'NLP an essential Guide'  by tom dotz is pretty good. Its not advanced but comprehensive on the basic and intermediate levels. It's a large book ( almost a textbook )   and if you do the exercises you will see the benefits.

i have this recipe written on my fridge and they are sooo yummy  i like to top mine with either honey or maple syrup

Sit in a yoga pose and visualize loving energy flowing up your spine into your heart, then visualize your heart radiating love. Really feel it. This activates your heart chakra and helps open it up. Keep doing that and you will become more loving.
It also helps to bring up memories of intense beauty or love that you've experienced in the past.
You are sort of shifting your state with this technique.

@Phrae Yes, you can basically do up to the First Kriya right off the bat. Pranayama is really the heart of the practice. Everything else is secondary.
Focus on learning the spinal breathing. Really master it. That is the key to it all.

For those of you into Kriya, I would highly recommend that in addition to reading the original Kriya book I suggested, you also read the books of Santata Gamana. I now prefer his more simplified techniques. It's a much more streamlined version of Kriya which I think will be even more effective. I found too much needless complexity and variety in the other way.
Right now my technique stack is very simple:
Mahamudra x3 Kriya Pranayama x24 Kriya Supreme Fire x3 One-pointed Concentration for 5 mins Eventually, with lots of practice, you should aim for something like the following stack:
Mahamudra x3 Kriya Pranayama x36-x72 Kriya Supreme Fire for 10-20 mins One-pointed Concentration for 10-20 mins (Bonus: Yoni Mudra x3) (Bonus: Kechari mudra) EDIT: ideally, do this stack twice per day. But if you don't have that much time, at least once per day.
Don't attempt to do this second stack right off the bat. It will not be sustainable. You need to gradually build up to it, like with heavy weightlifting.
I think the original book I recommended is still very good as an introduction and foundation because Gamana's books are so short and thin that they do not provide enough information about Kriya to a total newbie. They are aimed at people who have already been initiated in one school or another.
If you are strictly following the original book, that is okay. You can keep doing that if you want. Or you could switch to this more streamlined version like I decided to do. I don't like learning too many complicated techniques. But that's just me. Both ways should work in the end. It's mostly a matter of style. Although I actually think the streamlined version will end up to be more effective because it concentrates your limited time on the most powerful techniques, and less time is wasted on learning new complex techniques.

@Leo Gura Read the article. http://psillyrabbits.com/podcastblog-archives-1/2018/5/27/exploring-psychedelics-2018-reviewing-zealotry-and-apologetics-within-the-field-of-psychedelics-2lyt5
Martin Ball had a tantrum and said "fuck you" to the audience for 5 minutes.
 
"... Pious fraud is a term coined in the late 17th century and denotes an individual who genuinely believes that their actions, pure or malfeasant, are justified by virtue of an arbitrarily conceived ‘greater good.' They often refuse to acknowledge or much less apologize for problematic behavior. The path to hell is paved with good intentions. Pious frauds have perpetuated some of the most grievous atrocities in human history. Individuals within the psychedelic community have to be vigilantly on guard against such insidious beliefs and over-zealous advocacy. If I may be so bold, the psychedelic field should be full of truth seekers which very critically approach those who claim to have found it."

@Leo Gura Well what you say makes perfect sense and I'm not surprized you're thinking like that. That's the way I was thinking too. I also thought for a long time that his introductory programs are for newbies or smth. But still it's just a theory. You don't know how potent they actually are. And Yes, your doubts are very very reasonable.
It's just that when I say that nothing is capable of bringing such dramatic changes and incredible spiritual growth like sadhguru's yoga I say that from firsthand experience. I did self-enquiry for 3years and it was amazing and I still do that sometimes, but it's not compared even close to what I'm experiencing now.
The only problem is I can't say that sadhguru's kriya yoga is better then the kriyas from the books because well I never tried kriya from books. So I'm not eligible to say anything. But I can really really honestly vouch for that even simple practice like shambhavi for example is something to die for... Before I felt very strongly that there's nothing better then self-enquiry. I was doing that everyday for like 3-4-5-6hours some days I would just contemplate whole day nonstop. But I realized tho my awareness was getting sharper and sharper, I didn't really get any social benefits, my anxiety and inseciurities we're pretty much as they were when I wasn't meditating. So I descided to do something about it. I thought let's try a simplest yoga there is from sadhguru witch is Suriya kriya, just like an additional practice to self-enquiry, to have some psychological benefits to be more social and smth like that. And what do you know. First day I did Suriya kriya, that's it. I dropped self-enquiry away completly. The effect that Surya kriya had on me was too incredible.... Just too much. And know this that I was determened to that path of self-enquiry to the very end and get enlightened and it only took once of taste of real simple Yoga and bam.. I forgot everything. Sadhguru became my god. And this just a simple Surya practice.. When I got initiated into shambhavi Oh man....... Sadhguru is literally inside me, like a source of blissfulness. And the impact it has on my spiritual development..... Nothing I ever witnessed. Untill that day, I always thought path to meditation is very brutal, hard, determened, hearth-breaking sadhana. But now I constantly wondering how something so simple have so insanely lot of benefit. The only way to explain this is that this is because of initiation. And that is why I feel confident to say that no book yoga/kriya can compere to real life yoga/kriya from a real guru.
 
 

retreats (2~3 sesshins in an year) long meditation sessions in group (zazenkai once in a month) long meditation sessions alone (strong determination sitting) periodic zen sessions in group (regular zen meetings once in a week) consistent practice of asanas as taught by iyengar (hatha yoga) kriyas as taught by yogi bhajan (kundalini yoga) singing the mahamantra with krishna devotees (bahkti yoga) contemplation (just going to a random place and doing nothing at all) gradually transform my life in an endless meditation (24/7 mindfulness) but if i am to choose one, i'd surrender completely to zen and just go live in a zen monastery.
it was extremely hard in the beginning. extremely hard. the discipline i needed was enormous but nowadays it feels effortless.

@nick96 vipassana is too intense for beginners. what you need is consistency. search for a zen sangha where you live and practice with them every week. that's A LOT better than going to random vipassana retreats.

Before. Is part of the process. Pranayama means "the control of life force", which is breath, so it can be translated in breathing exercises, but it's so much more than that.
I would recommend you to read a bit about it and fully understand it and why is so amazing. The book "Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha" from Swami Satyananda Saraswati, have a very good section about it and gives all the instructions for the different techniques.
I don't know any videos but I guess is the best way to understand the techniques if you can't learn it from a teacher.
But start from the easier ones, first what is yogic breathing.  Once you understand it, you can learn Kapalbhati and do at least 40/50 breaths. When you finish, breath normally and then inhale and hold the breath in as much as possible with your eyes closed.  Exhale and hold the breath out, as much as possible. Inhale and exhale normally and at this time see how your body feel, the heat that this created inside you. - don't practice this if you have hearth problems or high blood pressure.
-After you can start Nadi shodhana with alternated nostril breathing and inner retention at least 10 rounds and keep your focus between your eyebrows.
When you finish, rest your hands on your lap, keep your eyes closed and meditate.
This is a basic sequence , you can increase the times and engage bandhas and mudras as you master your practice. Do in the morning (not at night) and no food on your stomach or at least just 3 hours after eating.

@Wes Thoughts You have to be smart here.
Of course 2 solid months of personal development or consciousness work would be a huge boost. If you did it seriously, you might even get a glimpse or two of nonduality. But then what? You go back to working at McDonald's in your half-enlightened state with hardly enough money to pay your next bill?
Going for broke is a bad idea. You don't want to paint yourself into a corner.
It would be smarter to figure out a more sustainable solution. For example, many Zen monasteries charge a low initiation fee for living with them for a whole year. So if did that, you could buy yourself a whole year of practice.
Or you could hatch a plan to save up more money so you have more time later and you don't go broke.
If you are SERIOUS about pursuing enlightenment full-time, there are plenty of ways to do it. Society does have avenues created specifically for such people. That's what monks and yogis do. There are entire communities designed for that, and they don't require you to be a millionaire. But they do take serious commitment.
So the most important first step is to clearly decide how serious you are and what you really want to do for the next few years. If you have no good career prospects, pursuing enlightenment full-time for a few years might be a really good option. But it must be done seriously.

@Wes Thoughts It's a good idea, but if you only have a few month's worth of savings, that won't be enough.
If cash is tight, you need to look for a spiritual community that provides food and lodgings in exchange for some work. Plenty of them around, including Zen monasteries, yogic ashrams, Hare Krishna's etc. But beware, when joining a community, they will indoctrinate you. You'll be dealing with a lot of dogma.
Choose your ashram very carefully. Don't get sucked into a cult.

If you think that you need a drastic change in your life then there is nothing to think. Go for it. I think that Hong Kong can be a good way to accomplish your plan. By the way you can book tickets here https://www.iflyfirstclass.com/los-angeles-hong-kong . There are many interesting places to visit in Hong Kong, , and the local cuisine is very tasty. If you are looking for peaceful places then visit Tsz Shan Monastery or Nan Lian Garden.

See the links and the journey I shared there. If you want a TL;DR version of what I think will help you is this exercise and getting deeply in touch with your intuition / Infinite Intelligence.
I don't know my outlet yet but I will experiment and find that.

Another, less anti-social option, is to do a live-in consciousness apprenticeship program. PM me if you're serious and I'll give you a recommendation or two. (Note: this is only for very serious spiritual aspirants who have money and time to burn.)

This sounds even to me stupid as I write it but I havent been laid in 7 years or had anything with any girl really and every attempt I made ended in rejection and it just feels hopeless that anything is about to change for me in that area. As a result I developed depression that gets better or worse over time and my confidence is always low, even though I have friends make good money at my job, but its just that area.
 
The thing is I tried a lot of stuff already, I meditate daily, tried 5-htp, I read some self help books, or I start no-fap and I maybe feel better for about a week and feel like everything is going to be different now - until my depression sets back in again. I know relationships wont change anything about my happiness long-term and its stupid to depend on something like that for self confidence. I know all of this on a logical level. But it doesnt do anything for me, the loneliness and bad thoughts always creep back up when Im not constantly on the guard. I used the sedona method to feel better and it works, but it gets tiring to having to do it multiple times per day, and then always comes the time where I break and give in and go back to pitying myself again, and mentally masturbating about what the problem could be with me. I dont know it feels good to me on some level, which is messed up. 
 
Im wondering if its maybe time to go into therapy or get on some kind of medication for me, since nothing seems to stick.

It seems as if Japanese Zen Monasteries are very orderly, a lot of cleaning, begging (working - same thing). Shouldn't we be like Zen Monasteries in our own lives, in the way of making Order out of Chaos, by cleaning for example?
 

The misunderstanding has happened again. (I just mentioned about this in one of my posts in this thread
This is not about being open to paranormal stuff.
Let me give you an example.. Consider the following two statements
1) New York is a city in United States.
2) Jack,my next door neighbor, has been to New York.
Do you agree that these two are two different statements?
Just because Statement 1 is true, does it make Statement 2 true as well?
If someone is saying that Jack did not go to New York, you should not try to convince him by showing evidence for the existence of New York as a city. That is a fallacy... Just because New York exists, does that mean Jack has gone there? Does that exclude all the possibilities which show that Jack might be lying?
 
 

Here is another one (from https://sadhgurukilledhiswife.wordpress.com/):
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's wife died on January 23, 1997. The reason for her death has been explained as mahasamadhi.
Mahasamadhi is defined as follows:
Mahāsamādhi (the great and final samādhi) is the act of consciously and intentionally leaving one's body.[1][2] A realized yogi (male) or yogini (female) who has attained the state of nirvikalpa samādhi, will, at an appropriate time, consciously exit from their body. This is known as mahāsamādhi. This is not the same as the physical death that occurs for an unenlightened person.
But did Viji really attain mahasamadhi?
Let us first look at her pics. See how she looked during those days and how young she was:


People who say that she went to mahasamadhi are just repeating what Jaggi Vasudev said or what others are saying. I have never come across anyone offline or online who was actually present when it happened.
It is said that there were hundreds of people who witnessed it, but who knows? Does just saying that over and over again make it true? Even if they were present at the event, what exactly did they witness? Did they actually witness Viji sitting in front of them fully alive, being in meditation and dropping dead finally? Did all this happenbefore their eyes without missing any details or did they hear such a news when Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev just came out of the room and told them that Viji had left her body?
This incident happened many years ago and it is easy to convince people that she went to Mahasamadhi by repeating the story over and over again. If someone wants to believe in something, they just have to hear it over and over again. Because, if everyone in Isha maintains the same thing, you would never question it even though you were not present in that place.
Very important point: In our country, nobody cremates someone who attains Mahasamadhi. It is a custom to bury people who attained Mahasamadhi.
Now, consider the following points:
1.Viji, Sadhguru’s wife, was cremated; not buried. Why?
2. She was cremated immediately and Jaggi Vasudev didn’t wait for his father in law to reach there in spite of the requests. The request made by Viji's own father to wait was ignored. Why?
3. His father in law made a police complaint later that he was suspicious about Viji’s death and that Viji might have been murdered. It is true that anyone can make a police complaint and that doesn’t mean that the allegation is true. But the person who made the complaint was not just anyone, but Viji’s own father. Why? Think about it…
4. Viji was very young and her daughter was too young to lose her mother. Jaggi said Viji had planned her mahasamadhi few months before her death. No mother will do such a thing to her child and leave her child orphan. Why would anyone be in such a hurry to leave their body?
5. She didn’t even wait to see the completion of the consecration of Dhyanalinga. As per Jaggi’s own words, he has been working towards the consecration for three life times. He even decided where and in which womb Viji and others close to him should be born. His sole reason for being born this time was to consecrate Dhyanalinga. Even then, she irresponsibly left her body before the consecration was complete though she knew that she was also playing an important part in the consecration by forming an energy triangle with Jaggi and the other woman Bharti. And Jaggi, who had a lot of control over in which womb Bharti and Viji should be born, had zero control over her mahasamadhi. Why?
6. According to Jaggi, Viji was not an accomplished yogi. So it is a mystery how she learnt the art of leaving the body at will. Because, leaving the body at will is something that cannot be done so easily even by the advanced yogis. How did Viji, a normal householder and not an accomplished yogi was able to leave her body at will?
7. According to Jaggi, he has the power to peg people down if they are about to leave their body because of enlightenment. Still, Jaggi was not able to hold Viji down and stop her from leaving the body. Doesn’t it sound strange?  Here is an excerpt from the book "‘Enlightenment - An inside story" and here is what Jaggi Vasudev said in that book:
So, Why wasn't Jaggi Vasudev able to stop Viji from leaving her body when he is able to stop everyone else in the ashram from doing so? He goes on to the say that since Viji was no more, he had to play the role of Viji as well and that not only delayed the consecration for another two years but it also caused severe damage to Jaggi's body. According to him, he was almost dead in the process. Why didn't he avoid all this trouble by 'pegging down' Viji?
8. Viji was not happy with Jaggi’s association with Bharti. It is mentioned in the book ‘Sadhguru: More than a Life by Arundhathi Subramaniam’ that the couple actually had quarrels regarding that.
9. Of course, police dismissed the case due to the lack of evidence. But you need to understand that if you give money to police in India, they will do anything. Our police department is not 100% free of corruption yet. A case can be dismissed if the sufficient bribe is paid.
10. Her own daughter Radhe doesn’t seem to like him much. Check her facebook profile (Radhe Jaggi) and check all her posts. Only recently, she posted some pics with the ‘Rally for rivers’ logo. But other than that, she mostly doesn’t talk about him in her posts and she doesn’t even have one picture of Jaggi in her album. No daughter will do something like this especially when her father is very famous, unless the daughter has some hatred towards her father. Of course, there may be instances when she gave performance in Isha yoga centre. And I have seen Jaggi sharing posts regarding Radhe’s dance performance. But Radhe herself mostly doesn’t seem to care about her father or talk about him much. Radhe may know the truth about her mom’s death.
Now, considering all the above facts, it is difficult to answer these questions if we accept that she died because of Mahasamadhi.
But everything seem to  fit very well when we even assume for a minute that Jaggi killed his wife because of his relationship with Bharti , bribed the police to dismiss the case and created a fake story of mahasamadhi.
I leave the conclusion to you people who read this answer. If anyone really thinks they can solve the puzzles in the above 10 points properly with valid reasons, let them comment here and explain.
.................................................................................................
There was an interesting comment on this blog post which is also worth reading:
Sadhguru talks about the special astrological alignment (“That day was a very special day in terms of the way energies were moving for this planet.There was an exceedingly rare and archetypically appropriate planetary alignment, a moment in time expressed in the heavens as a perfect six-pointed star. This pattern comes on the exact day where three outer planets, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are conjoined together for the first time in almost two hundred years. On January 23rd, this cluster of planets centred on the first degree of Aquarius, joined by the Sun with the Full Moon opposite them all. This pattern may also be seen as a symbolic representation of the long-heralded ‘dawning of the Age of Aquarius.’”) but he makes several strange statements. Although these 3 outer planets were conjunct around that time, only Jupiter and Uranus were in Aquarius and Neptune was in Capricorn. They can’t possibly have formed a 6-pointed star with such a tight conjunction/opposition. These aspects are also not considered the beginning of the age of Aquarius – that is some new age nonsense. But more curious still is the fact that his references are to Tropical (Western) astrology, not Sidereal (Indian) astrology, so it makes me wonder why, and who is giving him this information? I know that he is surrounded by Westerners, especially women, who take care of his hair and makeup among other things, so he clearly has a strong influence from non-Indians. This I guess explains the mixture of ancient wisdom and new age nonsense that we hear in his talks.

@Vinnie Move to a very cheap part of the country to live, somewhere in the middle of the woods, live spartan, and do your consciousness work from morning till night until you become deeply enlightened. If you go at it hardcore like that, it should happen pretty fast; within a year.
Read Om Swami's book on my book list to see how he did it. He was real hardcore about it.
This isn't rocket science. You just need to have the will to do it. Buddha-style.

Zen monasteries already have such a test. They require that you get a written letter of recommendation from a friend of the monastery, then you must come to their gate and beg to be admitted. They always deny you. You must sit at the gate steps for 24 hours while they keep rejecting you. Eventually they let you inside the gate. Then they put you in the storage closet for a week and tell you to sit there and meditate without talking. If you complete all that, then they accept you.

That can be a legitimate spiritual mission, or it can be self-deception. It can be very convenient to run away from everyday life. But everyday life enforces upon you a certain rigor and set of responsibilities, without which, you would become a lazy slug.
If you're going to become a spiritual ascetic, you must do so very seriously, understanding that it is a difficult path which requires extreme self-discipline, hard work, devotion to truth. Otherwise you will not become spiritual, you will just become another homeless person on the street, or a hippie who smooches off his friends.
You may want to consider joining an ashram or a monastery, where they give a structure to follow so you don't get lazy.

I have not started many threads here on this forum, but if you wish to know more about me or who I thought I was you can read it in these two threads I posted this week:
https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/19969-confusing-girl-–-help-out-please-dating/?page=2#comment-215481
https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/20268-–delete-thread–/#comment-215845
 
The first link is a dating issue I've had lately, and the second is about me realising my problem, my deeper problem.
I've reached a point in my life where I do not want anything more because I've realised, in a few days (it's really been a process for almost 2 years) that there is nothing more to get. In my second thread you can read about my success story and what I've "accomplished" for My "self". 
But what happened tonight was a pure awakening. There has been this girl I've been seeing (who's not a part of the thread I posted) who has always been wanting to see me etc. And I kinda took her for granted. But tonight I said something that hurt her. And I've had some issues with people leaving me. So I've always blamed them and never myself. And I've kept wondering about this. Why do they all leave me?
So I said a bad thing to this girl tonight, and she told me that I am an arrogant prick. This caused an emotional reaction within me that triggered something. I don't know what it triggerd, but when I went back home I could finally separate myself from my ego. I understood that it was ME. It was ME who was the problem. I have realized that the person I was who was trying to reach everything and the person who thought everyone left him WAS the actual PROBLEM. I had the weirdest feeling and now there is a deep peace within me. Like I finally saw the  devil within me, the ego, like a monster and I felt disgusted. But I wondered "Who is feeling disgusted by this ego" And I realised there is NO ONE. But the realisation was so pure and humble that I just laughed about it.
Now it's like this peace is still here and my reality has become so "basic" in a way, like the actual experience of life is the only thing that is left and there is no perception of it. It is just happening. There are still thoughts but they are like a water stream flowing next to me and there is no attachment to them. It is the most simple thing really and it is so obvious. I cannot stop smiling right now. I don't know if this is the full thing, probably not, but it is a first step.
 
There is even no point in me trying to explain this. It doesn't make any sense in words at all. I understand now how enlightenment or whatever it is cannot be explained. Even the word is fucking pointless hahaha. Why am I even writing this

I tried Wim Hof breathing method for a few weeks. Seems to be a lighter version of the exercise. Wim Hof holds a few world-records in stuff like being immersed in ice-cold water for an hour. He's also promoting deep breathing for healing (the physical body as well as the emotional).  Watch the mini class  or other videos you can find.
The difference is, for beginners at least, he's not recommending 30+min sessions, but simply 3x30-40 breaths with holds inbetween every morning (followed by a cold shower.) So that's what I did. This is my experience:
30-40 breaths is enough to make me dizzy and my nose tingling. On holding my breath in between the session, the mind got very peaceful. On the first few trials I got into extatic emotional states. Later it wasn's so pronounced. The exercise certainly facilitates emotional release, not just in the moment but also later. During the days, issues came up.  There's also this build up - after two weeks of consistent practice, I actually felt like I was in an emotional whirlwind, and had to take a break for a few days to calm down.  You have to spend the energy which has been stirred up somehow. So, exercising more and taking those cold showers makes sense. A surprising effect is, I think I got better with my visual imagination.  I did it for about a month (with said break), then I fell off track. I'm bad in keeping habits, but this is a good habit. I'll try to pick it up again. (I'm also looking forward to trying the holotropic breathwork seminar.)
Bottom line is, you can also do the breathing for a short time but every day, it's gonna have effects. (As usual, Leo is hardcore with his routines, which is ok, but you do have more gradual options.) The second message is, if you're worried about the health effects, there are actually people who have practiced the Wim Hof method for quite a while and there's research on them. 

I don't know if Kundalini Yoga counts?but there's a lot of breath work involved with this yoga. I recently attended a 5 hour workshop, literally Kundalini Yoga for 4 hours and 40 minutes straight. 
My personal experience:
Experienced psychedelic trip like effects Reached higher states of consciousness Wanting to cry I was able to detach from the body completely for an amount of time On leaving the workshop I felt so much love I called my parents and told them over and over and over how much I loved them (I could feel it throughout my whole being) from an outsider it would of sounded like I was tripping.  My visual/audible perseptions had dramatically increased I've actually researched holotropic breathing already and plan to attend classes (I'm lucky I have one local'ish) so I'll update