Hi DawnCalling[
],
The 3 main nadis are ida,pingala and sushumna. Most people either have a dominant ida or pingala unless they have progressed in yoga (or start off that way at this juncture, life-time etc[
] providing you believe in all of that)and balanced the both.(Balance will determine if kundalini will comfortably rise and or say not retreat back to root which it can do if it's awaken too quickly or prematurely which is what happened in my case seeing as i also started off with a slightly dominant pingala or right body side plus i was guilty of forcing using hatha yoga and automatic internal yoga manouvres).You sound like me; you may have a more dominant pingala nadi.This i believe is usually evidenced by more sensations on the left side of third-eye/ajna and/or crown.Your cue for gaining more balance is your right side and brain will waken up. If you come to yoga with a bigger imbalance on one side you will find the practice called nadi shodhana a panacea for all imbalances.The left nostril corresponds to ida and the right to pingala.Strangely enough my pingala is dominant but my pingal/right nostril is usually been more closed. An effective way i have found to open up a more closed nostril is to lie on the side opposite the closed nostril for at least five minutes , before commencing nadi shodhana. I find this works every time.Also you know the yogis say the nostrils switch every 90mins or so.
Correspondencies/Relationships.**Right hemipshere,ida,left nostril,left side of the body & nadi channels
**Left hemipshere,pingala,right nostril,right side of the body & nadi channels
There's your cue.You can actually feel dormant areas on one side of the brain and/or nadis(ie the subtle nerves) lighten up and consequently feel more balanced,more centred afterwards.It's a kind of sensitivity to the movement of the subtle currents of energy which is cultivated and observed while, i.e during sitting practices or indeed outside of them.
I don't strictly follow AYP currently but follow it's principles.And i've compared a few different traditions or schools. The is no such thing as the better way just different approaches and methods.
But if you balance ida and pingala
Sushumna can awaken and will naturally.
Then kundalini will rise and awaken.
The STARTING premise of AYP is the cultivation of inner silence through deep meditation.See how this works for you and then you can review your practice accordingly. I can tell you that i also do a third-eye practice where i focus on the third-eye.A gentle sambhavi occurs also then i can add that too but mainly just place my awareness at the ajna centre either on the forehead or if you want to go deeper between at the top of the spinal cord between the ears and straight through the forehead. In the beggining stages on the forehead is good enough place to start.This may be confusing if you're new to AYP or internal yoga, following attention and intention.I believe the practice should be adapted or ideally tailored to suit the individual but at this early stage it's worth following AYP as precribed in the lessons for what works and what perhaps may not work so well.
The company of other practioners, such as this forum, is a great boon and motivator.. It does'nt really matter what they do or maybe don't follow. If you've got a shared sangha and heart in yoga then the details of practice don't really matter.The magic ingredient is really bhakti or spiritual deisre regardless of the method,school or approach and all else will follow.So you can stick with a method or bunch of methods for the long-term approach and gradually you develop the faith and sefl-suufficiency that you are on the right path for you.The path may alter or the details of practice may be modofied or refined. Also you want to weigh up dietary and lifestyle observations or considerations that come along with the eight-limbed path of classical yoga and how they fit into the bigger picture along with necessary grounding,exercise,mental peace etc.It cann take time too witness the real fruits of practice but it's worth it and a little faith goes a long way.
Read up(i.e AYP lessons), study and the main thing of all--practice.
Crown activity after two weeks i interpret as a good thing; it just means you're ripe. If it bothers you then you can bring your attention to the third-eye and place it there without or without sambhavi(optional is the way i do it), the crown opens by proxy as Yogani beautifully explains.It's all about balance, not forcing, going steadily but surely.The analogy Yogani used is to put your foot on the gas pedal of a ferrari before you've familliarised yourself properly with the controls or without a tank and how the vehicle behaves,operates etc etc.
Some people may appear to worry unecessarily about things.And where they hear the label say kundalini yoga it sends the bejeebees through them. Well we never would have went to the moon if that was the case. You climb the mountain in baby steps. Before you know you've gone farther than you think. A great thing with AYP is developing skills in sefl-sufficency and cultivating the inner guru and the silent witness. This is a great spiritual ally and guide in often confusing sea of diverse and differing information and advise. Main thing is not to worry etc.
Generally speaking
asana if you can do that
some pranayama
meditation
rest
Do it once or twice a day and then see how you get on. Two weeks really is early days.
Best of luck .And hope this is helpful and not too confusing.
P.S AYP for two weeks to me means you do deep meditation.There's also spinal breathing too which you add on at some point before later.