I'd like to begin a new practice

[anthony574]

Hello brothers and sisters

I am posting this requesting recommendations or advice on taking up a new practice. For the past 1.5 years I have had a steady DM and SBP practice. I occasionally do asanas but for some reason I have an incredibly hard time making myself do it.

I feel I am making great progress in both respects. My DM practice is deepening although I can't say for sure that I experience "blissful stillnes" but the mantra has definitley synced with me and I notice its effects throughout the day (ocassional Samadhi-esque giddyness). I am becoming aware of energy in my body due to pranayama and daily present-moment breath/body/mind awareness from reading Tolle and some Buddhist literature. I feel that most of my energy is in the upper chakras (from doing LSD and marijuana in the past) and I am experiencing a lot of actvitiy in the solar plexus and heart as of late. I experience little to no activity in the lower chakras and feel that it would be a benefit to me to open them up a bit.

Anyway, that is my general overview of my practice. I feel an inner urge to take up a new practice but am overwhelmed by the number and nature of the practices Yogani speaks of. I am drawn to Samyama but am not sure if my inner stillness is solid enough yet. I understand that only I can SELF pace...I am just hoping for some information to steer me in the right direction from more experienced students :-)

[brother neil]

you doing anything like neti, colon cleanse, amorili, etc?  For me the nice thing is these are physical practices that can can help the mental and help clean the body.  balancing the mental and physical practices seems to be a good idea, yes?
just a thought
i am love, i am joy, i am peace

[Shanti]

Hi Anthony,
I think samyama is a great idea. I think you have enough inner silence. Go for it.

[anthony574]

I do neti periodically and just started taking up amoroli to my comfort level (about 1-2oz). I find it helps with nasal problems as does the neti pot.

[machart]

Hi Anthony,
If you have not tried astanga yoga yet you may want to give it a shot....it is way different than doing static asanas.

*The physical postures are tied together in a flow with breath linking movements.
*The focus is always on deep rhythmical breathing with the application of  some bandhas while the gaze (dristi) is focused at certain locations.

So you see it is like a moving meditation...achieving stillness in action by uniting body, breathe and mind in one practice.

I do the AYP sitting practices morning and evening and try to do astanga at lunchtime at the local Y where we have some great teachers...hopefully there is some good instruction in your area.

WARNING!  This is not easy yoga ...it requires physical and mental discipline that I am just beginning to appreciate after about a year of practice, but remember....

"A problem worthy of attack,
proves its worth by hitting back"   Piet Hein

[CarsonZi]

Another name for Ashtanga Yoga is Vinyasa Flow just FYI.

[Scott]

Personally I wouldn't recommend vinyasa for someone who has a lot of energy in the head.  I'd do hip opening stretches that are really relaxed.  Just my point of view...don't mean to imply anyone is wrong.

[CarsonZi]

And I wasn't meaning to recommend it.  Just FYI as I said.

[anthony574]

I like the idea of Ashtanga and the types of asanas...the only problem is time. I am a full-time student and wouldn't be able to dedicate enough time to learning such a system. When I do use asana it is usually a very slow and static set of postures that takes around 15 mins. Maybe later on I can look into it. Thanks for the advice though :-)

I am wondering if there are any mudras or bhandas that are good for opening up the root and lower chakras.

shanti, i will have to read yogani's book on samyama. i began reading it a few months ago but stopped when he mentioned inner-silence being a necessary prerequisite because i dind't want to take up a practice that would be impotent at this point. but on the other hand now i feel more ready.

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by anthony574

 i began reading it a few months ago but stopped when he mentioned inner-silence being a necessary prerequisite because i dind't want to take up a practice that would be impotent at this point. but on the other hand now i feel more ready.

If you feel more comfortable reading Yogani's samyama book before you start, that is fine, but you can start samyama by reading Lesson 150 - Samyama practice... (that is how many of us here started samyama... Yogani did not have the samyama book out then.. ) and along with that continue reading the book.

And the prerequisite that Yogani puts on "having some inner silence before you start samyama".. is for people like me when I started off.. I had 20 things in my head at the same time.. and during meditation it would amplify.. but  you are beyond that Anthony... you have more inner silence than I did when I started samyama.

[Shanti]

Something came to me, right after samyama, during our global group meditation... and thought I'd mention it. In the other thread Anthony, you have talked about experiencing the gap... and in the topic Something to try, Yogani explains here and here about how samyama is a way to access the gap. Maybe that is the reason you have felt drawn to add samyama to your practice?