How I Fixed My Kundalini Rash

[Jim and His Karma]

After kundalini awoke, I learned to stress exhalation in all my practices, because inhalation shot still more energy to my overly-energized head. It hurt! I'd previously been a lifelong favorer of inhalation/energy rising, just in general (which is why kundalini awoke so quickly/easily for me in the first place), but I learned to be a favorer of exhale/energy grounding. Even in pranayama, while I'd do a long slow upward inhalation, I learned not to carry much energy up with it. Meditation, samyama, etc, were all about exhale.

Over time, I gradually fixed the problems that were causing energy to trap in my head. This relieved all my kundalini symptoms except one: my rash....which refused to go away.

Years went by before I realized I'd never reversed that breathing emphasis (even though I could now tolerate rising energy without a problem). When I coaxed myself to allow long, soulful, energizing inhalations in practice, the rash went away instantly. I also feel better, generally.

Note: the coaxing period was obviously a distraction, and it definitely took me out of my meditation. But a week or so of distracted practice was more than worth it to fix this problem. And I was very gentle in coaxing - even though I was pretty firmly engrained in favoring exhalation.

[jean]

Thanks Jim. That's also the problem I have to work through atm.
Too much fire energy got in the head and probably a breathing imbalance added even more to it.

Some interesting comment on the subject from a Zen perspective:
 

quote:...Some practitioners inhale much longer and more strongly than they exhale. This causes imbalance, producing an unfavorable effect. Eventually one can be put in a position of being unable to practice Zen due to panting, heaviness, and the fire energy rising up, inducing indigestion or blocked energy around the belly. One cannot settle the focus in the Danjeon under the condition of the fire energy rising up. When the focus is not settled, one may feel suffocated. Trying forcibly to practice further arouses the fire energy, and this can separate the practitioner from sitting meditation forever. This is called getting the Zen illness. If one finds oneself in such a condition, one needs to proceed wisely. One should not try to solve this problem by oneself, but put a question to a more experienced predecessor. Depending on the seriousness of this illness, there are many methods for its cure. If it deepens, one had better stop the Zen of resting the energy in the Danjeon and instead recite the name of the Buddha, try walking meditation, or practice koan-observing Zen, until the blocked energy vanishes completely. It is obvious that the wisest and easiest way is to prevent the illness before it starts. Therefore, it is most desirable that one tries to settle the focus on Danjeon as soon as possible, balance the inhaling and exhaling, and make the breathing and the resting of energy in the Danjeon one unity...

http://phila.wonbuddhism.info/eng2/meditation/me_2_23.html

[Jim and His Karma]

quote:Originally posted by jean

Thanks Jim. That's also the problem I have to work through atm.
Too much fire energy got in the head and probably a breathing imbalance added even more to it.

I'm not sure you understood what I was saying.

If you have "fire" energy trapped in your head, you need to ground it, and bring it downward. See the first link in my top posting for some suggestions on that. The last thing you need to do is be bringing up more energy to the head.

I'm talking about what happens after that problem has been resolved - when the energy grounds and no longer traps in the head. That problem was resolved for me a few years ago, however I was unconsciously stuck in the habit of suppressing the passage of upward energy (and, therefore, suppressing my inhalations.....and stressing my exhalations).

It's important to note that habit had served me well to keep from worsening the quantity of trapped, ungrounded energy in my aching head. But having resolved that issue, I was overdue in re-balancing the breathing and the passage of energy; to get over my outdated aversion to deep, full, inhalation during practice.

My failure to attend to this immediately once I'd managed to ground my energy, kept my kundalini rash going for years after it would otherwise have disappeared.

I hope that clarifies.

[jean]

Thanks for your clarification. Got rid of my rash too
First thing that helped more than anything is lower dantien breathing(supine position) and made some diet adjustments as well.
The fire energy rising mainly from the liver and kidneys caused also this high pitched ringing in my ears.
Headache and skin dryness is also one of the main symptoms of too much yang fire energy which dries out the body fluids.
The symptoms are well known in TCM and they have good treatments as well.

Be safe folks