GreenWoods

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

8 months progress report: I've been doing kriya yoga daily but at the beginning I often skipped some rounds and did it only once a day so I guess the average daily time spent was about 32 minutes. Beside Kriya I did self-inquiry, meditation and some sexual kungfu practises (semen preservation, microcosmic orbit meditation, big draw) -mystical experiences: none. But I was several times right at the brink. I got slight panic attatacks (my heart was racing quickly and I felt fear...), but I haven't managed to push through yet - Impact on meditations: After about 5 months I managed to get into the parvastha state within a few seconds after sitting down and closing my eyes (without doing yoga beforehand!). That means yoga had a huge impact on my meditations. They are significantly deeper now. To achieve this solely through meditation would probably have taken me at least 2 years. - Thoughts: During the day thoughts became less. When meditating or in the after-Kriya state, with some tiny effort I manage to have about 85% less thoughts. -mood: my overall wellbeing increased. I feel more peace and joy throughout the day -ckakras: Several times the 3rd eye and the root chakra suddenly got very hot. -Prana: I can clearly feel prana -lights: yesterday, I put may palms on my closed eyes after pranayama and saw a beautiful blue light Currently I'm so fascinated by yoga that I expanded my routine to about 65 minutes twice a day. My current routine is: nadi sodhana (1min), chanting om aloud (1-3 min), maha mudra (1-3 rounds), kriya supreme fire (1-3 rounds), Kp1 ( 24 rounds ), Sushumna Sodhana (ca. 6rounds), Kp2 (24 rounds), Mental Kriya (2-5 min), Kriya pranayama (72 rounds), yoni mudra (1round), parvastha state

Lesson 23 might be helpful

@Yog Thanks for the comprehensive explanation:) But I don't get the third step. What do you mean with "gaze at the void"? looking at one's eyelids with eyes closed? @ahmad ibdah it's better you do them at once. And you can do this routine several times a day. But if you have to split it (because of your schedule) it won't matter too much. The thick book also has them split (one main session and one little before bed). But don't split more than once and only if you have to. what do you mean by splitting individual practises? very rarely demons or other strange beings probably could appear. Just like with psychedelics or astral travelling (there more likely). But all in all it shouldn't be far more dangerous than driving a car

eventually you should aim for 30-60 seconds;)

last time it took me 23 minutes

probably around 45 minutes without the after state. It depends how many rounds of maha mudra and supreme fire I do, and the length of the pranayama breaths What do you mean? It depends how long each breath takes. You should try to have them as long as possible (while still comfortable). Next time I will stop the time. I don't do navi kriya (yet). Your book is not on Leo's booklist right? because there I found a different instruction

@Pacific Sage And afterwards in the parvastha state I usually do self inquiry or concentration

Maha mudra, Kp1, pranayama (about 72 breaths), yoni mudra, kriya supreme fire Thank you:)

Is it worth working with the chakras? I've been doing kriya according to the small books, that means I've been ignoring most of the ckakras. The thick book has techniques like mental kriya and Kp2,3 where you work with / include the chakras. Has anyone been doing those and feels like they are worth it?

I've never heard of this, what do you do? It seems like it can be pretty powerful:) I never experienced such things but I would say just let it happen and surrender into it. if it gets too much then just do this kind of meditation less frequently.

Shamanic breathing might really help you. Kriya too but I would put more attention on shamanic breathing. Do you masturbate?

@Fortunate Son You don't need to see a point between the eyes to be able to continue to further lessons. Just try to feel the skin where the 3rd eye is supposed to be. Over time you will get better at it. better not get too much hung up on details

What does your doc think? kriya will probably take care of your breathing (unless it has some unusual cause) and perhaps your neck and knot in your heart, but for these hatha is more effective. But I don't know how this affects your genital area and forehead, it depends on what exactly the problems in theses areas are. What are the cause of these problems? Something your doc suggests could be more effevtive.

@Yog Good decision! it's definitively worth it - He has yoga books by 2 authors. The books by the first are avaible as kindle on amazon ($10). The book by the other author (the thick book) is not available as digital form on amazon but on another website. you will find it by googling - yes, they are done silently. You can chant om loudly and do ujjayi breathing which can be slightly heard but both are optional if you don't have much time, buy the book buy the author with several books which also explains the different schools. The schools are unimportant but in this book are the fundamental techniques. his second book is dvanced. You can do them after you have been doing it according to his first book or according to the other authors book