Chakra: Where To Go From Here, Some advice, Forum? Options

So, I'm getting really good at opening/closing/clearing/charging my 7 main chakra. (my throat and groin[the one above the root] chakra are my weakest, but I can still use them)

I'm also good at sending 'energy' through my limbs, and all the relaxing and whatnot. I've entered some pretty interesting waking trance states. I can get to a point where all my body goes to sleep and it's very easy to visualize(it's usually easy anyway, but it gets even easier to visualize detail), and I can forget my real body. I'm also getting good at doing other weird things. I can got to a point where I lose control of my breathing- it becomes very deep and rapid and my heart starts beating rapidly. After I stop my body is quivering and my vision is very blurry for a few minutes. It's pretty neat.

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Ahem, anyway, I'm wondering if the forum has any advice on more work I can do with the chakras.

Where to go is to formally study something like Kundalini yoga that combines physical and breathing exercises with meditative exercises. Also, although it is appropriate to meditate on the chakras and become sensitive to the sensation of energy in the body, be very carefull about playing around with this to get " interesting" effects. The so-called chakras are related to a neurochemical loop in the brain. You are priming that loop when you do chakra meditation. You can also cause an epileptic or psychiatric problems to occur if you mess up with what you are doing. I'm not sure whether what you are describing is an effect of untoward nervous reactions or if you are describing the beginnings of kriya or shaktipat. What can happen is that you experience spontaneous movement while in a trance or ecstatic mind state or else you may suddenly feel an intense heat welling up through the body that may be accompanied by the rapid heartbeat and breatthing you described, but you do not have blurred vision or disorientation when it is over (although you would have blurred vision and disorientation after a seizure). Proceed with caution and with some kind of supervision. Do not treat it like a game. Ive studied this as a practioner and a researcher for many years. I am not part of this lineage, but I like this book for guidance on chakra work of all the material I've gone through: Kundalini Tantra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati. It is a comprehensive book on yoga postures and meditations and explanations about Kundalini and chakras, including notes about brain function and yoga.

The classes that I have seen saying that they teach Kundalini yoga usually don't teach actual kundalini yoga. They teach some sort of mixture of yoga and new age practices. I haven't found that the classes or teachers were of high calibre. I'm not saying that kundalini yoga is bogus, but it seems that a lot of teachers with few qualifications call what they teach kundalini yoga because it is trendy and brings in more business. So let the buyer beware. Question the teachers about their level of experience, their training and what exactly they teach.

Another reality is that true kundalini yoga is quite arduous and demanding. There are other forms of yoga and other related disciplines that would perhaps be better suited. It gives you a wider choice from which to choose. Remember that just because it is called kundalini yoga it isn't a guarantee of quality, rather the reverse these days in my experience.

I'm going to be very honest here: I can't see myself going with any sort of rigid training structure. I know a few yoga poses that I use mostly to stretch and relax, and I have focused on various chakra while doing some poses, with some results, but my practice is in no way legitimate and I can't see myself undergoing years of study. Not only do I not have the time for it, I don't have the patience or desire to do so. Although I very much appreciate your suggestion and warnings. I'll try to heed them as best I can. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

But seizures, eh? Interesting. I wasn't worried about the effects of blurred vision and the trembliness because I was also trying to go OOB(I started with just focusing/clearing/charging the chakra and getting a good feeling, but I started to try to go OOB after I'd done my routine), and I heard that with OOB those sorts of feelings are normal(as was the faint buzzing I heard).

Granted, I'd consider the sources I heard this from less reputable than this site, but whatever. I didn't mention the OOB part earlier because I was more interested in further work with the chakra. Also, fyi, I didn't manage to go OOB. Been trying for nearly three months now with almost no luck, but it's whatever. I won't go into it anymore because I'm getting a little (IMG:style_emoticons/default/offtopic.gif)

OBEs are caused by wonky things going on in the parietal lobes of the brain. People can train themselves to have OBEs and are normal etc. but OBEs also commonly occur in people who have schizophrenia and epilepsy. You don't pop out of your body. Your brain disassociates from self and place. It involves strongly visualizing a mirror double and then transfering the experience of physical sensation and orientation from yourself to the visualized double. This has been studied in clinical laboratories. OBEs are useful for exploring the "Inner Plane"in occultism. You have an opportunity to meet archetypes and guides and getting teaching, which comes from the storehouse of consciousness to which your are linked.

To be "safe" with Kundalini and chakra meditation, it important to do exercises to strengthen and condition your nervous system (generally yoga exercises are good for this), to do breathing exercises within reason in conjunction with physicial exercises (if you do breathing exercises wrong or excessively you can injure your nervous system or pop a fuse or something), and do both mindfulness meditation and visualization meditation (such as chakra meditation). You also need to be psychologically healthy. You don;t have to read a lot of books or necessarily study for years; you are just way better off knowing what you are doing and how to handle weird experiences when they do occur. Some if the cool effects you may experience and get ga-ga over and want to hold onto and expand are merely the nervous system shaking off stress and complexes and reconfiguring itself. The experiences feel groovy and trippy but they are epiphenomeon--or side effects-- of sublte neuropsychodynamic processes. You are just supposed to witness them and not force or hang onto them because at worst, you will go crazy, at best, you will just create more complexes and not advance.

As far as Kundalini yoga. Many styles of yoga, some of which are pretentiously trademarked,go by this name. Chakra meditation and shakti activation is also known as Laya yoga. Populari Kundalini Yoga ™ is stuff developed in the 1960s by a Sikh (recently deceased) named Yogi Bhajan. It is based on highly calisthenic yogic-type exercises, chanting, breathwork, and cult dogma. If you can separate out the cultishness, many of the exercises are great for preliminary conditioning for more authentic Kundalini/Laya yoga. Other forms of Kundalini yoga involve joining a guru cult in which the leader bops you on on the head (usually after paying the guru a large sum of money). You get "shaktipat"-- that is you get your kundalini (temporarily) raised and thus often become so impressedby the experience and desire to have it recur that you become the guru's devotee, slave, and income source. Don't do that if you can help it. A real "guru" of this kind doens't take money and gives you guidance and impowerments personally and subtlely.

Whatever you are doing, just "mind your head,' Dude.

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SororZSD23 espouses a more materialistic based explanation of spiritual phenomenon. I don't agree with his explanations, but we can agree to disagree. But we do agree that yoga and other similar disciplines have become commercialized and glammed up.

A practical suggestion; you mentioned that you have two chakras that are seemingly weakened. I'd suggest that you do regular meditations on all the chakras, but focus upon the weaker chakras for longer than the rest. The chakras, meridians, and the aura are all part of an energetic system. By working with as much of the system as you are able to, you will strengthen the whole system in a balanced way. It is all connected. You might also go onto U Tube and look at their Qigong exercises. It is free for users, and in certain ways, better than books. You can see the exercises being performed rather than looking at a static photo or a series of photos. Books are better in explaining theory and the finer points, but seeing the motions of the exercises being done is useful. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...&aq=0&oq=Qigong Start with simple exercises. Most people who practice regularly may use 2 to 5 different exercises. They may know dozens of other exercises, but they discover favorites or exercises that they find most useful. Doing the exercises regularly is the key. You may not spend huge swatches of time every day, but the time you spend builds up. For instance, you might spend 10-15 minutes a day; not much but it is sustained and regular . You put in the time and you get the results.

I really appreciate all the great responses, and you've all sparked some interesting questions in my head about the nature of attaining OOBEs that I've moved to the appropriate category.

But that last post was really what I was looking for, Goibniu! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Trying to build up my weak chakras makes a lot of sense(I'm actually rather embarrassed I didn't think of it, seems rather obvious in retrospect), and also mentioning auras makes me realize that, while I've read up on them somewhat, I've never actually tried to see/do anything with them. Also, your description of some of the qi gong exercises seems like something that I'd be very willing to learn about and put into practice. I'm good with learning and keeping to a resolution(like doing a few exercises everyday) but unfortunately I just don't have the time, patience, or desire to learn a whole system like the kundalini yoga.

Thanks for the advice, and feel free to share any more you might have. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)