and over energizing the emotions leading to life killing stress?
Well you can and these AYP tools are the proven tools and practices to do so.
These practices are designed to remove all which has accumulated and is not you and what is left over by the process of reduction is likely something truly remarkable having not fully arrived can only speculate based on what is already understood by doing and what is visible ahead and it looks pretty darn good.
Samyama
Samyama is a practice that requires some inner silence which is cultivated by the first two practices and here we use sutras or words with deep inner meaning and in many ways after preparing the soil and as a result cultivating some inner silence and ecstatic conductivity or Kundalini rising here we begin to plant a good crop of wonderful seeds.
Love
Radiance
Unity
Etc....
But first you must clear the land and till the soil and this cannot be rushed if you hit a big rock you will damage your tools so we self-pace.
When enough of the land has been cleared Kundalini comes on her own, it you force her you will have nothing but misery.
There is more to discuss but this is more than enough for now.
Please accept these strong words with loving concern for a fellow traveler in creation and take this advice, I have asked for your permission so as not to be rude but now I am going to be direct with you fellow traveler.
Drop what you have been doing.
All of it.
Develop a twice daily program you can stick to every day.
Use the AYP tools of Spinal Breathing followed by deep Meditation only.
Please read up on recommended time to practice the info is here on this site. Recommended practice in general Spinal Breathing 5 minutes, Deep Meditation 20 Minutes max you may start with as little as 5 to 10 minutes.
Make this your twice daily practice. For at least 6 months self pacing as you go, you need not believe in any of this just give it some time and it should reveal itself to you.
You can do some AYP asana Yoga Mudra will be good for you it will help loosen the spine allot do this first and last before resting.
When you are done lay down for 5 to ten minutes and just rest.
This is very important as you may not be sensitive enough to feel all the inner purification momentum and you need to let it finish unwinding by laying down or resting out of seated asana.
Come here often and learn ask questions and most of all to thine own self be true.
It is believed this reply fulffils kumar ul islam "of the great heart" reply. |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 12:01:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by So-Hi
The greatest Siddhi of all is to live and participate in this life in a state of equanimity where everything just flows, like a dance that has no rehearsed steps
Well said, So-Hi! |
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love_meditation
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 2:19:00 PM
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| Wow. Great posts. Grateful to you all for sharing your wisdom. I am starting the Spinal Breathing and Deep Meditation. Should I do this in empty Stomach? |
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Ecdyonurus
Switzerland
479 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 3:05:32 PM
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Yes - empty stomach is better. Or at least wait for a couple of hours after a meal. Enjoy your practice. I like this thread, probably because your posts could have been written by me 3 years ago!  |
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So-Hi
USA
481 Posts |
Posted - Jun 26 2015 : 5:10:08 PM
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You are welcome the need to write was felt. Yes it is better to perform all practices on an empty stomach. I Usually wait 3 to 4 hours after a meal but have no trouble eating right after practices.
Best wishes in your practices they are simple but powerful. Keep us posted how things work for you welcome to the community. |
Edited by - So-Hi on Jun 26 2015 5:52:28 PM |
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Beehive
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2015 : 12:25:34 PM
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"Wow - great posts" is right. Is there a way to "favorite" a thread? There are so many I would like to revisit again and again but I often can't remember where I found them in the first place! This one would sure be among my collection.
One thing that always stands out to me about AYP, both from Yogani and the forums is one of the endless yoga "paradox". This lovely balance of simple, described, "technique" with the expansive, generous love.
I always feel so lucky and blessed to have found this. And thank you again to all of you people who give such fantastic full responses. |
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BillinL.A.
USA
375 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2015 : 1:09:30 PM
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Beehive I agree it is a great thread.
I save an AYP thread page sometimes for weeks to come back to just like any other website and how to do it of coarse depends on what browser you use.
You can also get a web address "link copy" by clicking on the globe between the trashcan and thunderbolt at the top of each post. This is easiest if you want to save a particular post.
But like I say I just save the whole page of a thread sometimes just like saving a website.
Hope that helps. |
Edited by - BillinL.A. on Jun 27 2015 1:43:31 PM |
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Beehive
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2015 : 3:22:43 PM
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| Thank you BillinLA - that is a good way to do it. I have a feeling I will have a very big collection ..... |
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