Is Kundalini Yoga Safe?

[Butters]

Today I did this kundalini yoga from YouTube 

I felt quite nice during and afterwards, and clearly felt the energy moving up the spine. 

But then I saw this video where Sadghuru says that Kundalini Yoga is not safe because you can go insane, lose ground 

 

But Leo talks about insanity as part of this work. Also the Kundalini Yoga videos have thousands of views, not every viewer goes insane. 

So I'm a bit confused here. I also enjoyed Yin Yoga but it's not the same. 

[Sugarcoat]

Questioning if you’d go insane is first step to avoid insanity. Something else would be openness (to being wrong for example), total self honesty (this can be hard, because sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between what is your own ideas and what is reality, if there even is such a distinction). Don’t resist insanity too much. Because it means you’re holding on too much to what you perceive as your “sanity”, which is usually a state partly biological partly conditioning. It’s not ~necessarily~ better than insanity in all cases. Embracing insanity might allow you to explore a non conventional state of mind, which could potentially give you value.

Ask yourself, are you willing to explore altered states of mind or do you value your current normal state too much and don’t wanna risk getting stuck somewhere else?

[theleelajoker]

Changed states of consciousness /awakenings / Kundalini experiences, whatever you might call it, were and are not always easy to handle for me. Sometimes still not easy. 

Could indeed describe it as loosing ground, because all the believes that gave security and comfort are suddenly gone. Bam, there goes everything you thought about life in an instant. 

But I got/ get used to it. 

Key for me was/ is to stay in touch with people and to stay active. Talking, going out, sports, etc. My state changed, so I met others that felt similar, which reduces the feeling of "insane" and makes it "normal".

IMO worst thing to do is to retreat from life, best thing is to live as fully as possible. And to trust. 

 

Edited July 9 by theleelajoker

[Hojo]

He might be talking about doing it for hours on end or something I am not sure. People are doing it all the time but when sadhguru talks about yoga and meditation he is like just sit here for 3 days and watch your fingernails grow. So i think when he talks about it hes talking about hardcore shit not the stuff we would do.

Edited July 10 by Hojo

[Leo Gura]

Any hardcore spiritual practice will have this risk: meditation, self-inquiry, philosophy, psychedelics, long retreats.

There is no such thing as risk-free serious spirituality.

One time when I was doing Sadhguru's yoga technique I became so dizzy I tripped, fell backwards and almost cracked my skull.

[ExploringReality]

@Leo Gura

Yeah spiritual practices are hardcore, which is why most people swim in the shallow end. Which technique did you do from him? 

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, ExploringReality said:

Which technique did you do from him?

His introductory class.

[Salvijus]

Following low quality content could be dangerous. Finding the right quality material is the tricky part because there is so much bad information on every topic. 

Edited July 10 by Salvijus

[theleelajoker]

6 hours ago, Salvijus said:

Following low quality content could be dangerous. Finding the right quality material is the tricky part because there is so much bad information on every topic. 

One reason it's likely to be "low quality" because individuals try to extrapolate their own experiences and methods towards others. First, everybody is unique. Second, they might have some bias bc of personal agendas or projections ($$$). Third, people have such incredible difficulties to know what's good for them (just look at the state of the world), do they even REALLY know what works and what is good for them?  Fourth, think of the "placebo effect"  - what is actually true?

The "right quality" is most likely to be found inside out, not the other way round. You can take external information, but it should IMO always be personalized to SOME degree.

[Rahul yadav]

@Leo Gura would you recommend trying his introductory classes, if i am already into kriya yoga?