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albechan
Italy
28 Posts |
 Posted - May 16 2018 : 05:09:16 AM
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Hi, I am a39 and have never practiced yoga, although I have a pretty solid experience in meditation (especially on the zen side of things).
Recently, with great surprise, I discovered that I've been involuntarily practicing Kechari mudra for about 30 years. I have clear recollections of doing that since elementary school.
My toungue is unusually long, to the point that I can easily slip it inside my nasal cavity and block each nostril air passage. I can alternate breathing only through right or left nostril for a very long time with no sign of strain.
As I have been practicing it for so long without any apparent intention on my side, my areas there are not so sensitive anymore and I can easily keep my tongue in place for several hours without almost noticing and go on with my daily routines.
Maybe this is something I should put more conscious attention on.
I just wanted to ask your kind support and understand if there's any specific action that needs to be done with the tongue or if it's enough to simply let it hang in there.
Thank you so much. |
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Dogboy
USA
2193 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 06:06:21 AM
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Welcome albechan!
If you are not experiencing any adverse consequences, discomfort, or irritability I see no reason why you should curb your Kechari. |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 07:12:56 AM
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Hi Albechan,
Welcome to the forum.
As you can easily enter kechari mudra and have been practicing it for many years, you can continue with it. Yogani writes in Lesson 108 – Kechari Mudra:
The tongue is obviously designed to rest blissfully in the nasal pharynx.
You may want to gradually explore the upper region of the nasal pharynx and septum, then enter one of the nasal passages and go up toward the region between the eyebrows. Lesson 108 provides extended instructions.
The perceived effect of the kechari mudra depends on the level of the ecstatic conductivity in the body. As far as I know, zen does not focus on the energetic side of the enlightenment process, but this side does come online sooner or later, as it appears from the testimony of various zen practitioners, such as Adyshanti. In my experience, the ecstatic conductivity increases in increments to higher and higher levels. A new energetic increase can feel overwhelming at the beginning, but we adapt quickly, and the new level becomes the norm, and the baseline for a new increase.
If you do not experience any energetic effect of your spiritual practice, you may consider adding elements of advanced yoga practices, to stimulate the rise of ecstatic conductivity in a comfortable and safe manner. Read the lessons and add whatever you consider proper to your practice.
Best wishes for you chosen path! |
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albechan
Italy
28 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 07:57:15 AM
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Thank you so much for you kind replies.
quote:
Originally posted by Blanche
Hi Albechan,
Welcome to the forum.
As you can easily enter kechari mudra and have been practicing it for many years, you can continue with it. Yogani writes in Lesson 108 – Kechari Mudra:
The tongue is obviously designed to rest blissfully in the nasal pharynx.
You may want to gradually explore the upper region of the nasal pharynx and septum, then enter one of the nasal passages and go up toward the region between the eyebrows. Lesson 108 provides extended instructions.
The perceived effect of the kechari mudra depends on the level of the ecstatic conductivity in the body. As far as I know, zen does not focus on the energetic side of the enlightenment process, but this side does come online sooner or later, as it appears from the testimony of various zen practitioners, such as Adyshanti. In my experience, the ecstatic conductivity increases in increments to higher and higher levels. A new energetic increase can feel overwhelming at the beginning, but we adapt quickly, and the new level becomes the norm, and the baseline for a new increase.
If you do not experience any energetic effect of your spiritual practice, you may consider adding elements of advanced yoga practices, to stimulate the rise of ecstatic conductivity in a comfortable and safe manner. Read the lessons and add whatever you consider proper to your practice.
Best wishes for you chosen path!
Dear Blanche, I will read the link you posted. As you correctly stated, zen doesn't focus on the energetic side of things as it is simply considered not important.
With regards to kechari mudra, I'm not sure if I can go up toward the region between the eyebrows but I know for sure that I can reach a point in the upper region of the nasal pharynx where the passage becomes to narrow for my tongue to slip in, although I believe I could stretch it even further.
Unfortunately, I have difficulties to orient myself up there cause the feelings do not translate into a clear spatial awareness so I have no idea at what level the tip of the tongue is at any moment.
I'll get through lesson 108 and see if I can find more clarity on that. |
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albechan
Italy
28 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 08:11:35 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Blanche
You may want to gradually explore the upper region of the nasal pharynx and septum, then enter one of the nasal passages and go up toward the region between the eyebrows. Lesson 108 provides extended instructions.
I have just taken a look at the image on lesson 108: it's very related to what I feel and it gives me much more clarity on the areas I can access. From the drawing I can definitely reach stage 4 (that's where I feel there's no room to strech further even though my toungue could probably venture even deeper). I do generally keep my tongue between stage 3 and 4, though. At the right and left hand side of the edge of the nasal septum, you can feel two kind of soft balls (if you understand what mean). Usually I tend to keep the tip of my toungue resting either on the left or the right ball. This position is super comfortable for me and that's the one I can keep for a very long time.
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lalow33
USA
966 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 4:04:28 PM
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| Got no idea about kechari mudra, but welcome to the forum. |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - May 16 2018 : 8:15:24 PM
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Hi Albechan,
It is great that this mudra comes so easily to you. What you call "balls" feel more like bumps to me. Do you feel any difference? Do you notice anything? It is good to be cautious with the amount of time you practice kechari and the stage you want to work with until you see how it works for you. Just going to stage 2 kechari was an incredible experience for me. It seemed to trigger continuous awareness, 24/7, and it took a while to learn to sleep again in this state, not a totally comfortable experience. Even now, stage 3 and 4 result in dramatic energetic effects, and I practice them sparingly.
Again, you may want to spend only a couple of minutes every day practicing kechari, to make sure it does not have any dramatic effect on you and your life. When you are sure that everything is going smoothly, you could experiment to increase the duration and intensity. If you do not feel any difference, you could consider other practices - like sambhavi, mulabandha, yoni mudra kumbhaka, etc. When the nervous system is very clean and the practice goes smoothly, kechari brings up a lot of bliss.
I am curious to learn how this practice works for you. |
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albechan
Italy
28 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2018 : 02:10:07 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Blanche
Hi Albechan,
It is great that this mudra comes so easily to you. What you call "balls" feel more like bumps to me. Do you feel any difference? Do you notice anything? It is good to be cautious with the amount of time you practice kechari and the stage you want to work with until you see how it works for you. Just going to stage 2 kechari was an incredible experience for me. It seemed to trigger continuous awareness, 24/7, and it took a while to learn to sleep again in this state, not a totally comfortable experience. Even now, stage 3 and 4 result in dramatic energetic effects, and I practice them sparingly.
Again, you may want to spend only a couple of minutes every day practicing kechari, to make sure it does not have any dramatic effect on you and your life. When you are sure that everything is going smoothly, you could experiment to increase the duration and intensity. If you do not feel any difference, you could consider other practices - like sambhavi, mulabandha, yoni mudra kumbhaka, etc. When the nervous system is very clean and the practice goes smoothly, kechari brings up a lot of bliss.
I am curious to learn how this practice works for you.
Hi Blanche,
The "balls" I refer to actually feel really like rounded soft tissue to me. They change in size and when I got a cold they tend to swell pretty much making difficult to breathe through the nose. They are positioned exactly at both sides of the nasal septum edge. If you position the tip of your tongue at one of the sides keeping contact with the septum, you should be able to feel your tip resting between the septum and this soft tissue. I guess you may call them"bumps" as well; in any case if I move my toungue deeper I can feel it following a rounded surface until it bumps into the hard part (stage 4).
As I mentioned before, I've been doing it involuntarily for about 30 years. I do it much more often than 2 minutes per day: more closely to a couple of hours per day... And as I've been doing it for so long, I can't really tell what I felt the first times becaus I really don't remember. I always thought it was a peculiar habit of mine: I simply felt comfortable to position my toungue up there.
I'm not sure I can say it brings a lot of bliss to me. The only unusual thing that I experienced happened one time when I had my toungue resting on the nasal septum edge and started to feel like a battery. It felt like a current linking my prostate to the area up there. I went pretty numb, though as both my prostate and my toungue felt like throbbing. That's pretty much the most dramatic thing I can recall.
Perhaps it's better for me to start taking some yoga lessons, focus a bit more on energetic work and see where it leads from there.
Reading all these interesting things on kechari makes me feel like doing it more and more, though...
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Edited by - albechan on May 17 2018 03:05:53 AM |
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Blanche
USA
859 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2018 : 08:28:34 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by albechan
The only unusual thing that I experienced happened one time when I had my toungue resting on the nasal septum edge and started to feel like a battery. It felt like a current linking my prostate to the area up there. I went pretty numb, though as both my prostate and my toungue felt like throbbing. That's pretty much the most dramatic thing I can recall.
Yes, it feels like a throbbing, a pleasurable current coming up from the lower abdomen. It does have an orgasmic quality. A friend who has practiced chan for decades says that he can feel it even when the tongue is pressed just behind the upper teeth. Many people feel it when the tongue touches the area where the hard and soft palate meet. This current increases in increments, and starts to feel like a power house - like one is connected to the grid  |
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Kechari mudra support
