Advanced Yoga Practices
Main lessons
by Yogani
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Lesson 64 - The Ecstatic Silver Thread
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?”
From: Yogani
Date: Fri Jan 2, 2004 0:27pm
Q: I think I have gotten a little carried away with the mulabandha. It just feels sensually very good to do it, especially moving it around, pulling it up and so on. Well, I don’t want to stop doing it. I noticed after practices yesterday while I was walking outside that the energy I have been playing with in mulabandha is coming up in a very fine line, like a thread of pleasure coming up in my pelvis and lower spine. In my mind’s eye it looks silver, a searing silver feeling, and is both hot and cold at the same time. Is this kundalini? My heart is swooning before this new experience.
A: Yes. A very good experience. A milestone. It is another way kundalini can manifest in the beginning stages of awakening. It gives clarity to the spinal nerve too. So be sure and take advantage of that added definition in your spinal breathing practice. You will soon find the thread going all the way up to the point between the eyebrows, and a direct connection with sambhavi will emerge. This is the rise of ecstatic conductivity in the spinal nerve.
As for the desire to engage in mulabandha for the pleasure of it, there is nothing wrong with that. Actually, if you are moving rhythmically with it, it is asvini mudra, and that is okay too, as long as you are responding to a natural urge. Was it ever said here that spiritual practice is not supposed to be pleasurable? Just the opposite. If it is pleasurable, it is just right. The path to enlightenment is a path of pleasure.
Having said that, make sure you do not completely disrupt the structure and procedure of practices with your ecstatic reveries. Remember, you are going for much more than beginning experiences of ecstasy. If you stay true to your practices, the experiences will steadily advance.
Spiritual practice can evolve into a wonderful ecstatic party twice a day. It will, and it will spread out into every corner of life. But make sure it remains a party with a plan. Continue to follow the easy procedures for pranayama and meditation. Remember that engaging the attention excessively in experiences will be at the cost of spiritual practices. As for what you do with it as it expands into your daily life outside practices, it is entirely up to you. Enjoy!
So party on, but do it responsibly. There is much more in store if you keep your practices intact no matter how good the experiences get.
The guru is in you.
Note: For detailed instructions on spinal breathing, see the AYP Spinal Breathing Pranayama Book, and AYP Plus.
These lessons on yoga are reproduced from www.aypsite.orgÂ