Nabhi and meditation

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam,

 

This is for anyone doing K-meditation or about to. And probably

could apply to other meditation as well.

 

I was just re-reading about the navel center (nabhi chakra) today

and how important in kundalini it is to have a strong navel center.

From 'Kundalini Meditation Manual for Intermediate Students':

 

"To sustain the effect of a meditation, integrate it into the

personality and speed its assimilation, the navel chakra energy must

be stong and fluid. Without the navel energy, you can meditate for

years and not have the effect you can get in three days with the navel

energy. This is one of the basic reasons why nabhi kriyas (there's 2 I

know of) and exercises such as Sat Kriya are always taught first in

the advanced forms of yoga. ... To improve the depth and quality of

meditation, practice a nabhi kriya before beginning (meditation). The

navel kriya will give voltage and power to the meditation."

 

I've been doing navel for a little over a year, before meditation and

its really helped my focus. Its especially helped get me through Sat

Kriya.

 

Blessings

 

Brad

[Guest guest]

Dear Brad!

 

That's so funny... synchronistic.. your post about the importance of a strong

Navel center, in order to have lasting and deep effects from meditations.

 

I just read the -exact- same part of the same book and had been seriously

considering doing some navel work, which somehow in the past 3 years of my

practice I've managed to completely avoid :-)

 

The thing that struck a chord with me was that if you do hours of meditation (as

I do) and find that you feel good immediately afterwards, but that only a short

time after the meditation the world pulls you back into turmoil, and ruffles

your feathers (these are my words, not from the book ;-), and you lose all those

wonderful effects from your meditation quickly, then you almost certainly need

to strengthen your navel point.

 

The thing that also raised my interest was that for the last few years, I had

thought that the navel point was centered in the area of your physical navel,

but it turns out that it's actually slightly below, which interestingly enough

corresponds with the chinese 'Tan Tien' (sp?), energy center of the body.

 

So I practiced the navel center and elimination kriya on p14, for a few weeks,

but now have stopped. Do you think that an actual 'official' 'Nabhi Kriya'

would be more effective?

 

I am now around day 85ish of Kirtan Kriya, and feel that some navel work right

now might be just what I need to support, my meditation Sadhana. I find

working the stomach very challenging, on several levels. I find it too

stimulating and this is the area of me where I hold all my stress, I often have

physical tightness in the muscles, but also emotional 'stuff'. The only thing

that worries me about focussing on the abdominals, is that I sometimes get the

impression that it gives me a tight blocked diaphragm, almost knot-like, which

can make Long deep breathing difficult during meditation.

 

Any suggestions for relaxing the abdomen and diaphragm? (this is the one area

of my body that sending peaceful loving thoughts to, doesn't help!)

 

Brightest Blessings,

 

Krishan Shiva Kaur

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Krishan,

 

Well I guess there are no coincidences, only synchronicities right?!

 

I had the manual out because I was looking at another meditation, and when I

read one of the 'new member' posts I started thinking about what is good basic

information to pass to beginners, and since I do alot of navel that was a

natural.

 

I'd actually been reading about it previously, yesterday afternoon.

 

"seriously considering doing some navel work, which somehow in the past 3 years

of my practice I've managed to completely avoid" - I'm glad I started and have

tripled

my time on stretch pose but can feel a nice pranic effect even before I start my

meditation. When I began KY in earnest, I really just did meditation, not much

yoga. I was doing 1 minute breath, and I was at 45 minutes (eventually got to

2.5 hrs) and I was just so spacy, but I didn't know any better. I started doing

more yoga. But looking back, it was something I can really lean on, because I

feel the difference with strong navel.

 

Stop avoiding :-), I only do three excercises and it takes about 8 minutes or

less.

Stretch pose for 3 mins., spinal flexes (108), and frog squats (26). The first

2

really 'set' me I feel. The important part on the stretch pose is, I believe,

consistency.

 

"short time after the meditation the world pulls you back into turmoil, and

ruffles your feathers" - I know what you mean. Its hard in a materialistic

world with lots of distractions, to keep a meditative mind, at least for me

(rush hour traffic is the real challenge). But where I've had success is taking

the observing, labeling, and witnessing from I learned in '1 minute breath' and

use it during my day, IT WORKS! Not only do you keep your med. state, and sense

of peace, but you never get caught up in the traps others set for you, hey if

you don't react you're doing them a favor too. I'm not

completely there yet, I still react sometimes but its a concious ego-choice when

I do it, and I'm completely aware when I do it (thats probably the most

irritating part).

 

"Do you think that an actual 'official' 'Nabhi Kriya' would be more effective?"

The elimination navel set has lots of breath, navel in it. I've done this and

my favorite on pg 18, which I like because its shorter. I feel like the

difference is where

you focus not how many exercises you do. I always focus on the navel on these

kriyas and on stretch if my mind wanders I bring it back to the navel,

constantly.

And intensity of the BOF at the navel, pump hard and fast. The harder and

faster I pump the more I get out of it. Check out the #1 meditation on bottom

of pg 11, that looks helpful.

 

Another interesting observation, on the stretch pose. At around 3 mins. I start

to get an effect of not quite out of body, but I'm doing the pratyahara that

Peter (?) was writing about last week. That seems to have a synertistic effect

too.

 

"I find it too stimulating" - I have a theory that women are more sensitive to

firey

excercises (some of you are probably going 'well, ddduuhhh'). Gururattan says

she

does lots of BOF, certainly more than me. Maybe ask her for advice on the

sensitivity issue. How does it manifest, too stimulating?

 

"tight blocked diaphragm, almost knot-like, which can make Long deep breathing

difficult during meditation." - Do Savansana after your navel work. I do it

after Sat

Kriya. I have experienced the tightness I believe you are talking about. I

would just start off my meditation (mine was a pranayam) slowly and invariably

after about

20 minutes I could feel my lungs relaxing. Not only that but I got the feeling

that my

capacity had multiplied greatly.

 

"Any suggestions for relaxing the abdomen and diaphragm?" - 1 Minute Breath

meditation. Thats whats coming to mind. After you get past the purely physical

first 20 minutes, this is where the great benefits are. If you do it for 1-2.5

hours

you'll start feeling the difference in the lung/diaphragm area. This is the

time interval

when the endorphins start kicking in. Other than that I don't know what to

suggest.

 

Blessings

 

Brad