Kriya Yoga involuntary Spasms / shaking

[Patrick_9931]

Hey actualizers 

little introduction 

I’ve been meditating for 1 year , one hour a day. A week ago I started my Kriya Yoga practice , following the instructions given from the book that Leo suggested in his video about Yoga.
At the second day of practice , when I started doing the Ujjay Pranayama (ocean breathing) i had some light involuntary spasms and shaking in my feet. In the next days I started to have this spasms all over the body and with both the respiratory practices ( alternate nostril and ocean breathing). So after the second day it became an habitual thing.

extraordinary results

At first i was happy and very excited because I saw this spasm as the body releasing some trauma. In fact from the second day of practice I was starting to notice some huge spiritual effects ( which was very extraordinary and exciting for me because I never had some huge effects like that in a sow short period of time ):

- the reality and the beliefs I had attached to reality and to myself were becoming more “fluid” like a psychedelic sort of effect but lighter and distributed all over the day 

- during the day i was feeling more light and my body was feeling more “energetically clean” again like a sort of psychedelic effect

-i was able to feel my emotions much more as I usually do , so I was able to be more in the present

- I felt generally more “unlocked” as an human being 

- every night I was having a lot of vivid dreams , dreams in which I was meeting my father and stuff like that , dreams that were obviously coming from my subconscious to tell me something from me or repressed emotions that were releasing themselves 

The problem

The problem came after something like the fourth day of practice . While sleeping i had a lot of vivid nightmares , I felt a presence that entered in my room and touched my head and I had a sleep paralysis that scared the shit out of me and didn’t let me sleep . My fear at this point was that I would have this stuff going on every night  and  the more I were going to do the practice the intenser it would become, so I decided to check if there was something wrong with the practice 

Moving the energy / solution 

That morning I read the book again and I discovered that the point of the first practices was to open your respiratory/energetic channels and most of all to be able to put awareness on the energy moving trough your spine.

At this point I tried to do the practice again but this time I became extremely aware of the energy moving trough my body. In being aware of this energy I recognised that maybe I was being to violent the first days and that I was not distributing this energy properly while performing the breathing.

So I started to be extremely aware of this energy and I started to move it in a very gentle, precise and controlled manner. In doing so I was able to calm the body and avoid the shaking 

everything seems ok but...

The next night I had no problems and the situation seem resolved, however now that I am not making my body go in spasm mode I don’t have the nightmares but I also don’t have the other beneficial effects  that I listed before, it seems that I am still having them but in a very lighter version

My question to you 

Are this spasms normal? Are they a sign of trauma release or are they a sign that you are doing something wrong ? 
Should I continue with the spasms and with the nightmares ecc or should I go without them and prefer those that seems to be the lighter effects? 

 

thank you for your answers and sorry for any grammatical mistakes 

Edited January 13, 2021 by Patrick_9931

[Salvijus]

2 hours ago, Patrick_9931 said:

I felt a presence that entered in my room and touched my head and I had a sleep paralysis that scared the shit out of me

Cool.

Edited January 13, 2021 by Salvijus

[_Archangel_]

6 hours ago, Patrick_9931 said:

Are this spasms normal? Are they a sign of trauma release or are they a sign that you are doing something wrong ? 

@Patrick_9931 i recommend using the search function whenever you have a question, since countless topics have been open about spasms and the like. If you scroll the topic table you find the Kriya Yoga mega thread, with los of valuable information.

Anyway, yes, involontary movements seems to be pretty common expecially if you do energy work or concentration practices. Practicing Kriya i experience shakings my self. And it can also happen when you slow down the breath and calm the body. In this case when you go below you normal level of agitation, you may have an overload of energy, that manifest itself out through movement.  Just make them happen unless they become to annoying.

 

6 hours ago, Patrick_9931 said:

The problem came after something like the fourth day of practice . While sleeping i had a lot of vivid nightmares , I felt a presence that entered in my room and touched my head and I had a sleep paralysis that scared the shit out of me and didn’t let me sleep . My fear at this point was that I would have this stuff going on every night  and  the more I were going to do the practice the intenser it would become, so I decided to check if there was something wrong with the practice 

6 hours ago, Patrick_9931 said:

At this point I tried to do the practice again but this time I became extremely aware of the energy moving trough my body. In being aware of this energy I recognised that maybe I was being to violent the first days and that I was not distributing this energy properly while performing the breathing.

So I started to be extremely aware of this energy and I started to move it in a very gentle, precise and controlled manner. In doing so I was able to calm the body and avoid the shaking

6 hours ago, Patrick_9931 said:

The next night I had no problems and the situation seem resolved, however now that I am not making my body go in spasm mode I don’t have the nightmares but I also don’t have the other beneficial effects  that I listed before, it seems that I am still having them but in a very lighter version

I know it might be difficult, but when your having sleep paralysis just try to calm the body you'll enter sleep state again rapidly, don't to move and rest.

Don't change the practices based on the negative expectation that you have about their effects. Just follow the description in the book. Don't make stuff up. The first 4-5 techniques don't require you to be awere of any energy. It's just breathing and concentration.


 

[Flyboy]

Also, at least in my experience, you will have very minimal effects at first.  Kriya takes months to really start to build, and even after 7 months of daily practice I still haven't had a Kundalini awakening.  Some days it feels close, and I certainly have experienced noticeable changes to my body's energetic system, vibrations, and enhanced meditation, but there is more to go.

Keep at it and be patient.  Personally, I'd also steer you to the Santata Gamana book over the big one, as it is more straightforward and direct.

[Applegarden]

Shaking, spasms are completely normal. If you acctually allow your body to move, it will start pulsing, swinging in random directions which is fine. Eventually that can spiral out, so that your head will be spinning or the whole body starts to swing and spasm. This is usually happening in ritualistic events, near lingas or masters, when you meditate in sacred places or when yogi does something to you - gives darshan or something else, that tends to happen also. I used to do guided meditations by mooji when i started - i was always spasming, shivering, few times during the meditation. This is still true to this day. Even before I meditated I always noticed those shivers but I was not cold. These are legitimatly something else that is completely ok. It is said that itnis your karmas burning from the deepest layers of you, especially in the presence of a master or enlightened being - either guided meditation by them or something related to them or even their physical proximity. If you are blissfull and experience those shivers, that is very good from my experience.

[martins name]

Involuntary motions are called kriyas. Tara springett has written extensively on energy problems. I recommend her book Healing Kundalini Syndrome for everyone walking the energetic path.

Basically kriyas are manifestations of energetic blockages/psychological dysfunctions. It's fine to have them but they don't serve a purpose. Don't repress the kriyas but also don't be proud of them. Kriyas are not causing your spiritual benefits. Rather, they both have the common cause of increased prana. The increase of prana both exacerbates spiritual experiences, positive emotions and makes negative emotions/energetic blocks manifest i various ways. 

Every time you feel a compulsion to do a kriya you are also experienceing an energetic/emotional blockage. Find it and relax/dissolve it. This calles for a deeper understanding your emotional/energetic system.