Growing your own sun #4
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An Indian senior classic yoga-teacher said:
A relevant aspect is the energy system of Yoga, which is also described in the Sutras. The three major nerve channels run along the spine (central, left and right). The left and right channels nurture opposites: sun-moon, heat-cold etc. As per my understanding, alternate nostril breathing balances the energies and fosters equanimity.
The mudra for alternate nostril breathing is “Nasagra Mudra”. The thumb of the right hand is placed on the right nostril and the ring finger, along with the little finger, is placed on the left nostril. The other two fingers may be folded towards the base of the thumb or placed between the eye brows.
In the same way, SCK is an alternate nostril breathing exercise; and since this is the Kriya I know and built up, I will focus on that to explain to you how left-right-nostril-pranayamas do serve to strengthen the immune-system on a level unseen by the average western medical approach of vitamins and chemicals:
When breathing in through the left nostril you draw everything (from viruses to emotions) down the Ida channel which then propels the chakras.
You pumping the belly mentally digests the energy – separating pure from impure;
and you breathing out of the right nostril again propells all the chakras and therewith adjusts them.
One of the meanings of the swastika is the propelled chakras. Hence this kriya is called “purification of the chakras”.
| breath in left | hold the breath & pump belly | breath out right |
| Ida | Shushumna (central channel) | Pingala |
More in “hidden breathing techniques” and “The principle of up and down movements“.
So here is the highspeed course for beginners to tune you into a daily practice of SCK within 11 weeks.
(Advanced suggestions below)
If you are hearing disabled then instead of the following audios, use this instruction on how I managed to count the beats with my fingers
(If you are confused I can mail you a short video on how I do it WP does not allow me to embed vids).
Regardless whether you use the audios or not, the rythm of the lessons is:
Practice SCK for a few minutes, the second time practice maximal 12 days later, the third time 11 days later, then 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2 days later, and finally you are in the rythm of doing it daily.
As for the audios:
You are only expected to be able to do the first 3 breath-cycles but the second half is to give you a feeling advanced practitioners have.
1.) Your first exercise of lesson 1 was to pump your belly once per triple-beat.
First we used very fast beats to cater to your still short breath.
- On each of those 16 three-beat-groups don’t chant (i.e. recite anything) but merely think “Waheguru” and pump your belly once for each “Waheguru“
Whilst holding the breath.
Mentally chant ‘Wahe Guru” 16 times , while pumping the navel point once for each “Wahe Guru”.
(blue background are my personal alterations, green background are original instructions)
Exhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril. Continue, inhaling left nostril, exhaling right.
2.) Your second exercise of lesson 2 was to pump your belly twice pre triple-beat.
MUDRA AND BREATH:
a) Block off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril and hold the breath.
Whilst holding the breath.
Mentally chant ‘Wahe Guru” 16 times , while pumping the navel point twice each.
| * | (* = beat) | * |
| Wahe | Guru (Gu= dark, Ru= light) | |
| Wow ! | (= a state of excitement) | Guru = transformation from dark to light |
From now on: Purely think the “Waheguru”mantra without listening to it. To direct your thought away from the head into your belly is why you pump the stomach twice whilst you think “waheguru”.
b) Unblock the right nostril and use the right index finger to block the left nostril. Exhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril. Continue, inhaling left nostril, exhaling right.
3.) Now with this third step today you are capable of doing SCK properly
by pumping your belly 3x
Now the beats did slow down enough for you to be able to pump your belly 3x:
MUDRA AND BREATH:
a) Block off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril and hold the breath.
Mentally chant ‘Wahe Guru” 16 times, while pumping the navel point 3 times with each repetition (once on ”Waa”, once on ”hey”, and once on ”Guru”) for a total of 48 pumps.
| [beat] * | * | * |
| Wa | He | Guru |
| Ah opens the heart | Hey (you)! brings up worldly issues | the U sound descends it into the realm of intuition |
use this instruction on how I managed to count the beats with my fingers.
^
conscious realm
^
outer world <––– confrontation — “HEY!” — confrontation –––> outer world
(this is how SCK does clean your Karma because it confronts you with worldy issues)
v
subcounscious realm
v
b) Unblock the right nostril and use the right index finger to block the left nostril. Exhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril. Continue, inhaling left nostril, exhaling right.
4. Now you get the possibility to also use the pinky finger instead of the index finger
The full instruction to unblock the right nostril is, so from now on you may use whatever finger suits you most. (I use the index finger because it correlates to Jupiter and I am extrovert, but the Mercury pinky finger also correlates to spirituality – more in a sense of communication, so good for introvert people).
b) Unblock the right nostril and use the right index or pinkie finger to block the left nostril.
As you did build up breathing stamina, the time to breath in the audios did slow down from 7 to 8 to 9 and now to 10 seconds.
5. The breaths slow down further and you learn how to tune out of it slowly
TO END: Inhale and hold 5-10 seconds. Exhale.
6. The beats continue to slow down and you learn to shake away the stuff which came up in the kriya
I have to say that I first did not like the shaking because I felt so relaxed afterwards, but when you do it longer this will move the energy and give you an opportunity to release emotions which came up.
Just shake shortly for now and later when you do more you can shake your body longer.
TO END: Inhale and hold 5-10 seconds. Exhale.
Then stretch and shake the body for about 1 minute to circulate the energy.
7. as your stamina becomes stronger the beats slow down…
Implement all you did before and use this sound today (instructions: see lesson 12)
8. … and down …
9. … and down …
10. … until you reach …
11. … a one-minute …
12. …yogi breath …
here once more the entire instructions for your reference
MUDRA AND BREATH:
a) Block off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril and hold the breath.
Mentally chant ‘Wahe Guru” 16 times, while pumping the navel point 3 times with each repetition (once on ”Waa”, once on ”hey”, and once on ”Guru”) for a total of 48 pumps.
b) Unblock the right nostril and use the right index or pinkie finger to block the left nostril.
TO END: Inhale and hold 5-10 seconds. Exhale.
Then stretch and shake the body for about 1 minute to circulate the energy.
As for the personality work for all 12 lessons:
You have 1 lesson each to listen to in this playlist (just click the right arrow to acess the next lessons):
If you are hearing disabled, or prefer to read
you can read the first chapter of this book here in the beauty of its original scan
For an easier read here is the plain text,
and if you like to listen to the audio-book without background music you can do so here :
And as promised the recommendation for advanced SCK-practitioners:
For 12 days on each day focus totally on the kriya without getting distracted for one more breathing-cycle each day:
- on the first day focus for 1 breathing cycle only
- on the second day for 2 cycles
- on the third day for 3 cycles,
- and on the fourth day for 4 cycles.
I know that you think: “What is he joking around? I am a pro and he tells me to focus for 2 minutes only?”
The reason is that you learn to distinguish between a focussed session and a ‘monkey-mind’ session.
A lot of people sit through their kriya in order to be able to tick it of at the end,
but to do it with a focus is something entirely different,
because this is when mystical experiences start to happen.
Also:
After the 4th day you will be surprised how the focus suddenly gets difficult:
5. From the 5th day on, focus for 5 breathing-cycles
6. From the 6th day for 6 breathing cycles
7. then on 7 breathing cycles,
8. then 8 cycles
9. cycles
10. cycles
11. cycles, and finally for
12. breathing cycles
The reason why this is more difficult from the 5th cycle on is because SCK is full of 3&4-rythms (4×4=16 beats), so you count in 4 or 8-groups, but to count at an additional 5-beat seems totally off.
So you see, this is an additional training of your mind to detatch from a motoric habit whilst bringing your awareness to the quality of the kriya.
Next beginners-advanced-hybrid-lesson comes once you completed this one,
so please let me know when you are ready to move onto the next step
in which I will prove to you how powerful SCK is.
| << intros 1, 2, 3 or start | < previous lesson | next step on demand > |
My suggestion is to slow down and take your time on both the inhale and exhale; give yourself enough time to repeat Wahe Guru 4 times each way.
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I totally agree, David.
In my experience, beginners usually have not much breath, so I took the fastest beats first to guide people into it, but afterwards the beats will slow down,
and even later I will implement the 2:4:1 ratio which makes the Kriya mystical.
(I do this in a way that it won’t influence or alter the original teachings)
Having said that, again, I totally concur with your knowledge that after those 12 introduction-sessions everything should become slower.
If your wife still doesn’t do SCK, this would be a good time to get her started, because in next lesson I want to build it up for a short while for people to experience the full effect of it;
and it would be nicer for you if you both do it together.
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