Sunday, July 11, 2010

Re: [Kundalini Yoga] Re: Sodarchan Chakra Kriya

 

sat nam

what wise words
wahe guru

love and blessings

liz
----- Original Message -----
From: Ezekiel
To: Kundaliniyoga@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2010 12:24 AM
Subject: [Kundalini Yoga] Re: Sodarchan Chakra Kriya

Lily,

Great question. I have a pretty strong opinion on this, based on what I've experienced, read and observed in others. . .

First of all, if you read the classic hatha yoga texts, when they talk about pranayama, they say it is important to train the breath very slowly. That working with the breath is like taming a wild tiger, one must be cautious.

I believe that Sodarshan Chakra Kriya falls under the category of one of the very secret, "advanced" practices that Yogi Bhajan taught openly for the first time. He was generous to share many of these with us, because he thought we needed powerful tools - but we still need to respect the more advanced practices and be very mindful of the messages our body and psyche are sending us when we engage in these. Just because a gifted ky teacher gave you a kriya, does not mean that it's actually right for you. I read once (don't know the source, if it came from YB or not, sorry) that it's recommended to do 6 months of nabhi kriya before engaging in sodarshan chakra kriya! Having done both these as a sadhana (and not in that recommended sequence, btw) this makes total sense to me.

When you do prolonged breath retention (esp with pumping, as in sck) WITHOUT the proper preparation, what tends to happen is that we create tension in certain areas - this does not facilitate liberation, and if certain chakras are particularly clogged, the breath retention CAN make it worse. Hence the logic in preparing with something like nabhi kriya, which balances all the lower chakras and even opens the heart.

I have noticed that in kundalini yoga, people tend to be rather cavalier about jumping into what would traditionally have been advanced practices without thorough preparation. for example, you go to a yoga class, you've never done yoga before, and the teacher's guiding you through "one-minute breath", telling you to hold as long as you can, etc - all without building up your prana mechanism over time first. oftentimes this causes people to get high very quickly, but at times, and especially over time, it can start to derange the prana. Unless you are very sensitive to what's going on in your body/psyche, you may not even realize that this is happening, until months later.

we are often encouraged to "keep up," and I think it's equally important to check in with yourself and respect limitations that arise. just because you're dreading doing SCK does not mean it's simply bitter medicine for you!

having said all that, I don't want to discourage you from practicing sck if you feel it would be beneficial. Here's how I would go about it:
start with long deep breathing, until you feel at ease.
then start to inhale through left, hold (keep chest, throat and jaw relaxed) and exhale through right. you can mentally say "wahe guru" rhythmically without pumping.
after you've done a few breaths like this, add the pumps gently, and don't start out with 48 pumps. maybe start with 6 or 12. over time you can build up. You want it to be a joyful experience. yes, at times it will bring unpleasant stuff up, and it's important to maintain a neutral mind and let the practice take you where it will. but you want your yoga practice to help you to process stress, not add more stress to your day (I.e. "dreading" practice)!

What do you think?

sat nam,
Ardas Singh

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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