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Advanced Yoga Practices
Main Lessons
Note: For the Original
Internet Lessons with additions,
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Lesson 385
-
Review on Building a Baseline
Practice Routine (Audio)
AYP Plus Additions:
385.1 - Practice Chart and Discussion on Building a
Daily Routine (Audio)
385.2 - Look for Results in Daily Life (Audio)
385.3 -
Which Practice Chart to Use, AYP or Secrets of Wilder? (Audio)
385.4 -
Arrangement of Energy Practices and Prayers in the Routine (Audio)
385.5 -
AYP System Design: An Engineer's Point of View (Audio)
385.6 -
On Mantra: The Difference Between "I AM" and "i am" in the Secrets of Wilder (Audio)
From: Yogani
Date:
February 24, 2010
New Visitors: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the archive, as previous
lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first lesson is, "Why
This Discussion?"
It will be good to review how we can go about building a self-directed
routine of spiritual practices. In truth, there are a number of places we
can start. No doubt, many who are reading here have begun already, and have
come from a variety of backgrounds. Building a routine of practices can
begin almost anywhere in the Eight Limbs of Yoga.
Nowadays, yoga postures (asanas) are very popular.
There are millions who have begun on the path of spiritual practices in yoga
postures. Maybe this kind of yoga was taken up only for relaxation, for some
peace, or for physical fitness. Nevertheless, this is an entry into
spiritual practices, as anyone who has been practicing yoga postures for a
few years knows.
Maybe spiritual practices began in the form of
prayer and worship in our religion, which is an expression of our heartfelt
desire to "know God." Raising our desire to a level of devotion to our
chosen ideal is a key part of the spiritual path. We all begin with desire
in one way or another. A path without desire is no path at all. A desire for
realizing our highest potential does not have to be in a religious context,
but it is fine if it is. The methods of yoga do not discriminate. Human
spiritual transformation can occur just as well within a religious context
as not.
We have all been doing something about our spiritual
condition up until now. Just reading these lessons is an indication that we
are considering doing more. But what? In the AYP approach, we aim for
efficiency, for optimizing the relationship of causes and effects in
spiritual practice. In doing so, we keep the control levers in the hands of
the practitioner, where they belong. With the practitioner (you) in control,
the practice routine can be built step-by-step, and managed in a way that
provides for maximum progress with good comfort and safety. No one else can
be driving our car along the highway for us, we have to do it ourselves. It
is a long journey we are on, a marathon, not a sprint, and we travel
step-by-step. This is the essence of a baseline system of practice.
Baseline
Routine of Practices
In the AYP approach to practices we begin with deep
meditation. So no matter where we may have begun our practices in the past,
if we choose to utilize the AYP baseline system, deep meditation will be the
suggested starting point. Once we are established in twice-daily deep
meditation, the entry into additional practices may follow flexible sequence
and timing, according to individual inclinations and experiences. The
sequence of doing a full practice routine, with suggested time and order of
learning indicated, looks something like this:
-
Asanas (10 minutes learned sometime after deep
meditation and spinal breathing)
-
Spinal Breathing Pranayama (10 minutes
learned second, after deep meditation)
-
Chin Pump (2-3 minutes learned sometime after
spinal breathing)
-
Spinal Bastrika (2-3 minutes learned sometime
after spinal breathing)
-
Deep Meditation (20 minutes learned first)
-
Core Samyama (10 minutes learned after deep
meditation and spinal breathing, when abiding inner silence is
recognized)
-
Yoni Mudra (2-3 minutes learned sometime after
spinal breathing)
-
Cosmic Samyama (5 minutes learned sometime after
core samyama)
-
Rest (5 minutes or more included at the end of
all sittings)
Other practices, such as sambhavi mudra, mulabandha,
siddhasana, and kechari mudra can occur at the same time as some of the
practices listed above, particularly spinal breathing pranayama, which is
the best place to start with them. These can be learned according to
preference sometime after we have become stable with spinal breathing
pranayama. Later on, elements of these practices may occur naturally at
other times during our practice routine ,
and even during daily activity. See "automatic yoga" below.
Note: Increasing Spinal Breathing
Pranayama, Deep Meditation or Samyama more than 5-10 minutes above the
amounts above, or increasing any of the energy-related practices more than 5
minutes, could lead to uncomfortable symptoms of overdoing. This would be
outside the AYP baseline system. See Lesson 384.
Finally, as our practices and their results advance
over time, we may be naturally drawn to less-structured practices outside
our daily sittings, during our normal daily activity. These may include
devotional activity according to our preference (bhakti), non-dual
self-inquiry, and a natural inclination to engage in service (karma yoga).
None of these are structured, and much a function
of natural inclinations we may find coming up. An exception would be
introducing the self-inquiry sutra
in our
structured
core
samyama practice (Lesson 351), which promotes
spontaneous self-inquiry and an impulse toward service in daily activity.
We do not undertake all of these practices in a
week, or in a few months, and not even in a year. It will take years to
build a full practice routine. And, according to our preference, we may
never use certain practices. It takes months at least to assimilate each of
the categories of practice listed. Within each category there are multiple
elements of practice which can be implemented over time, so the list here is
simplified to provide an overview. Detailed instructions can be found in the
many previous lessons for all of the practices, including their refinements,
variations, and enhancements.
Deep meditation and samyama are primarily for
cultivating inner silence. Spinal breathing pranayama, asanas, mudras and
bandhas are primarily concerned with cultivating the energetic side of our
neurobiology, leading to the rise of ecstatic conductivity. Together, inner
silence and ecstatic conductivity form the two essential building blocks of
enlightenment. It is the merging, or marriage, of these two that fulfills
the promise of yoga, which is union, expressed as Oneness or Unity the
actualization of stillness in action in everyday living.
The above-listed sitting practices comprise a
compact twice-daily practice routine. In addition, our normal daily activity
constitutes part of practice also, for this is the time we are naturally
integrating what we have gained in our sitting practices. It is one thing to
be cultivating inner silence and ecstatic conductivity during practices, and
something else to be stabilizing these qualities as we go about our daily
business in life. So keeping an active life is very important.
Besides engaging in daily practices and keeping
active, we will find additional methods and behaviors cropping up in our
life that will further enhance our progress. We will find them rising as
natural tendencies as we develop more abiding inner silence and natural
ecstatic radiance in our life. They come generally under the yamas and
niyamas in the
Eight Limbs of Yoga, and
may include:
-
A reduction in harmful action
-
Increasing honesty in all dealings
-
The preservation and cultivation of sexual
energy
-
A lighter more nutritious diet
-
An urge to engage in internal bodily cleansing
-
Spiritual study and non-dual self-inquiry
-
Intense desire for God/Truth
-
Greater inclination to serve the needs of others
-
More equanimity and contentment in life
-
A reduction in suffering, regardless of any
adverse circumstance
This is not to say all of these things will be
experienced or undertaken in a systematic way, or that they will happen all
at once. It is through our own choices that these things will have a greater
likelihood to become more a part of our life as our consciousness expands.
We will find them creeping into our life naturally as we go about our
activities between our daily practice sessions, and our choices will be
affected by natural enhancements in our own seeing.
Throughout the AYP writings, instructions have been
provided for these additional behaviors and means. Techniques are provided
for the preservation and cultivation of sexual energy (the tools of tantra,
adaptable to any lifestyle preference heterosexual, homosexual,
solo/masturbation or celibate), diet principles and guidelines (including
Ayurveda diet suggestions), shatkarmas (internal cleansing techniques),
amaroli (urine therapy), principles and practical guidelines for
self-inquiry, the methods of bhakti (use of desire and devotion), and the
principles of karma yoga (action in service to our highest ideal).
So there is a wide range of activities that are
affected in our life as we undertake daily spiritual practices. Everything,
in fact.
What is the return on all this?
Peace and happiness!
And we have to do very little to bring it about.
Once we have mustered the desire and a commitment to engage in deep
meditation for a few minutes morning and evening, the rest is practically
automatic. Once stillness is rising and moving within us, everything will be
moving, and we will do as we are inclined to do. All of the resources are
available for us to take advantage of as we see fit. That is how
self-directed spiritual practice works.
Self-Pacing
With a twice-daily routine of practices, we place
ourselves on a fast track to enlightenment. It is potentially so fast that
it is essential we develop skill in regulating the practices we are doing
each day, measuring duration in time or repetitions, depending on the
practice. We adjust practice duration as necessary to maintain smooth and
steady progress without incurring excessive discomfort due to too many
obstructions being released in our nervous system.
This regulation of practices is called
self-pacing, and it too is a practice one
of the most important in the entire AYP arsenal. For, without good
self-pacing, we are not likely to get very far on the road to enlightenment.
A key aspect of practices is the prudent handling of
experiences, whether they are mundane, dramatic, or extreme. This is a path
of enjoyment, and we are entitled to enjoy the
scenery we encounter on our journey to enlightenment. However, the
scenery is not what will advance us on our path. It is our practices that
will move us ahead. So, after an admiring look at the passing scenery,
no matter how beautiful or attention-grabbing it may be, we easily go back
to the practice we are doing. If spiritual experiences come while we are in
our daily activities, as they certainly shall, we can then continue to enjoy
the experiences, or go back to whatever it is we are doing.
If experiences become extreme or uncomfortable,
either during practice, or afterward in our daily activity, the advice is to
scale back our practice in order to bring things back in balance. For
example, if we have gotten carried away with our deep meditation practice
and are meditating for too long in our twice-daily routine, it is possible
that we will experience headache or irritability during our daily activity.
It can also happen if we are getting up too quickly
after practices, without an adequate rest period at the end. There is a
direct cause and effect between our practices and our experiences in daily
life. If we are finding discomfort, then it is time to reduce practices
sufficiently and make sure we are taking adequate rest at the end to restore
balance. If we have been practicing a normal amount and find some imbalance,
then the scaling back can be temporary. As our adverse symptoms subside,
then we can creep back to our normal level of practice. However, if we have
been overdoing to the extreme, and suffering the consequences, then we
should adjust our practice times to levels that are reasonable, so we can
continue to live a normal life, while naturally integrating the benefits of
our practices into our everyday activities. This will yield the best long
term results for us.
Likewise, when time is short, we do not have to drop
our spiritual practices altogether. Our routine can be trimmed to fit just
about any time period, even only a few minutes. See the guidelines for
fitting a daily practice into a busy schedule in Lesson
209.
We always have a choice. Spiritual life is not
something that must be hijacking us from ordinary life. If it is, we have
probably been engaged in excess, either recently or at some time in the
past, and establishing a stable routine of practices can correct this. And
neither do our practices have to
be
squeezed out
entirely
by a busy schedule. Where there is the will, there is always a way.
Spiritual life is something that can be cultivated
in a self-directed way to bring fulfillment to our activities in everyday
life, whatever they may be. It is not all or nothing. The wise path is in
the middle. We are free to live our rising spiritual experiences in a way
that is compatible with our needs. It is our life, our journey, and our
enlightenment. We have no one to become but our
Self.
Automatic Yoga
The methods of yoga have been derived over the
centuries from the natural capabilities for spiritual unfoldment contained
within every human nervous system. Yoga does not determine these inherent
capabilities. It optimizes the application of them.
As we embark on a path of daily practice, it will
not be unusual for us to experience various expressions of our inner
capabilities for purification and opening. We are stimulating the spiritual
neurobiology, so it is natural for there to be some response. Ultimately,
the response will be wide-ranging, because the connectivity of yoga exists
between every organ, nerve and cell in our body. With systematic stimulation
in daily practices, the connections will awaken and there will be movement.
The movement may come in the form of rising interest
in all things spiritual a desire to study and do more to enhance our
progress on our spiritual path. It can also come in the form of an inner
ecstatic energy flow, or other energy symptoms.
The movement can also be quite literal at times, in
the form of physical movements and postures that may occur automatically
during our regular routine of practices, and sometimes outside practices.
These physical manifestations of yoga connectivity within us are referred to
as automatic yoga.
Some symptoms of automatic yoga may include rapid
breathing (bastrika) or a slowdown or stoppage of breath (kumbhaka), the
head going forward, back, or around (forms of jalandhara), the torso of the
body going forward and down during sitting practices (yoga mudra), or a
subtle integration of our mudras and bandhas into one holistic
ecstatic
inner embrace (whole
body mudra).
Or we may experience other
spontaneous visible mudras or bandhas during or after sitting practices,
vibrations in the body, rapid movement of the legs or arms, vocalizations of
various kinds, and many other things. Or there may be nothing at all. Just
gradually more inner silence, energy and happiness occurring in daily
living.
Those who have experiences of automatic yoga are not
necessarily more advanced or gifted than those who do not. Automatic yoga is
part of the process of inner purification and opening occurring as a result
of yoga practices, and nothing more than that. For some it will be more
pronounced than for others. Those who are not shaking all over the place
will be purifying and opening within in ways that are appropriate for the
unique matrix of obstructions that is present in their nervous system. Some
are purified through study, some are purified through increasing devotion or
other sensations that express the inner divine, and some are purified
through physical movements. Regardless of the symptoms that may be
occurring, or not, all are purified and opened through the systematic
application of daily yoga practices.
If physical movements or other symptoms are
occurring within our practices, or outside them, what are we supposed to do?
In practices, it is the same as any thought, vision or sensation that may
occur. When we notice our attention has drifted off the practice we are
doing, we just easily come back to the practice. If we are doing deep
meditation, we easily come back to the mantra. If we are doing spinal
breathing pranayama, we just easily come back to tracing the breath between
root and brow. If we are engaged in asanas, we just easily favor the posture
we are doing.
If automatic yoga becomes overwhelming, we can ease
off our practice for a few minutes and let our attention easily be with the
sensations we are experiencing. This will usually settle the energy down.
Then we can go back to our practice. If physical symptoms continue to be
intense, we can lay down and rest for a while.
All purification passes as openings occur, and all
symptoms of energy movements will settle down in time, as our nervous system
gradually becomes a purer conductor of the vast inner energies we are
awakening with yoga practices. While automatic yoga during normal daily
activity is less common, it can happen sometimes. In that case it is the
same as any other spiritual experiences we may have. We can allow the
experiences while observing them without excessive anticipation,
participation or judgment. We can go on with our daily activities, knowing
that we are alright. In time all such symptoms will smooth out and become
synonymous with the divine flow of our life. It has a lot to do with our
opening and acceptance of our divine condition. We always have the choice.
Automatic yoga can only dominate us if we engage it with fear.
In some systems of practice there are certain times
when automatic yoga in the form of physical movements may be permitted to
occur as part of the practice. In the AYP
baseline
system of practices,
this may be more likely during samyama when stillness is more inclined to be
moving us physically, and to lesser degrees during other sitting practices,
where we do not fight against swaying and other occasional spontaneous
movements that might occur during the normal course of our practices. This
does not mean we depart from our practice and focus our full attention on
the automatic yoga. This can be counterproductive, leading to overdoing,
particularly with changes in breathing or suspensions of breath.
It is good to keep in mind that automatic yoga is
not going to be cognizant of our limit for accommodating purification and
opening in a given period of time. Rather, automatic yoga is an impulse to
have it all right now. This is not possible without a high probability of
undergoing extreme discomfort, and then not being able to continue. In yoga
it is always best to let common sense have the last say, particularly when
the impulses that will lead us into excess are stirring. So we always favor
our predetermined structured routine of practices, come what may, and then
we will be assured of good progress with the least amount of disruption.
This is how our process of inner purification and opening will continue to
move forward. We always easily favor the practice over the experience.
If there are a few surges, bends, jerks or ecstatic
inner caresses occurring along the way, this will be normal, as will be the
lack of them. It is all part of our natural unfoldment.
The Hazards of Forcing Practices
In life, we have all had the urge to "go for it" at
one time or other, to push hard to reach our objective. In many fields of
human endeavor, it is considered a virtue to follow this impulse the
proverbial race for the finish line in whatever we are doing. It is the
stuff that heroes are made of.
But not in yoga, where the hero is the one who is
able to let go of acts of desperation in practices and allow the natural
process of purification and opening to occur with the least amount of
disruption.
Forcing yoga practices leads to excess in symptoms
of purification and the associated discomforts. If forcing has been extreme,
particularly when jumping too far ahead in undertaking advanced practices,
then the discomfort can be extensive, to the point where practices must
stop.
Symptoms of overdoing in practices are due to
excessive purification occurring in the nervous system related to premature
awakening of kundalini. The symptoms can be mental, emotional, physical, or
any combination of these. Kundalini, the source of great ecstasy within us,
can also bring great discomfort, if approached carelessly. The consideration
of kundalini, its symptoms of excess, and associated remedies, is a broad
and complex subject that is fully covered throughout the lessons. If yoga
practices are applied in a logical sequence with prudent self-pacing, the
excesses and discomfort associated with a premature kundalini awakening can
be largely avoided.
When symptoms of inner energy imbalance become
excessive, then special measures are necessary to recover before the
spiritual journey can continue. In this way, forcing our practices can lead
to a significant slowdown in our spiritual progress, not to mention the
unnecessary discomfort. While we are recovering from overdoing, the clock
will continue to run.
Sometimes, forcing and overdoing in practices will
not produce immediate uncomfortable symptoms, leading instead to a
delayed reaction that can be quite severe. This is especially true with
pranayama and breath suspension (kumbhaka) methods. In fact, there can be
pleasurable symptoms when first overdoing, inspiring the practitioner to
take the overdoing to a further extreme. And then, wham!
So it is very important for us to establish a stable
routine of practices that we can sustain over the long term, adding on in
small steps from time to time when we are sure that we are ready. This
measured approach is the fastest and most reliable way to cultivate
spiritual progress.
If we are driving too fast in our car along a
winding mountain road and fly off a cliff, we will be hard-pressed to reach
our destination in a timely manner. On the other hand, if we are prudent and
drive our car skillfully at a safe speed, slowing down when we go through
the rough patches, we will be sure to reach our destination in a timely
manner.
Grounding for Stability
If we have overdone it a bit in practices, we will
know to scale back on our practice times until the imbalance of our inner
energies has been resolved. An important part of this relates to our daily
activity.
Even with a stable routine of sitting practices, our
daily activity is very important. The inner silence we cultivate in deep
meditation and the inner energy awakening we stimulate with spinal breathing
pranayama and other practices must be stabilized in regular daily activity.
This is very important so we can integrate these inner spiritual qualities
in our everyday life. It is natural for inner silence and the inner energies
to seek an outer expression in the world. Whatever we are doing during the
day between our practices will become that path. So it is essential to
maintain an active life according to our own inclinations. Then our inner
qualities will become increasingly stable in all that we do, bringing a
peacefulness, creativity and energy to all aspects of our daily activity.
So grounding is fundamental to all spiritual
practice, though we may not call it that as we are going about our normal
activities.
When there is an excess of inner energy due to
overdoing in our yoga practices, or for other reasons, it is wise to scale
back on practices temporarily, and ramp up our grounding activities. This
can mean regular physical exercise, more engagement in social activity,
chores around the house, digging in the garden, doing a daily Tai Chi
routine, eating a heavier diet, whatever it takes to ground ourselves.
During such times, it will also be wise to scale back on spiritual study,
self-inquiry and devotional activities, which can also over-stimulate our
inner energies.
All of these will be temporary measures, until we
find our balance in daily living again. As we do, we can gradually restore
our practices and adjust our daily activities according to what is necessary
to maintain steady long term progress with comfort and safety.
The guru is in you.
Click here for
additional lesson content on use of the AYP Practice Chart, or the Secrets
of Wilder Practice Chart.
Related Lessons Topic Path
Discuss this Lesson in the AYP Plus Support Forum
Note:
For detailed instructions on building a
daily practice routine with self-pacing, see the
Eight Limbs of Yoga Book,
and AYP Plus.
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