Laya Yoga in the New Year
Greetings,
It has been a while and life progresses.
On the New Year, we agreed to extend our Laya Yoga practice to 45 minutes. Well, haven’t found your navel yet?
It is very interesting to assess where you think you are at during a meditation.
Chin in? Is there really a 3rd eye point? The eyes can’t seem to lock, when there is so much interesting (?) stuff going on inside. Is that a real diaphragm lock? Or just a little muscle squeeze?
Feel like hanging from the top of your head? Spine straight is one thing, then the shoulders raise, the ribcage lifts and then, Ya Gotta Take a Breath! I find myself chanting and pulling the locks and wondering where my Air is. Only time to grab a breath is just before releasing all the locks for the next “EK” and starting all over again. Those of you who have practiced Laya Yoga, know the rhythm is very “immediate”, since the mantra starts as soon as the previous round is finished and the breath is kind of playing catch-up.
Please see if your meditation is serving. Maybe add to your time by 15 minutes and see if there is a new “interest” in the process.
Pray for the citizens of Egypt!
Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
~ SAT NAM ~
Depth of Diaphragm Lock
Greetings on this midsummer day,
Something changed this morning.
At the end of the Laya Yoga meditation, I’ve been doing 3 deep breaths with Mulhbandh on the held inhale and Mahabandh on the held exhale.
This time, all 3 exhales, the diaphragm lock got “deeper”. When I pulled in and up, there was a little point where the lock got so tight, the entire belly area got pulled in at least another 1/2 inch, almost like a true vacuum. I’m more impressed by the phenomenon of the depth of motion than trying to evaluate if anything else is going on. This all lasts only for those 3 breaths.
Though…
Pulling the navel on the first repetition and then the 3 diaphragm locks has finally started to work itself into a decent rhythm. The motion is smoother. We were falling asleep(!) about 20 minutes into the meditation. This doesn’t “pressurize” the system like many of the breath techniques and fading away is easy towards the end. On the other hand, the last few days have been much more responsive to staying awake and keeping steady during the rounds.
There is another side to this, too. A deep relaxation after the meditation can go deep enough to sleep for an hour. (So, energy IS moved!) Fortunately, this is usually early enough to not affect the rest of the day. We HAVE been able to get up and going, once the body rebalances. We’ve also gone as short as 10 minutes before getting into the rest of the day.
If you are jumping up, right after your yoga and meditation, you are not doing your nervous system a favor.
Please be complete in your yoga. The deep relaxation is as important as your intention to practice in the first place.
Wishing you a great Summer day.
Blessings.
~ SAT NAM ~
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