Hi Lili,
As Danny says, there is a relationship between consciousness and energy. Bringing the mind to silence and stillness (samadhi) will activate prana (kundalini). So even pure meditation techniques need to be self-paced. My kundalini was first awakened by practicing breathing meditation alone.
And as emc says, the degree to which energetics are a problem depends entirely on the person. Many people practice breathing meditation for up to 10 hours a day (sitting in silence), without ever having any problems. Others, who may be on the edge energetically, need to pace breathing meditation (and any spiritual practice) carefully to avoid excesses.
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I am curious what your total practice looks like if you don't mind sharing
I don't mind at all. It's something like this:
10 mins SBP
10 mins Breathing meditation
5 mins heart opening (metta bhavana)
20 mins DM
10 mins samyama
10 mins crown practices
cosmic samyama
sivasana (lying down)
I say "something like this" because I usually don't get right through the practice. I usually "go off" somewhere during the samyama or crown practices part and don't make it through the rest of the practice.
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I don't want to mix up AYP with this other system so will try to do them separately with the breathing meditation and/or body scan done right before sleep.
Doing spiritual practices right before sleep can be a bad idea. But you'll find out pretty quick if it is a bad idea for you. It can stop us from sleeping properly, or it can lead to a very groggy state in the morning, a bit like having a really bad hangover. If this happens then I would move the practices forward to another time in the day and get some activity before bed.
Christi
