Deceased Yogi on Introspection

Beverford who is currently observing the yoga practice on the inside of my psyche, expressed some astonishment at the amount of introspection I do while doing asana postures and pranayama breath infusion. He said this:

To combine asana postures and pranayama breath infusion, especially kapala bhati or bhastrika rapid breathing, is wonderful but to combine into that astute internal observation and attentiveness is even more wonderful. I observe what you do on the inside. Actually to admit, when I did asana postures I did that as a separate practice. Rishi Singh Gherwal did not show it in combination with pranayama breath infusion. He did not show bhastrika infusion which is such a rapid method even though it is forceful.

You said you learnt the combination practice from Yogi Bhajan. It is wonderful how you became proficient at it. Observing what you do from the inside of your psyche, I can see that it is natural to do this. However, I would never discover this by myself because of the feeling that one has to perfect the asana postures as final forms for display and for the way the physical body looks. Now after observing your practice on the inside of the psyche, I know that the external appearance of the physical system has little to do with it.

My view before was that you did introspection after doing the asana postures and some pranayama practice. One reaches a stage of mental quiescence then one stops and does introspection. You know I taught it to you as culminating on focusing between the eyebrows at the third eye.

Now observing what you I can see them what I taught was kindergarten stuff in comparison. Doing introspection during the breath infusion practice, tracking the energy all over the psyche like that is new for me but it is a wonderful practice. It is a pity that yoga students all over the world have no inkling about this because it would accelerate their meditation because of the intense internal focus during asana-pranayama combination practice.

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In addition to what Beverford said above, there is one other factor which should be considered: Students who do the breath-infusion and who are not attentive within the psyche, will make progress but it will be at a much slower rate. The main cause of this lack of focus is the invasion of thought and feeling energies from others. These energies penetrate into the psyche of a yogi and cause his or her focus to be scattered.

When doing breath infusion there will be compression and diffusion of the energies which comes into the psyche. The yogi should be fully attentive to this. According to his or her associations prior to the session, thoughts will penetrate and rip away his or her attention, such that he or she will be unable to focus. This will cause an inefficient practice.

A yogi should do whatever is needful to stop the penetration of foreign thoughts and if possible should stamp out the influences which give the energy of others the right to penetrate the psyche during practice.