spine flex

[Guest guest]

hi all,

 

i have some questions regarding some exercises that are into my daily sets.

 

first, when doing any kind of spine flex in easy pose (camel ride

etc.) i always feel a pain at the heart center. What can i do, what

does this mean?

 

second, i am practicing ky since more than 6 months now, and when its

time for sat kria i always wanna skip it. I found sat kria impossible

to do, even if i always try i cant do it more than a minute. I dont

find the position confortable (my lower back is arching in) and i

just dont like to do it. So again, i ask myself what can i do? what

does this mean?

 

anybody can help me with that?

 

thanks, and sat nam!

 

m-c

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam m-c,

 

> first, when doing any kind of spine flex in easy pose (camel ride

> etc.) i always feel a pain at the heart center. What can i do, what

> does this mean?

 

If you feel pain it may be because your solar plexus is not opening up.

Perhaps you are involuntarily contracting that area when you do the flexes.

A few things to try: pay attention to the solar plexus area. If it feels

closed in (contracted) try opening up consciously, by breathing deeply and

relaxing the chest. Superficial breathing can indeed cause chest pain, so

try to avoid that. If you are doing breath of fire, make sure that you are

breathing "with your stomach" so to say and not with the upper chest (ie,

the stomach area should move in and out, while the upper chest should be

relaxed). You may want to try to do the flexes more slowly until you can

relax and control your breathing.

 

> second, i am practicing ky since more than 6 months now, and when its

> time for sat kria i always wanna skip it. I found sat kria impossible

> to do, even if i always try i cant do it more than a minute. I dont

> find the position confortable (my lower back is arching in) and i

> just dont like to do it. So again, i ask myself what can i do? what

> does this mean?

 

Hmm, that may be your little ego trying to stop you from doing sat kriya by

causing back problems : )! Don't let it steal the benefits of Sat Kriya from

you. One thing you should try to do is to keep your back straight. When you

pull the stomach in during Sat Kriya your back should stay straight. It may

be that the contraction will make your back arch in involuntarily. If that

is the case, try doing it at a slower pace, and pay attention to your back.

 

Another problem is that many of us actually cannot keep their back straight

even while not doing Sat Kriya, because of general bad posture at work (or

slouching on the sofa!), which weakens the back muscles that are supposed to

keep your spine straight. You may want to practice keeping your back

straight against the back of a chair or against a wall. Most people find it

very difficult to keep their spine in contact with the wall from the head to

the lower back. An easier way to practice this is on the floor - a hard

floor, not a cozy carpet. If you discover that your lower back is still

arching in even in this position instead of touching the floor, try

breathing deeply into that area and slowly contracting your stomach (this

should push the spine closer to the floor).

 

This may be hard to do, but the benefits are so many, even outside of being

able to do Sat Kriya without problems. The spine corresponds to the sushumna

nadi in the subtle body - and this is the path an awakened Kundalini will

travel to the upper chakras. Keeping your spine straight will keep the

channel open. It is said that your chakras need to be in perfect alignment

for the Kundalini to pass through them. So do yourself a great favor : )!

 

Peace and blessings,

Satsang Kaur