self pacing breath meditation

[maheswari]

dear friends[]

last june i was seriously overloading ..at that time i was doing:
10 min SBP (with shambavi and mulabhanda)
20min DM
samyama
cosmic samyama
10 min relaxation
i stopped all practices for 3 weeks

early july  i did the following:
5min SBP (with shambavi and mulabhanda)
10min DM
10 min final relaxation

i overloaded big time again ..i even had few panic attacks that i obeserved calmly happening in me (thanks to the  witness[:X])

i stopped all practices again....now all the physical and psychological symptoms have totatlly disappeared

few days ago i started:
10 min breath meditation (as per lesson 367)
10 min final relaxation
....
i have few questions:
in lesson 367 Yogani says:
 

quote:Those engaged in breath meditation may find a more comfortable path of additional practices leading through samyama, self-inquiry and karma yoga (service), which focus less directly on the cultivation of ecstatic conductivity (internal energy flow), and may be more manageable for practitioners who have inner energy sensitivity already present. These practices naturally expand the expression (movement) of inner silence in our life, and will bring the necessary ecstatic conductivity and radiance along with less risk of energy overloads. Samyama, self-inquiry and karma yoga are also excellent vehicles for surging bhakti, which over-sensitive meditators usually have an abundance of.

i feel this is my personal inclination..although i have done meditation for years and i was never the oversenstitive type , now it seems i have become the oversenstitive type[] ...in ayp i always liked the meditation,samyama and enquiry parts more than the bhanda ,mudras and pranayama....

also for some time i feel i want to do more selfless service (i am currently translating ayp writtings...taking care of mum who is in an alzheimer hospital ...) so i think i am gona do some volontureeing in an NGO

i have few questions:
1.is breath meditation as effective as mantra meditation?
2.i was going through the nectar cycle...what will happen to this cycle now that i have stopped all energy practices like shambavi,mulabhnada and SBP...will cycle keep on happpening by itself or not?
3.how the ecstatic conducitivity will be developed? cause in fact we need both the iiner silence and ecstatic conductivity for enlightenement...


i really look forward to reaching a stable practice of 20 min of breath meditaton and add back again samayama which i miss very much[:I]...but it is wiser  to take things slow..

all inputs will be appreciated[]
Love

[AumNaturel]

As some guesses, if mantra meditation leads to overloads, then you are or have become more sensitive which would mean you need something lighter for a period of time such as breath meditation. If it exerted the same effect it would by definition also be excessive. I started with breath meditation and it was enjoyable, but comparing between the two is hard to say anything definitive at least from a beginner perspective.

Inner silence and ecstatic conductivity are said to feed back into each other, and the process works smoother and quicker if both sides are engaged equally with practices. With enough inner silence the energy practices could be creeping in even with just meditation. If you already have kundalini and real positive signs of inner alchemy going on, that sounds like a sure path forward no matter what you must do with self-pacing.

[maheswari]

thx AumNaturel for your reply

[mr_anderson]

1.is breath meditation as effective as mantra meditation?
-Hi Maheswari. If you're an extremely sensitive meditator (like I am), sometimes the "I am" mantra meditation can be like using a carving knife to perform heart surgery I think you have to go with what is most natural and intuitively right. Unfortunately whilst there is a lot we can do to enhance our progress towards enlightenment, there's definitely no 100% fail-proof prescription for it, so you've got to follow your intuition. For me right now, I always do some twice daily form of practice, but it ranges from: Just Sitting (sitting and doing nothing at all - I find this the lightest practice, but it can have great effects), Breath Meditation or when I feel ready for it, 'I am' Mantra. Some teachers say just sitting/ doing nothing style is more effective. Obviously Yogani doesn't agree.

3.how the ecstatic conducitivity will be developed? cause in fact we need both the iiner silence and ecstatic conductivity for enlightenement...
-I know this is the AYP party line, and I agree that paying attention to ecstatic conductivity and kundalini related aspects is probably important for awakening. Certainly, when I've had awakening experiences I had some very powerful kundalini symptoms (ball of light energy in my head etc). However, once I again, there's no formula. There are a lot of teachers around, who I have high faith are deeply established in That, who don't even know what 'ecstatic conductivity' means, and haven't done any energy type practices. There are many routes leading to the same destination. Ecstatic experience naturally arises from inner silence in my experience, it's not absolutely essential to be actively cultivating it, especially when you have a nervous system which only needs the most gentle of nudges.

[maheswari]

thank u mr anderson for your reply[]
yes i am just being gentle with myself...doing breath meditation and letting things unfold....i am sure unfoldments happen in countless countless ways[^]
after years of structured yoga practice for a long time daily, only recently  i have become a sensitive meditator...yesterday i was transalting into arabic lesson 365 and this lesson seems very accurate