GreenWoods

I don't think there is a big difference , it just depends on how you define the terms. I understand self inquiry as: and the Parvastha as surrendering to, being (in) the awarenes, nothingness void, the Self, or as you/Gamana described: And I think self inquiry is more about actively wondering/ looking what you are while parvastha is about (passively) surrendering to what you are One might say self-inquiry is a more masculine and parvastha a more feminine approach I think Gamana says that you can stay in your one-pointed concentration spot after the practise if you are intuitively drawn to it. Otherwise recommends to just surrender

What do you mean by energized? Yoga definitely energizes pranically but that probably doesn't necessarily mean that you also get energized physically. When I do yoga, I get very energized pranically but my physical energy is usually not affected. Don't worry about it. Do you have a straight spine without leaning against sth? Being more conscious during yoga might help too. Generally, to boost physical energy: lighter food, cold showers, semen preservation, sleep schedule,...

Factors that determine your energy: - Soul aspect: Enlightenment. Moving from devil to God-like. How: Meditation, Kriya yoga, self-inquiry, psychedelics, transmissions Life Purpose / Vision - Body aspect: Physical body. How to: sleep hacks, diet/nutrition , working out, cold showers, wim hof breathing, hatha yoga energetic body. How to: Kriya yoga, Qi gong, tai chi, whole-body orgasms, not ejaculating too often (semen preservation) If those don't help then get checked by a doctor

@jake473 Follow that advice. Your life purpose with a strong and inspiring vision will motivate and energize you. Also look at that thread:

Do you get tired only after yoga or after meditation too?

As far as I know it is because of thoses reasons: -the stomache lock may be uncomfortable / not possible with a full stomache - kriya supreme fire generates heat / energy in the stomach region which might impair the digestion If you don't do those two (or have no problem doing them nevertheless) it should be fine. Then there is: - In case you set free a lot of prana through pranayama,... the energy at the stomache region increases too. I don't know what exact effect that could have. But I guess, at the most, that your digestion will not be perfect. So just try it out and if you feel like it does no harm then keep doing it @JonasVE12 - As I started yoga I also experienced pressure (through energy) in the head. But I could slightly move it. Can you too? i was a bit worried so I decreased the intensity of my practise for a few months. slowly it subsided. and as my system adapted I could increse the intensity again. But I think in most cases I could just have kept going without decreasing the intensity - When you feel it at the top ( crown chakra?) and it is energy then you are increasing the chance that kundalini awakens. I have almost no knowledge on that but I would assume that in 98% cases your kubdalini wouldn't rise before 8 months.(except you have a very long and intense routine and have pre-experience with energy work)

Supreme fire and pranayama - to some extend - adress those too. But maha mudra is more gentle and more smoth. For example, supreme fire probably opens that knot through the sheer force of the induced pressure, heat, ... Btw, I have added maha mudra to my routine again

Pernani experiences that too. perhaps he knows some good advice. Otherwise just do it as long it is comfortable, then do other techniques Have you been focusing on that spot beforehand? I am not sure. Gamanas routine is more potent and might thus pose more risks. Kundalini yoga, sexual kungfu and psychedelics is even more powerful and many people do them still. The youtuber probably considers them very dangerous. Then there is the issue that everyone tells a different pranayama and claims that that's what Lahiri taught. Eg Gamana and Ennio Nimis say that Lahiri taught pranayamas with only chanting in the head while eg. the youtuber and Stevens tell the spinal breathing as the original. If you want to be more safe then do Steven's, if you want to be even more safe then do only mediations, and when you want to be even more safe then do hatha yoga... Edit: The risk what he is talking about is probably an increased chance for a premature kundalini awakening. If you think you could handle it then do Gamans, otherwise Stevens

Currently none. I prefer to do more kriya supreme fires instead. From little research it suggests that the purpose of mahamudra is: - open the knot at muladhara - incite the prana to enter the shushumna at muladhara - stretch the spine, make it easier to feel the shushumna - as grounding (according to Gamana). It should be done when you feel strong side effects from supreme fire - improving the systems capacity (while lowering side effects) - more purposes which I am not aware of All of those things are (to a larger or smaller extend) adressed by supreme fire and pranayama too. Evaluate for yourself how important maha mudra is for you specifically. Gamana suggests (in his kundalini book) sth like doing it and after some years when your body is more prepared replace it by more supreme fire. Per 12 pranayamas I would do no more than one maha mudra (except one is a beginner) I wouldn't do it longer than 15% of your routine time (except your routine is already very potent but you want to lengthen the routine nevertheless, then lengthen it by adding more maha mudras)

There are a lot of possibilities to take psychedelics legally: - Research chemicals which aren't illegal yet (but could be a long-term health risk as they aren't well studied yet) - Visit a country where it's legal (Canada, Mexico,... for 5meo)(Netherlands and other countries for truffels, seeds,...) - Psychedelics retreats: There are many countries where retreats with for example 5meo-dmt, ayahusca, mushrooms is legal or at least a grey area (e.g. Brazil and some european countries) - Being a guinea pig for scientific research - There are A LOT of natural psychedelics (some of which even naturally grow in your country) which aren't illegal in many countries

If I remember right, Gamana recommends exercising, walking in nature, swimming, connecting with animals, doing maha mudra,... . I would add cold showers as very effective

Being in parvastha is a form of meditation. Sometimes I do self-inquiry in the parvastha state as well. And randomly during the day contemplation.

perhaps dancing, ejaculating and cold showers help

Like this. You have to do the bandhas while holding the breath. Over time you will get used to it. But I am not sure whether it is indeed more effective to do the chin lock while bringing prana above the neck (ajna/crown). In his 3rd book he gives an upgraded version for supreme fire - it's basically the upgraded yoni mudra without the finger plugging (+shambavi mudra) - and there he states that the chin lock should not be applied.

I usually do 3 rounds of the alternating nostril breathing - nadi sodhana or how it's called. Then I continue with maha mudra. I think you can do talabya kriya whenever you have time during the day. and the ujjayi breath as additional preparatory exercise seems redundant to me ( as it's done during the main techniques anyways)

does this also happen if you inhale only about 70 or 80% lung capacity? http://www.kriyayogainfo.net/Eng_Downloads1.html here you can download online books by Ennio Nimis. But if you can afford it then get the yoga books from Leo's booklist, I find them more straightforward and they include a few more poweful techniques And some of your mentioned techniques are part or preparatory kriya techniques. But they are very weak. You gotta do pranayamas (and maha mudra, supreme fire, yoni mudra,...)

Sometimes I also do it afterwards. But usually I do it before because I want as little physical movement as possible at the end. yes. But I thought I could do like 2 additional rounds with chanting om as a replacement for navi kriya (the reason it usually is without chanting om is probably because 1. The author wants to keep it as simple as possible and 2. it's a distraction. The purpose of supreme fire is to calm down and get into the parvastha state and not to busy the mind with chanting om. But if I do it as a replacement for navi kriya then it has a different purpose)

right, you mentioned that some time ago. So this is still the case? It hasn't changed or improved? Did you experiment to find out what exactly causes it? Bec it's strange that this happens after a few spinal breaths and not at all after 20 min of a different pranayama. Does it also happen with om japa? with kp2? with sushumna sodhana?

Do you think kriya supreme fire could make navi kriya unnecessary? Navi kriya is done to loosen the knot at manipura. When you focus on the navel region and chant om there during kriya supreme fire, do you think this could loosen the knot too?

I do about 24 of spinal breathing (kp1) and then about another 24 kp2 and then about 72 breaths chanting om into the third eye. That makes 120 pranayamas. What do you mean by "struggle"? In the sense that it is too intense (for the system)? What is your routine?

I do masturbate from time to time, but just without ejaculating. but before it gets too intense I will ejaculate:D

TIPS: - Semen preservation: What differentiates yoga from meditation and self inquiry is that it works with prana. The more prana in your body the better for yoga (and general well-being) (therefore you can also try eating more postive-pranic food). When you ejaculate you lose prana. That would be why some yogis stress celibacy. But from my research: sex, masturbation and (whole-body-) orgasms are all fine as long as you don't ejaculate - Sushumna Sodhana (lesson 23): The breathless state is probably quite important if you want to get deeper. How to achieve the breathless state :"When prana gets interiorized in the sushumna, then the breathless state automatically occurs" - lesson 15 yogic wisdom. To me it seems that the sushumna sodhana is by far the best practise to do this. So perhaps consider adding it. -deepen the parvastha state: I accidentally found that out: 1. draw prana up and bring it to medulla( or region between medulla and bindu). You can also slightly clench the muscles there and additionally focus on the 3rd eye. 2. feel where you touch the ground. Now imagine that your body is pressing downward (you can actually press downward slightly if you want) while the ground pressing upward. At the same time try to feel/sense/be the space around you. 3. after some minutes/seconds relax. This reliably deepens my parvastha state up to 100%. I don't know whether this works for everyone, but I just somehow found myself doing it and found out that it is quite powerful for me -breathe slowly: breathe as slowly as possible (while still comfortable). In case this lengthens your routine too much then rather decrease the number of breaths than the duration of breaths - Mula bandha contractions: Prior to any practice, I usually do a few minutes of perinium and anus contractions (one contraction lasting about 2 seconds), while guiding the prana with the mind through the sushumna. I find this to be most effective in getting the prana up. - Mula bandha while pranayama (the pranayama of the short books): This noticably increases the amount of prana that reaches the 3rd eye with each breath. I do it only during the first breaths such that I can then fully concentrate on the 3rd eye and exercise one-pointedness -microcosmic orbit meditation: Doing this prior to yoga already opens the channels a bit, making the yoga techniques more effective as the prana can already move more easily -heart chakra: After your routine, you can try out bringing the prana to your anterior heart chakra too itensify your feeling love and surrenderedness. -too much energy: If there is too much prana in your head or elswhere after yoga (or at anytime) then bring it to your stomache - the storage for prana - presence: Take it as a challenge to stay present and focused as long as possible during yoga (or anytime) and have as few thoughts as possible. And don't daydream! - only Now: when you want to end your session prematurely then just remember that there is only this Now, so you actually only have to do it this moment and no longer - With joy: Doing it with joy and love instead of mechanically makes a big difference for me - itches: love them uncoditionally and stay focused - masturbate: If you can't feel energy/prana then you could try masturbating (without ejaculating) prior to your session. That should awaken some of the prana. But I don't know whether this is wise to do long term. Possible downsides: you get addicted, you waste time, you risk ejaculating, you risk getting blue balls (if you are male) and thus risk wet dreams, masturbating could be too gross, meaning that it could diminish some subtle effects of kriya yoga but idk - Prior to your normal meditation or self-inquiry session, do one or a few rounds of yoni mudra and/or kriya supreme fire -Om: Chanting om ( pronounced:aum) aloud (every om as long as possible) (I do it between 1and 9 times) prior to any practice seems to immediately get me into a tiny parvastha state - Wim hof method: Same effect as chanting om but stronger. Do first wim hof, then chant om and then meditate (perhaps once weekly)

I just combine the approaches of both books. the one does only one pranayma 108 times. usually I see no immediate difference between 72 and 108 breaths so I mostly do 72. Instead I add the pranayamas by the other author because they address other things. I find kp1 important to open the sushumna and Kp2,3 to open the ckakras. Those things are largely ignored by the pranayamas of the short-books author. But I guess there would also be an upside if I did 144 breaths of the short-book author's pranayamas. The achieved one-pointedness could be quite beneficial. But for my current situation, I feel like the benefits of doing the other pranayamas instead outweigh them @Yog Thank you:) I will try it out

I've been doing the longer routine only for about 4 days. And benefits usually are longterm. So far: I haven't experienced a deepening of the after state. But the routine itself got more joyful after the working with the chakras. And there is noticable more awareness of the sushumna and the chakras