Practice Report - Alfredo D. - Tuesday 9/11/2012
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 3 years before May 01, 2016
Alfredo 3 years ago
ॐ नमः शिवाय
AM Practice.
Svadhyaya: Started review/study of Chapter 15 of “Uddhava Gita Explained” – “Three Applications of Yoga Discipline”.
Dedication: Practice dedicated to Shri Krishna.
Breath Infusion: 30 minutes of Bhastrika prânâyâma infusing breath on the navel. Kundalini arose forcefully towards the end of the session while doing the kneeling asanas.
QUESTION: Concentration is difficult to maintain. Pratyahara is compromised by thoughts of social interactions that continue to creep in while infusing breath. Any help is appreciated. Is this a normal condition? Is there any technique to improve this?
Meditation: Centered meditation on the third eye, taking advantage of clear images and lights.
Dream recall: One dream recalled of neutral import.
PM Practice: PM practice consisted of the usual short pranayama sessions followed by Dharana, and spiritual study.
Note: Recent weekdays AM practice of lesser quality than weekends because of social interaction (leaving home at 4:30 AM) cannot be conducted during Brahma Muhurta until end of month, but it is being conducted around 11 AM, I noticed the quality of concentration decreases perhaps because of the change of hour.
MiBeloved 3 years ago
Alfredo’s Query: Concentration is difficult to maintain. Pratyahar is compromised by thoughts of social interactions that continue to creep in while infusing breath. Any help is appreciated. Is this a normal condition? Is there any technique to improve this?
MiBeloved’s Response:
The secret to success in eliminating pressing and compulsory thoughts of social interaction while doing breath infusion, is to plan to change one’s life style so that one takes care of one’s duties more efficiently.
On a day to day, life to life basis, there accumulates in the psyche many desire energies. Some of these are generated by the psyche itself, some penetrate the psyche from others. In either case these desire energies have the power to disrupt yoga practice.
The ancestors are pressing down for one to fulfill obligations. The current family members are pressing down. Society is demanding services. Friends are expecting relationship. The woman, whom one is attracted to besides the wife, is sending pleasing welcoming vibrations. The government locks down certain requirement and stipulations.
All of these are vying to become the priority of any moment. When one stops to do breath infusion practice, these desire-energies sense that and make a decision to clamp down on you so as to make you forego the practice and be attentive to the desires.
During breath infusion practice, if any pressing thought reaches you, you may put it on hold by increasing the rate of breathing and focusing either on the exhale or the inhale or on both.
One method that works for sure is where you pull the core-self up and back in the head as you do the breath infusion, or alternately put the core-self at the place where there arises a tension due to the breathing.
While doing this one should ignore disruptive thoughts, images and feelings. One should do this so that it is like when a sleeping man gets up in a cave and finds that right next to him there is a large anaconda. Which somehow or the other is also sleeping.
How does that man get up and leave the cave without waking the snake. Knowing well that the snake would be his death, the sleeper would rise very quietly and slowly tip toe out of the area.
Therefore one should neglect the thoughts but in a very silent and non-alarmist way.
