making it work

I set my timer today for the kriya. Yet, after this last week, I was in the practice of counting my movement. Instead of stopping my count, I decided to just go with it.
After the timer beeped, I discovered that my "count" was timed right with the half time of the minutes given for each posture. My "competative mind" wanted to provoke me to think that I was doing fewer movements. It turned out that I was in sync with the times with which I started this 40-day journey. In short: 108 reps for each leg on leg lifts equals 5 minutes. 54 reps on both leg lifts equals 2-1/2 minutes. 200 reps equals 7-1/2 minutes. 30 reps per leg equals 1 minute.

Lesson learned: relax and God will do the rest.


In the practice of Kundalini yoga, the yogini moves the Kundalini energy up through all seven chakras. The goal of this energy movement is to reach the seventh chakra and experience enlightenment.

Kundalini yoga is not only useful in strengthening the health and well-being of the physical body, but also very useful for emotional balance, stress relief, mental clarity, and personal transformation.

Noticeable benefits of Kundalini Yoga:

* Balanced emotions
* Strengthened nervous system
* Strengthened immune system
* Increased energy level
* Enlivened sense of awareness
* Sense of peace
* Clarity to the mind
* Stress reduction
* Increased lung capacity for better breathing
* Supports and encourages personal transformation and growth
* Orients consciousness to create happiness and health

Kundalini can be awakened by various means and different methods: Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, and meditation techniques.

***

body aware

If you decide to practice a strenuous yoga set, such as nabhi kriya, then it is important to understand how your body is affected so that you can self balance. As you open to awareness of breath and spirit, you should understand that shifts in body and consciousness of being are going to happen.

1) Observe Your Body, Behavior: Being athletic by nature, I find that I closely observe my body and my behavior. I take care of myself and do my best to adjust to shifts. Practicing these powerful postures every day were strengthening my abdominal muscles, but they were also exhausting them.

2) Rise Up Above Excuses, Relax: When I forgot my timer during my mini vacation, I relaxed with counting the movements within each posture. As I continued to practice my morning sadhana yoga, I found that my ab muscles stretched and better supported other postures. Rather than push hard on the nabhi kriya this week and possibly injure my muscles, I've maintain my newly adopted relaxed attitude.

3) Enjoy Your Power: Everything happens for a reason. I keep reminding myself that I went into this 40 day kriya without any expectations. Again, another discovery is that the refrain to shorter times has completely restored my balance and improved my energy. My stronger abdominal muscles improve my posture with my other yoga sets.


**

Live a life of awareness, and be a witness. Carefully observe your own mind, your worries and emotions. Free yourself from these bondages, intelligently. -- Paramahamsa Hariharananda

**

tangled up and blue

My weekly escape provides an essential get-away from this crazy, horn-loving, urban landscape in which I dwell. However, to maintain a one-hour kriya, plus meditation away from the daily practice spot can be challenging.

Whenever I arrive at a destination, at first opportunity I try to find a quiet place to practice. (and in the case of living in Egypt, a relatively clean spot)

In an oversight while packing for this trip, I left home without my timer.

No excuses. Socializing time, weather, place, and no timer gave me plenty of excuses.

In the early morning hours, I took my spot where I could stretch out completely and not be disturbed in the middle of the kriya. Since I was sans timer, I counted each posture. (what did those ancient yogis do without timers??)

108 is the number I picked for the longer timed postures...and 31 to 54 on the shorter postures.

My competitive mind was flooded with notions that if I don't have full timed postures, the kriya would be less challenging, or I would break the integrity of this 40-day kriya. (please see nabhi kriya entry dated september 2)
Huh? Where do I come up with these ideas?
Definitely not.
My intuition opened awareness that I am practicing at the perfect point of this series. The energy keeps flowing. It's all challenging, maybe not the physical as much, but most definitely the mental.

Having these few days of counting the movements provided physical, mental, and emotional respite. Most importantly, my mental energy was brought into balance as I gave up competitive excesses. The demand of my nature to push forward, to bite down and not give up, and to hold hard against "slacking" was engaged and successfully calmed. Stepping out of my usual environment, tuning into intuition, and just relaxing revealed perspective on this identified "routine" that I created.


**By annihilating the ego, we reach true universality, a fuller life and life eternal. --Yogi Bhajan

steady

I prepared to start the kriya, and then I stopped. My mind kicked in with force and rebellion. I had to pause for a few minutes and just let me be. I told myself that I could stop at any time, but I set the timer for the full time. In each posture, as I glanced at the timer, I would say, just a few more minutes. Breath in "Sat", breath out "Nam." Leg up "I am", leg down "I am". I have never looked at the timer as often as I did today. Yet, it wasn't that I was struggling with the pose, it was all mental junk.

My internal temperature isn't heating up as it did when I started. This set really amps up the heat.

Yogi Bhajan on the navel point: "There is a very powerful psychic power under the Navel Point. It sits there like a cobra snake and when it wakes up, it travels through the six centers of the body and awakens them with its touch. When it touches the Seventh Center, the person knows all. When it intermingles with the aura, it delightfully enlightens the arcline and makes everything work out for the person."
a pic that i took at a fire show performed at the pyramids. kinda feel like this today.
:

yoga yoga everywhere, but no experience will speak

For the last several months, I've surfed all sorts of yoga sites and blogs. It's interesting that almost no one writes about their individual experiences practicing yoga. Most duplicate information that was written by spiritual masters, or writing about how they are an incredible a teacher, or how they are conscious or "enlightened."


Commitment to Daily Yoga Practice:
It is now Day 16 of practicing nabhi kriya. (Follow this link for Postures in Kriya)

Today, I successfully completed full times given for each posture. (up to now, I was doing half time). I could move through each posture with integrity, and maintain perfect form. The second exercise did challenge me again for the last 2 minutes. I just slowed down so that I wouldn't tense up on the posture. (no clenching jaw or shoulders.)

I've practiced countless kundalini yoga kriyas over the years (for 40 days and more). I've practiced meditations, several for mastery. (every day for 1000 days, and more). Yet, I've always avoided practicing nabhi kriya. The few times that I've started it, I found that I couldn't control my emotions and I was spit-fire angry at everyone.

What are my Experiences now?
Below are seven observations that I have made over the last week. After I reviewed my observations, I realized that seven is the number of perfection, security, safety and rest.

1) From Annoyed to Amused: After the five days of complete physical release, I moved into a "slightly off" space. Emotionally, I have gotten annoyed at environments, but not angry. My annoyance passed quickly, and I had to laugh at myself. A few times, my monkey mind went out of control but I found my center just by pausing and using these techniques. (see yesterday's post)

2) Neutral Mind: Overall, I'm less opinionated when engaged in emotionally charged topics. My thoughts are in balance and more centered than ever. I'm not out to prove a point, or defend my situation. It just doesn't seem as important. I listen.

3) Improved Posture: Physically, my spine feels aligned. I stand taller...than I already am. My left hip, that has always been problematic, feels adjusted. When I sit in lotus pose, my left knee doesn't pop up...it's flattening closer to the floor.

4) No Expectation, Not Processing: I'm not sure if my experiences these days are because I have given up expectations of outcome, stopped worrying about "processing," or whether I've matured.
I remember the many times I've been blasted with anger from a fellow yoga practitioner, only to have him or her come back a few minutes later, and say "Sorry, I'm just processing." It was always so harsh and confusing to me. Being on the receiving end of "processing" has turned me off to refer to my experience as processing. So rather than processing, I've moved through having expectations of an outcome from this daily practice.

5) Listen to My Inner Voice:  I've stopped listening to the memory tapes of my friends saying things like: "nabhi kriya makes you really angry" or "it hurts too much to practice" or "waaayyyy too intense of a yoga set, no way" or "i don't have that much time to practice a whole set."

6) From There to Here: After traveling to the dark side of pain and anguish over this last year, I can say that I'm back on track. My intension to live...rather than die...is solid. Every moment is fresh. I'm not even half way through the 40 days. Each day, I anticipate the hour that I've set aside for this kriya for whatever it will bring. When I wake up in the morning to the symphony of honking horns and yelling voices in the street, I smile.

7) It's a new day.

++

Mind can be a good friend if handled with care, but it can be a great enemy if untrained and undisciplined. - Paramahamsa Hariharananda 

++

the body speaks

Day 10 of nabhi kriya. Core becoming stronger...physical condition somewhat stable. Just as I did when I decided to start this intended yoga set, I flipped back the pages of my journal to read my free-flow moments from the past few days. (yes, despite being flat on my back in bed...I am true to my daily "time to write.")

I can only liken my condition to heat stroke. I write this because the trigger to all of this dis-harmony in my body seemed to be kicked into high gear by spending the entire day outside last Thursday. I was exercising and only drank less than a liter of water.

Indeed, the lack of water and the Cairo heat contributed somewhat to my physical problems over the last 5 days. But, I also know that issues run deep and will find a way to surface by our unconscious acts.

My reference guide whenever I experience serious physical ailments is "the Body Speaks" by Michael J. Lincoln (aka Dr. Narayan Singh) His website is a wealth of information: Talking Hearts

I've copied the below physical conditions for reference, unedited and straight from his book. I hope that anyone reading this post might find this information insightful and helpful. As I usually find for any of Mr. Lincoln's deeply intuitive prescriptions, some points strike a nerve, some not...but I rarely discount much of this man's insights.

HEAT-STROKE (Dizziness, nausea, spots before their eyes)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Get me outta here!” They are feeling overwhelmed and very oppressed by their current circumstances.
They are highly co-dependent and over-responsible for everyone in their life’s problems, and they hate it.
They are disgusted and revolted, and their feeling is that “This is an up with which I will no long put!”
It came from out of nowhere in a “return of the repressed” fashion as their situation reactivated their childhood experiences in spades.
They were systematically suppressed, exploited and blamed by their dysfunctional family.

NAUSEA
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“What a revolting development THIS is!” They are having a fear and disgust reac-tion to what is happening to them.
They are totally rejecting an idea or experience -- they don’t want to have anything to do with it.
They want to throw it right back out again.
They feel that something wrong or immoral is happening.
They are inundated with disgust with the situation and themselves, and they are full of fear of the consequences of what’s going down.
They feel that something dreadful has happened, and they feel responsible for it. They wish it hadn’t happened, and they are truly sorry it has occurred.
They deeply wish they hadn’t “done it”.
They want things to return to the way they were before this hap-pened.
They are full of upset, pain and sadness, they don’t want the situation anywhere near them.
They desperately want to undo the past, and they are afraid of the effects of this on their future.
They are full of dissatisfaction, disgust and regret over the way things are.
They are saying to themselves over and over, “I should have . . .”
They feel personally accountable for everything that happens, particularly the negative outcomes.
Their family held them accountable and responsible for all that took place, and all eyes turned in their direction when anything went wrong -- which was frequently.
They were made very aware they had no right to commit to anyone or anything else but the continued maintenance of the family.
They therefore have great guilt about sexuality, success, and intimacy, as if these were “evil deeds”.
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DIARRHEA
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“Shooting the rapids.” They are feeling overwhelmed, that things are moving too fast.
They are intensely rejecting of the possibilities in front of them.
They are fearful, and they want to run off, to get away from all this.
They don’t want to assimilate and absorb what they are experiencing.
They feel in over their head much of the time, and they are easily flattened by ex-periences.
They are the product of over-protective and possessive parenting in which they were systematically programmed to be unable to cope with life’s demands.
*************************************
“Get out of my life!”. They need to get rid of some duty, some obligation or some other thing in their life.
They are desparately trying to clear the toxic systems, situations and people out of their life.
They want to get this over with so as to return to a desired routine.
They are in effect seeking to escape the situation and running away from the re-requirements involved.
They tend to be compulsively orderly and sameness-demanding in their function-ing.
However, they are wanting to “throw the baby out with the bath” as they reject the past, and they try to get rid of ideas too rapidly.
They are wanting to get the whole thing over with in a hurry, and they are rushing it.
There is an underlying passivity and desire not to be bothered, and they are acutely fearful of their situation.
They are the product of a competence- and confidence-undermining enmeshed dys-functional family.
*************************************
“Here it comes!”. They are faced with a heavy and meaningful task, they wish it were over and done with.
Something important is pending, and they don’t want to go through with it.
They have a fair amount of competence-anxiety and built-in programming against success and intimacy.
They were supposed to stick around the old homestead and take care of their par-ents.
Any move towards independence, self-empowerment, and significant involvement/ contribution/commitment activates annihilation-anxiety and betrayal-guilt.
The current situation is just such a requirement and issue for them.
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The “TROTS”; The “RUNS”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Scared shitless”. They are being overwhelmed by the requirement and/or process of having either to let go of the past or to take on something radially new and different. Something extremely important is pending and about to happen, and they are totally terrified of its implications and ramifications.
They are wanting to rush through it with their nose plugged, so to speak, so as to not experience it or the transition process to it.
The situation at hand is one in which they are being forced out of their old pattern of lifestyle, and they are completely blown away by the prospects of life without it.
They come from a chronically anxious and catastrophe-expecting “hunkering down in the bunker” family culture.
*************************************
“Hands on control”. There is an underlying passivity and desire not to be bothered, and yet they are simply terrified of letting go.
They have an abiding fear of the Universe, and they have to have personal control of their life and of the environment around them. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
It feels like a matter of almost life and death to them.
They grew up alone on their own in totally untrustworthy but seemingly unim-peachable environment, but their deeper experience was that things are never as they seem.
They learned to take care of everything and everyone, in a desparate disaster-de-flecting psychology.
The “buck stopped with them”, while the family considered them to be the cause of all their problems.

** Read more "Messages from the Body," by Michael J. Lincoln available on line at Talking Hearts

**

some stability returns

The last few days have been a blur. I struggled with dehydration and fought with friends that I would not end up in hospital. Fortunately, my prayers are powerful, and so is my projection. It's all illusion, and I know me best. Though it was touch and go, I have cleared what needed to be cleared so far.

With the exception of the one day that I had to reduce the times of each posture to 1 or 2 minutes, I'm back to the half times. Despite all these physical set backs, I feel stronger. My mental stability is centered and present moment.

Yogi Bhajan: "God gave you the body with praana and apaana. Apaanas are there to eliminate negativity. People who have strong praana and do not have equally strong apaana are very cluttered people. They do not know how to eliminate things and elimination is very important. It is the balance of praana and apaana which creates the power of the Shashmana, the central being, the equilibrium being. The Supreme being will awaken in you only when the praana and apaana both work together. One gives the power and the other eliminates negativeity: all you will be left with is the plus."

**from "Praana, Praannee, Praanayam"

day 5 and the unexpected

It's day five of Nabhi Kriya and I am toast! I went into this with no expectations, but I certainly didn't expect this!

In this balance of praana and apaana energies, I've unleashed the elimination force! Home-bound and bed-bound. I can't move.

My heat gauge is topped out. Today, I had to reduce all the postures to 2 to 3 minutes on the longer ones, and then 30 seconds on the shorter ones. I barely make it through the set.

I shall not give up, but I shall not check out either.

** I've had friends tell me that I'm full of shit, but this is ridiculous. **

balancing life

My birthday closes August and since I can remember, I've always considered it to be the start of my new year.

Over the last few days, my journal writings are revealing interesting phrases to describe my being. I find sentences like "It is time to drop anchor." or "I want to stand and deliver." As I write, I free flow and don't stop. Days later, I flip back pages and re-read my stream of consciousness of that moment. As I read last week's entries, my internal ping connected. What the hell am I talking about?

Yesterday, I took my stand to deliver my Self. I started the practice of Nabhi Kriya. (complete kriya set posted yesterday, Sept. 2, 2007)

My intention is 40 days of practice. No attachment to the process or outcome, just a steady daily practice.

Though I have a daily practice of yoga, the sets I have been practicing have been more gentle lately. My navel point has weakened, so to make it through this set with integrity and proper posture, I halved all the given times. Not without struggle, I was able to keep my form, and the set flowed very smoothly. The second posture proved to be very difficult at the end, but I kept up.

During my relaxation, I felt fear in the form of abandonment. My sensations and thoughts kept repeating that I was all alone, on this spinning planet, and death is a breath away. My answer was to keep breathing, long and deep and slow and gently remind that it's only thoughts and mind.

Everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone.

You can click on the tag "navel" or "nabhi kriya" for other experiences of nabhi kriya. Or find the complete kriya posted here: http://yogaeverywhere.blogspot.com/2007/09/nabhi-kriya.html
**

Nabhi Kriya

Nabhi refers to the nerve plexus around the navel point. This set focuses on developing the strength of the navel point. Times indicated are for advanced students. To begin practice, start with 3 to 5 minutes on the longer exercise. Together, these exercises get the abdominal area in shape quickly, and activate the power of the Third Chakra.

I find that it's helpful for me to start this kriya by aligning my body. I alternate stretching my shoulders with hips-legs: so as I slide my left shoulder up to my left ear, I alternately stretch my right hip down, and vice verse with opposite shoulder and hips. I do this a few times to help me come into perfect alignment.

POSITION 1: Alternative Leg Lifts

On back, inhale and lift right leg up to 90 degrees. Exhale and lower it.


Repeat with left leg.
Continue alternative leg lifts with deep powerful breathing for 10 minutes.
This is for the lower digestive area.

POSITION 2: Leg Lifts
note: my left hand is holding the auto shutter trip for the camera: the posture is fingers on both hands are pointing to the ceiling, and palms face each other.

Without pause, lift both legs up to 90 degrees on inhale, and lower them on exhale. For balance and energy, have the arms stretched straight up, palms facing each other. 5 minutes. This is for the upper digestion and solar plexus.

POSITION 3: Knees to Chest

Bend knees and clasp them to the chest with the arms, allowing the head to relax back. Rest in this position for 5 minutes.
This eliminates gas and relaxes the heart.

POSITION 4: Outstretch Legs

Beginning in Position 3, inhale, open the arms straight out to the sides on the ground and extend the legs straight out to 60 degrees. Exhale and return to original position. Repeat and continue for 15 minutes.

POSITION 5: Leg Lift

On back, bring left knee to the chest, hold it there with both hands and rapidly raise the right leg up to 90 degrees and down, inhaling up, exhaling down for 1 minute.


Switch legs and repeat for 1 minute.

Repeat the complete cycle once more. This sets the hips and lower spine.

POSITION 6: Front Bends

Stand up straight, raising arms overhead, hugging ears and press fingers back so that palms face the sky or ceiling.



Exhale as you bend forward to touch the ground, keeping the arms straight and hugging ears, and inhale up, very slowly with deep breathing. On exhale, apply mulbandh. Continue at a slow pace for 2 minutes, then more rapidly for 1 minute. This is for the entire spinal fluid and the aura.

POSITION 7: Relax

Totally relax or meditate for 10-15 minutes

**

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