beginning sadhana

[Guest guest]

Dear Jessie:

 

> i am thinking of beginning a regular morning yoga practice--nothing

> too extreme, as i am afraid of burning out, but i know that it

> would be beneficial (the practice, not the burning out!) Any

> recommendations on how to begin and what to do?

 

How much you will want to do depends on your current physical

condition and the amount of time you have.

 

The very simplest way to begin is what I recommend to the students at

my beginning class - here is a 10-minute sadhana which anyone can

find time for:

 

Tune in (always do this, even if just silently)

 

3 minutes of breath of fire (or 3 minutes of long deep breathing)

 

3 minutes of spinal flex

 

3 minutes of relaxing in corpse position

 

1 minute of sitting up in easy pose, meditating on the breath

 

If this seems too easy, or you have more time, simply pick any kriya

that you like from the many kriyas in your favorite yoga book or on-

line at:

 

<kundalini yogacontents.html>

 

More kriyas can be found at:

 

<http://www.goldentemple.com/>

 

(Use Search in the Yoga and Meditation section)

 

Start practicing the kriya at the minimum recommended times for each

exercise and work your way up to the maximum times in a comfortable

way.

 

The basic routine for a KY practice is (just like a class):

 

Tune in, warm up, do a physical kriya (or several short ones),

possibly relax, meditate (again, you can do more than 1 meditation if

you'd like), and conclude the practice.

 

Potential warm-ups include: sun salutations, some basic kriya that

you've done before at the minimum times, or just a few of your

favorite KY exercises. Gururattan's books provide some excellent

warm-up sets.

 

There are many meditations available in books, our archives, the

above-mentioned links, etc. Just choose one (or more) you like.

 

To conclude, you might choose sing the sunshine song and/or 1-5 long

Sat Nam's, and/or praying in whatever manner you prefer.

 

Note that there is a standard sadhana that many KY practitioners

follow, which is just as described, except the meditations are a

series of 7 chanted meditations (typically done to music) that take

62 minutes total. So this is what a lot of people mean when they say

sadhana, but really sadhana just means "daily spiritual practice".

 

Also note that many people will work on 40-day (or 90-day or 120-day

or 1,000-day) sets for their physical kriya and/or meditations.

Doing a set once provides an experience, whereas repeating the set on

a daily basis for an extended period allows one to realize the

benefits of that set (1,000 days provides mastery of the kriya).

Here is a way to understand this: in 40 days, we replace more than

50% of the cells in the body. So, this means that more than 1/2 your

body has been rebuilt under the influence, vibratory and otherwise,

of the kriya that you are practicing, thereby causing permanent

systemic changes to your self.

 

I wish you many blessings in your sadhana, and assure you that a

regular practice will indeed change your life in ways that will

delight you.

 

Light, life, and love,

Sadhant

 

PS - To all new members, welcome to the list!