FW: health concerns

[Guest guest]

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Michael Newsom <sideways8

Tue, 03 Jul 2001 22:28:26 -0700

<Kundaliniyoga->

health concerns

 

Hi,

My name is Michelle. I have just recently joined this group. However, I have

been doing

kundalini yoga for about 3 years now (on and off) mostly Ravi Singh's yoga

videos.....

yoga has changed my life and me as a person, for the better mostly but in

ways my

life has become harder...you know, facing myself etc...usually I go through

spells where

I do yoga every single day sometimes twice a day for about 2-6 months then,

I just drop off.

Also, last February I had a kundalini awakening and for about 8 months would

not meditate

or do yoga --I think my mind was trying to fathom what had

happened....anyway, I started doing

yoga again and then my nose became completely congested (especially the

left side)....and has been for at least 6 months now.

When I get hungry it is not just hunger, my brain checks out--I cannot even

think cohesively.

My eyes are bloodshot and dry most of the time. I have extreme allergies

when before

this was not the case. My skin is pale and at times I feel weak and tired

and some days I feel

alot of energy. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by sadness and sometimes I am

aware of a bliss

just out of my reach.....anyway, I think you get the idea....So, my body

seems to have really gotten a mind of it's own..I have always been a

vegetarian..but now at times I get overwhelming desires to eat strange foods

in large amounts for a period of a day or a few days

such as dairy products (which I normally do not eat or like) or raisins, or

almonds...

Also, it has become extremely difficult for me to stick with diciplines and

decisions...I seem to

have lost much of my will when normally my will was strong. I know yoga

works to open blocked channels of energy and emotional blockage--- could

this be related? Should I do more yoga or meditation? Certain types of yoga

exercises? I read that if there is a pulse near the bellybutton then that

means the third chakra is strong and active but I have a strong pulse there

and

my third chakra seems to be malfunctioning.... Oh, also, I have never eaten

salt(which normally causes water retention) and lately for no apparent

reason my body has decided that it should retain as much water as

possible.(could I be deficient in salt?).I am not overweight but this is

uncomfortable nevertheless. I think I may have asked too much in one letter

so sorry about that. But if someone could just happen to have some insight

into

even a small portion of my problem it would be greatly appreciated..

thank you for reading,

michelle.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

>

>----------

>

>dear michelle,

I have experienced your problem, although not for that long of a time, in my

experience, i found out that my body was trying to prevent my soul of havind

a depression, all the stuff that happended to my body was just a sighn to

make me more aware of things, kind of like a wake up call, after searching

inside myself, ( wich was hard and a bit scary), i found out that i had many

emotions not turned out yet. It was as if my mind was distracting me from

them, thats why my eating habbits got in disorder, and sometimes i didnt

even want to meditate, but i kind of forced myself to ,and i did alot,in

some of the meditations and excersises i would just burst out crying,(

sometimes i wouldnt even know for what reason) but it helped me, for there

is no doubt that meditation is medication for the soul.Sometimes your

rational side 8 the mind9 tells you and even convinces you that your fine,

when the truth is that your not, thats why its a fight between the mind and

the soul, for the soul wants to feel, wants to live, but the mind has

complexes and gets scared of the hard work that brings connecting to

yourself, maybe you can do a meditation that helps to balance the both

hemispheres of the brain, and get a litlle more active on your excersises.

>

>

>

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Michelle:

 

Welcome to our group!

 

It sounds as if you have been having a pretty rough time of things

recently, and I want to encourage to stay the course, to lean on us

to the extent that we can help, and to do your best to keep moving

through the powerful resistance that you are experiencing at the

moment. Maria's discussion of the resistance that the body and mind

can and will put up against the process of spiritual growth is

exactly to the point - sometimes simply being aware of this fact is

enough to provide the necessary impetus to "Keep Up!" (the mantra of

the Aquarian Age).

 

As YB has said more than once, and as you have seen for yourself, it

isn't that hard to raise the kundalini energy. What is hard is to

keep it raised - keep the chakras open and balanced, and keep that

energy flowing. Without sadhana (daily spiritual practice), there is

little chance of accomplishing this.

 

I thought a few insights about the experiences you have been having,

from the point of view of the chakras, might be helpful in pinning

down the most effective approaches to working through this stuff.

 

First of all, the issue of will-power and 3rd chakra, as you have

noticed, is a big one. You have noticed a strong navel pulse, but

the other issues here are the exact location of the pulse, and the

rhythm (which should not be irregular). To test, it is best to do

the following on an empty stomach - the procedure actually suggests

that someone else do this test on you, rather than doing it yourself,

but the idea is that you lie on your back, and completely tense and

then completely relax every muscle in your body several times.

Preferably, you should do 2-3 minutes of stretch pose as well.

 

Now, you are relaxed, and the tester makes the tips of her fingers

into a little circle and presses down firmly on your belly button - 1

point will have the strongest beat. If this point is exactly at your

navel point (actually located a few inches below the belly button)

then your navel point is centered - if not, a variety of adjustments,

exercises, kriyas, and/or dietary changes can be very helpful to

centering this chakra - and this chakra is key: it is the first

chakra that must be stimulated to raise the energy of consciousness,

and it is absolutely the center related to our ability to commit, to

make decisions, to be disciplined.

 

Exercises for the navel point include breath of fire, stretch pose,

leg lifts, Sat Kriya, bow position, etc.

 

Compulsions (the food cravings you describe) can be related to

imbalances of the navel center or the heart center. Sadness would be

a heart center issue.

 

Exercises for the heart center include holding the arms at 60 degrees

with the hands flat and pulled down to activate the meridian to the

heart with breath of fire (1-3 minutes), Jod Kriya, and many others -

I recommend picking up Gururattan's "Transitions to a Heart Centered

World", which has many kriyas and meditations for the heart.

 

Physically, water retention would be symptomatic of too much salt,

not a deficiency. If you are concerned about not getting enough

salt, eat celery - inorganic salt is probably not healthy. Perhaps

your water retention issue is a second chakra thing, since the second

chakra relates to the element of water.

 

Second chakra exercises include frogs, chair pose, bow pose, camel

pose, and Sat Kriya.

 

I hope this discussion gives you some ideas about how to proceed in

your practice. No matter what, know that you are loved.

 

Blessings of health, happiness, and hope,

Sadhant