Hi Lookatmynavelnow, and welcome!
The way we do spinal breathing pranayama in AYP, it is not an exploration with energy/experience driven options we follow while doing it. It is a simple procedure that is done the same way every time, no matter what is happening experientially. As Scott and Christi mentioned, the procedure of the practice is in the lead, not the vagaries of the inner energies.
The exception would be if energy symptoms become excessive and uncomfortable, and then we would respond by cutting our daily practice time back temporarily until things stabilize.
There are some enhancements to spinal breathing available that can improve its effectiveness. These are discussed in the Spinal Breathing Pranayama book, and include full yogic breathing, opening the throat on inhalation and restricting it slightly on exhalation (ujjayi), gentle lifting of the eyes (sambhavi), and tracing cool and warm currents up and down respectively. It is not recommended to take all of these on at once -- only one at at time when drawn to do so, allowing stabilization time (weeks or months) in daily practice for each.
Kumbhaka (breath retention) is another matter, and should be approached carefully. In AYP, this is in conjunction with certain practices (yoni mudra and chin pump in particular). Regular spinal breathing is not recommended as a time to do deliberate kumbhaka. The breath may spontaneously suspend at times during spinal breathing and/or deep meditation (pretty common). We regard that the same as any other experience, and easily favor the practice we are doing when we realize we are off it. You are wise not to be rushing into kumbhaka, as you have plenty going on already. Time to stabilize. The key is to stabilize daily practices and inch them to more advanced versions over the long term, not chase or manipulate the energies over the short term. That is the approach here. You have been at this a long time too, so I am sure you know best what you need. A word to the wise is usually sufficient.
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As for "raising kundalini," spinal breathing goes
both ways. "Grounding" kundalini energies is
at least as important as raising them, as many here can attest. Spinal breathing is up
and down for good reasons. If the energy wants to go the other way, it doesn't matter -- we gently favor the procedure of our practice.
Btw, there have been extensive discussions in the forums on "grounding." There are many ways to go about it. If you are not thinking much about grounding at this point, you surely will be somewhere down the road.
The path to enlightenment is not primarily about "raising kundalini," which is an intermediate step in the process. Once ecstatic conductivity awakens, it is about balancing and blending, and that takes time of stable daily practice, including getting out in the world for integrating inner silence and the ecstatic energies in everyday living.
In the end, it is a marriage of abiding inner silence and ecstatic conductivity (kundalini) within us, leading to ongoing outpouring divine love and unity. Then we are called to do much more, because we can.
Don't know if that helps with your "plumbing question." It's about the best we can do, given the fact that we do not engage the energies extensively here during practices, and with good reasons. We focus on the main controls, and leave the rest going on inside to natural processes. It seems to be working well for a lot of folks here, and hangups in energy tangents are greatly reduced (I hope). Getting caught up in energy dramas is one of the greatest risks of delay on the path that intermediate and advanced practitioners face.
Another one is getting infatuated with "non-dual self-inquiry" to the exclusion of everything else. But that's another story. It is mentioned because I have finally finished the Self-Inquiry book. Hooray!
All the best on your path. Enjoy!
The guru is in you.