Although the Safeties are an amazing groundwork in terms of practices that can be performed daily, these are some that I have adopted into my life, which have helped me, and may help you.
Record
Record
Recently I began keeping a Kundalini journal. This is a completely different book than my normal journal; I have one of those too. It’s not that I want to keep the two worlds seperate, and as I said in the previous post on this subject the two things should not be seperate. It is because it is important if not imperative to keep track of the comings and goings of the energy to find the greater purpose within it, and it is more simple to do this in its own book. Why do this? Because it is easy to get lost in the various phenomena that take place within you, and it is easy to focus on the pain here or the tremor there and forget the whole. In my journal I record what is taking place within me from day to day - physically, mentally, emotionally, and of course spiritually - and what I have noticed is that I am able to better understand it and myself, and not get lost in the habit of focussing too much on the intense moment as a seperate entity not linked in the larger puzzle of the Divine Kundalini plan. I am able to go back and see the common intention in the energy and it helps me to feel more unified and less afraid, which is a world of difference from before.
Exercise
Pick up a book on the Tao. A really great one is “The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity: A Modern Practical Guide to the Ancient Way” by Daniel P. Reid. In my opinion the Taoists have it down, especially in regards to diet, sex and exercise. There is a really great section in the book about ‘long life exercises’ which I wanted to mention because sometimes the Kundalini does not agree with vigourous exercise or meditative Yoga practices. Sometimes it can stimulate Her in ways that are too intense for the person to deal with, and it is always advised to stop doing whatever is aggravating that intensity. The long life exercises are far more gentle and focus on oxygenating the body and stimulating the cardiovascular system without putting strain upon it in needless ways. It helps to invigourate as opposed to exhaust, and aids in deeper breathing/circulation as to take some of the onus off of the heart (thus long life.) They are exercises that you can do at home and without the aid of personal gym equipment, weights, etc, the regimen can be adjusted to your specific needs and are not too time consuming. They are not going to burn off your cellulite or make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1980 but they will keep you fit and feeling great while not overstimulating the Lady Serpent.
For those of you who can handle it, Yoga should definitely not be crossed off the list. As I said, it can stimulate the energies to points of discomfort and if you are experiencing this to an extent which is too intense, then by all means stop. But Yoga can be a very amazing method for reaching balanced states of body and mind.
Create
Self Portrait Shadow Hand by TallulahLosLobos © 2010
Something that often happens in Kundalini Awakened people is that they become more creative. Painting, drawing, music, dance, sculpture, writing, other forms of design - all of a sudden there is a great desire to pursue different forms of expression. Do it! Pick up a kit, go to a class, get a typewriter, get some pointers from an artist friend. Don’t be held back by not starting early, not necessarily having a ‘knack’ or ‘amazing talent’ right away, these things always take time to develop. Artistic endeavours can be an excellent way to express the abstract nature of the K, ways that directly speaking to others cannot. But on the other hand:
Talk About It
As I discussed in the previous post of this nature it is helpful in various situations to create a language that can be used to express the K energy in ways that others will understand more easily, especially in work/business scenarios where maintaining a certain image is important. However, it is also important to let it ALL hang out sometimes. If there are no loved ones around you that you can speak with, a therapist is a good option. I have gone to a few to discuss things of this nature, and they are obligated to be impartial, so they can be a great ear - especially if you develop a long relationship with him or her. Otherwise, there are forums you can connect with. There are many Kundalini forums online now. One that I encountered early on in my activation is called Kundalini Awakening Systems 1 and it is on Yahoo! There were around 200 members when I first joined in 2006, now there are 1076 and counting. Chrism, my teacher and friend, is the group moderator and has been awakend for two decades. He has dedicated his life to the Kundalini and its safe and joyous activation/journey in people.
The Spiritual Emergence Network is another great resource. I contacted them after finding out that I had a Kundalini Awakening and they were very helpful. You can find a directory of therapists in your region on the site and a list of helpful books.
Be Of Service/Bury Yourself in Tasks
(This is also mentioned in the Safeties under Love). Seemingly there is nothing that Kundalini loves more than to indulge in work and help others when they really need it. The truth is that you have so much energy circulating around you all of the time that it only makes sense to give some of it away. The simplest of things like making dinner for people or scrubbing the shower can relieve a lot of built up energy. Apply for a volunteering position if you have the time. Focus on the needs of others. Take the spotlight off of yourself. Make use of your body, it will appreciate it!
Adopt an Animal Companion
If you don’t already have one (or five!) I would suggest getting an animal friend. This I ONLY advise to people perfectly prepared and equipped to handle the responsibility with love, grace and diligence. Animals are precious gifts and we must take care of them properly. Cats are wonderful, dogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, pygmy marmosets, snakes (how appropriate that would be), other reptiles, as long as you can provide a suitable habitat. Animals have an amazing calming effect on humans in general. There are many studies that have been done which have illuminated the fact that certain animals (cats in particular) can help lengthen people’s lives. Certain types help you to become more active, and in general they can help ground you and take your mind off of energy troubles with their simple, beautiful life perspectives and antics.
My kittensLola (black) and Zoe (orange)
Zoe cuddles
I have found all of these tips to be helpful in my daily life. El Collie has a few more suggestions which I will also list: (From http://www.elcollie.com/html/Issue8a.html)
1. Long walks, vigorous exercise, running or dancing (Caution: in extreme heightened states, physical movement accelerates the energy rather than providing release.)
2. Physical labor. This works best if it is both physically engaging and a fairly mindless, repetitious task which requires little mental concentration (such as scrubbing floors or pulling weeds).
3. Steady, gentle, nondemanding activities such as crafts or needlework
4. Communing with nature, especially in a serene, private setting. Sometimes full bodily contact with a tree or the earth can be very grounding. For about six weeks during my process, I received inner guidance to go barefoot. This was during the time when the electrical currents in my body were most intense; the energy coursed through my feet into the ground more easily without the insulation of socks and shoes.
5. In extremely energetic states, one is apt to go for long periods without sufficient food or sleep. The resulting stress on the organism amplifies these energies. If you are prone to spontaneous trance states or dysfunctional “spacing out,” be careful to keep up your blood sugar through eating regular small meals or snacks, even if you aren’t hungry. And try to get plenty of rest.
6. Increase food intake and include more protein and sugar in the diet. (At times in the process, one is apt to have food cravings, particularly for sweets, dairy products or meat.)
7. Avoid practices that stimulate changes in consciousness, such as meditation, fasting, breath work and so forth.
8. Make love. Some people find that the release of orgasm balances the psychospiritual energies.
9. Although not recommended, substances such as alcohol and tobacco can decrease the energy within the system. (A SEN volunteer told me she had heard many cases where even those who had quit smoking years previously had taken up cigarettes again when they had Kundalini awakenings.) Prescription psychoactive drugs (antidepressants and antipsychotics) can arrest or completely abort a transformational process. This may sound desirable to those who are having a hard time of it, but these drugs do not return one to normal; instead, they tend to freeze the process in its present state. Worse, antidepressants can trigger psychosis for those in a delicate psychospiritual state, and the neuroleptics (antipsychotics) can cause tardive dyskinesia, a persistent and in many cases irreversible pathological syndrome which resembles kriyas! (This will be discussed at greater length in “Dangerous Medications” in Issue #9.) Even so, some people are so prone to severe mental dissociation and debilitating psychosis in the heightened states that they cannot function without the aid of these drugs.
10. Service to others. (This has worked most often and most reliably in my own instance; focusing on someone else’s needs and lending my help and support has kept me from dissolving into oblivion — or panic — during my protracted periods in altered states.)
2. Physical labor. This works best if it is both physically engaging and a fairly mindless, repetitious task which requires little mental concentration (such as scrubbing floors or pulling weeds).
3. Steady, gentle, nondemanding activities such as crafts or needlework
4. Communing with nature, especially in a serene, private setting. Sometimes full bodily contact with a tree or the earth can be very grounding. For about six weeks during my process, I received inner guidance to go barefoot. This was during the time when the electrical currents in my body were most intense; the energy coursed through my feet into the ground more easily without the insulation of socks and shoes.
5. In extremely energetic states, one is apt to go for long periods without sufficient food or sleep. The resulting stress on the organism amplifies these energies. If you are prone to spontaneous trance states or dysfunctional “spacing out,” be careful to keep up your blood sugar through eating regular small meals or snacks, even if you aren’t hungry. And try to get plenty of rest.
6. Increase food intake and include more protein and sugar in the diet. (At times in the process, one is apt to have food cravings, particularly for sweets, dairy products or meat.)
7. Avoid practices that stimulate changes in consciousness, such as meditation, fasting, breath work and so forth.
8. Make love. Some people find that the release of orgasm balances the psychospiritual energies.
9. Although not recommended, substances such as alcohol and tobacco can decrease the energy within the system. (A SEN volunteer told me she had heard many cases where even those who had quit smoking years previously had taken up cigarettes again when they had Kundalini awakenings.) Prescription psychoactive drugs (antidepressants and antipsychotics) can arrest or completely abort a transformational process. This may sound desirable to those who are having a hard time of it, but these drugs do not return one to normal; instead, they tend to freeze the process in its present state. Worse, antidepressants can trigger psychosis for those in a delicate psychospiritual state, and the neuroleptics (antipsychotics) can cause tardive dyskinesia, a persistent and in many cases irreversible pathological syndrome which resembles kriyas! (This will be discussed at greater length in “Dangerous Medications” in Issue #9.) Even so, some people are so prone to severe mental dissociation and debilitating psychosis in the heightened states that they cannot function without the aid of these drugs.
10. Service to others. (This has worked most often and most reliably in my own instance; focusing on someone else’s needs and lending my help and support has kept me from dissolving into oblivion — or panic — during my protracted periods in altered states.)
Pain
Another major difficulty that comes up often in transformation is physical and mental/emotional pain. While much of the pain may be fleeting and therefore bearable, some is more corrosive. Our bodies and psyches are being torn apart and regenerated, and unfortunately, this process usually hurts. While it is not generally possible to completely eliminate pain, there are things we can do to help alleviate it.
1. Baths. If the problem is insufferable bodily heat from the risen Kundalini, some people have found that cool baths provide relief. If the problem is muscle pains, warm baths may be soothing. Some individuals have told me that baths have been very grounding for them. In my personal experience, water (especially showers) intensifies the energy in my body.
2. Massage, bodywork, acupressure or aura work (such as Therapeutic Touch). Warning: unless this is done by a very sensitive and experienced person who is respectful of the Kundalini, it can disturb the delicate energy balance in the system and cause more pain.
3. Adjustments in diet. This may be especially necessary during periods of digestive difficulties. Experiment with dietary changes to find out what works best for you.
4. Follow internal cues. This is in line with the old joke where the patient says, “Doctor, it hurts when I bend over like this,” and the doctor replies, “Well, then don’t bend over like that.” Listen to what your body is telling you.
5. Allow automatic movements to occur. When the kriyas and mudras begin to happen, they may seem so alien to us that we try to repress these spontaneous physical movements. This can create more pain. I always feel an insistent ache in my arms right before the mudras occur. If I let my arms start to move, the pain vanishes, but if I resist the movements, the pain gets worse. If you have strong urges to move in a particular way, go off where you have privacy and let this happen. It can be especially disconcerting when the facial muscles automatically move, causing one to make grotesque grimaces or opening the mouth so wide it hurts. These movements and postures which occur while resting in bed or at other times may seem very odd, but they are the body’s attempts to acclimate and balance the spiritual energies. Some people have discovered they were causing themselves pain by mentally and physically clamping down against the energies. Relaxing this mental and bodily tension may at first cause lots of shaking in the body, but this isn’t harmful.
6. Flow with the pain. Sometimes I find that if I just accept the pain, and soften around it, I experience it in a much less tormenting way. There have been times when I’ve been helped to do this by using Stephen Levine’s mantra, “Just this much” (which is a variation of sorts on the “One day at a time” motto of the recovery movement, only in this case, it is “One microsecond at a time.”) Occasionally, this flowing-with-it actually changes the feeling from pain to a pleasurable streaming sensation.
7. Experiment with mentally moving the energy. This has been beneficial to me in dealing with my spine pain. I mentally go into the pain and circulate the energy in the places where it feels stuck. This requires a lot of concentration but is one of the few methods I’ve found that helps with severe pain.
8. Meditation and yoga. The gentle stretching movements of yoga can alleviate some pains and help open up pathways for the energies.
9. Music. When my back pain was most ferocious, I spent hours merging into beautiful, soothing music I listened to through headphones. While I wasn’t transported away from the pain, I was less self-identified with it.
10. Prayer. Mother Meera (considered to be one of the living incarnations of the divine Mother) has said that all prayers to the Goddess are eventually answered, and that even when She cannot take the suffering away (some pain and suffering are an inevitable and necessary part of spiritual growth), She always acts in compassion to soften one’s suffering. In my seven years of praying to the Goddess, I have found this to be true. The Goddess is the deification of divine mercy and love; this is why I am attuned to Her in my prayers. Prayer is very personal and is most effective when it is directed to the Higher Power that has the greatest resonance for you.
11. Dialogue with the pain or physical symptom. This can bring up very fruitful insights and revelations. Ask the pain (or symptom) who it is and what it wants from you. Allow your imagination free reign with this. Sometimes it takes several dialogue sessions to get anywhere (and it may seem like nothing meaningful is happening). But if you persist, you might learn something valuable about yourself (or about the universe) and may discover the pain is reduced or disappears in the process.
12. Pain medication. There were times during my awakening when I was clearly told not to take any drugs/chemicals into my body. There have been other times when I was permitted to take medications (in moderation) to relieve my most painful symptoms. (This “permission” came in the sense that these medicines became available to me and I had no adverse reaction, physically or psychically, when I made use of them.) I have used, at various times in my process, Valium (good for relieving muscle spasms), Flexeril (a muscle relaxant that has helped with my back pain), Codeine (another godsend for taking the edge off my agonizing spine pain) and aspirin. Irina Tweedie practically lived on aspirin and caffeine (in the form of black coffee) for the first five years of her Kundalini awakening. You’ll need to stay closely in touch with your own system to know how purist you should be about this.
13. Be patient. When Bonnie Lee Hood (who has done a great deal of research on spiritual emergence) was asked at a conference what was most useful in getting through the worst parts of the process, she answered, “Time.” Many of the painful or hard to bear aspects of awakening will eventually work themselves out without intervention. Simply being willing to “be with” whatever is happening, and allowing our healing to unfold at its own pace, may be all that is needed. And sometimes, when we seem to be stuck at a difficult impasse, it is not until we are able to surrender to the process that we finally come upon inner or external guidance to help us move on.
Other Problems
1. Agoraphobia, panic attacks and other mental/emotional distress may occur when the chakras are opening and one is becoming hypersensitive to atmospheric psychic energies. Many people find that it helps to visualize psychic barriers or protective seals (such as surrounding oneself with a cocoon of light) to fend off this barrage.
2. Fear: a certain amount of fear is typical of the transformational process and can’t be helped. But there are resources that can modify our fears. I have often found comfort and reassurance from reading books and magazine articles written by others who have undergone psychospiritual experiences. Better yet can be direct communication with others who are going through spiritual emergence. This can be done through networking and forming support groups in your area. Some people find that this is the time when therapy is of great help, especially when dealing with all the personal and biographical pain that is uncovered during the purification process.
3. Physical illness. Going through a spiritual transformation doesn’t make you immune to “normal” diseases and injuries. If you are experiencing extreme or prolonged symptoms, do seek medical attention. A Kundalini awakening can catalyze latent diseases which can be serious if left untreated.
4. Mild to moderate difficulties. Some people never experience severe complications during their awakening. Others may go through “intermissions” of relative relief between bouts of more drastic manifestations. In these less demanding periods, it can be very helpful to channel the energies into creative outlets, such as writing poetry, playing music, artwork, or whatever you are naturally drawn to do. These activities are not only pleasant; they can be a way to process and integrate unconscious (and superconscious) material.
© Shannon Naithair Teine, 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment