taking energy practice to the next level.....kechari

[alwayson4]

Apparently, from what I am reading on the Advanced Yoga Practices forum (google it), Kechari is really necessary if you want to make rapid and profound changes in your energy body. The stuff I have read from other peoples' experiences have me sold completely.

Its actually not as hard to do as it seems. look up kechari on youtube.com, there are a ton of videos on how to do it.

I am actually quite close myself, I should be able to acheive it in the next week.

[CFTraveler]

At over 100 posts you are well allowed to post a link, you know.

[Korpo]

All I see is a technique sold as the big short cut - again. If it works as it looks like it short-circuits an energy line through the brain. On another site is said to be a short-cut for activating the pituitary gland.

Also the site (AYP) mandates the cutting or tearing of the frenum (under your tongue) as possibly necessary for the advanced stages of the practice and compares its function to the "hymen in a women".

I'm having doubts about this to say the least. The control of the glands, especially of the brain, should usually be reserved to an advanced practitioner. If a certain Yogic technique would lead to this mudra naturally over time as originally stated that would be fine. Inducing it on your own without it happening spontaneously seems however to be one of these esoteric booster techniques we know little about but might be harmful.

Oliver

[Tom]

Kechari mudra does involve lengthening the tongue so it can be pulled back into the passage between the mouth and the throat. Eventually you can even do alternate nostril breathing by closing off the nostrils with your tongue from the inside. Using a razor is cheating and it has a serious risk of infection associated with it. Instead the process should be done gradually over several years by massaging and gently pulling the tongue. Use a soft cloth after soaking it with warm water. Watch out for the gag reflex; it can be a problem in the early stages when you start to get your tongue back to the uvula - is that how it is spelled? - the thing that hangs down at the back of the mouth over the entrance to the throat. I used to lurk at a forum where there were several people who were determined to do Kechari. Some cheated; they could repeatedly cut their tongue with a razor, but the puke reflex usually stopped even them. FYI, even after the first year no one got spectacular results. I didn't stick around long enough to see someone really succeed.

[CFTraveler]

Uvula is correct.
I nearly swallowed my tongue.
Maybe you achieve enlightenment as you choke to death. :?

[Korpo]

I thought about that the technique might actually risk swallowing the tongue, at least how it seems to be depicted. That would require clear thinking to prevent suffocating by pulling out the tongue in time, which also is the strongest muscle in the body IIRC.

I wonder what the actual pre-requirements are for all these techniques that energise the brain - whether connecting the tongue (and therefore the Conception Vessel, which terminates there) into the brain (to a very conducive point up the nose as in this Kechari Mudra), or circulating through the spine into the brain instead of up behind the spine, or into the brain at the atlas vertebra. All these techniques seem to circulate a strong energy flow from the microcosmic orbit vessels into parts of the brain. In the first case by connecting the tongue, the second by drawing energy into the bottom of the spine (which you hold up) and in the third case by accident by not properly leading energy with the mind past the Jade Pillow.

It seems to me that techniques like these are recommended to advanced practitioners but not to be done prematurely, and I actually wonder if they can do damage to the brain or imbalance the glands of the brain. I guess any technique trying to influence the brain should not be done without instruction of a master at all.

Oliver

[Tom]

It is very unusual to succeed at this practice; you don't do it unless for some reason you really have to do it. Some teachers have everyone try it from the beginning, but they tend to be flakes and I prefer to avoid them.

[alwayson4]

i guess no takers on this site lol

well atleast i spread the info, so everyone can do what they wish.

[Nick----]

its interesting that Kriya yoga related topics have been coming up a lot recently...first off, this is a part of Kriya yoga that Paramhansa Yogananda(the yogi who brought Kriya to the west)taught. He never wrote much about it and so SRF does not teach it openly, but he taught it to some disciples that still pass on instruction in it. He implied that cutting under the tongue would destroy many of the nerves that help activate a connection to the frontal lobe. Also, contrary to most other Kriya lines, he didn't think teaching people kechari was absolutely necessary, he told some disciples to practice it and not others, and said that it happens on its own in deep meditative states.

Another thing to note, of all the people I have met who practice this, and some of them have been for thirty years or more, none of them put the tongue far enough to block of one of the nostrils. Even some so-called "Kriya masters" I have seen photos of demonstrating this don't go very deep. Here is some MRI photos: http://www.siddhasiddhanta.com/khechari.html . I don't doubt the tongue can go that far, but I think it is very rare. anyway, here is my experience...it brings mild to intense euphoria, helps with quieting the mind, and draws the energy inward and upward in the body. However, I don't think this is the "miracle" mudra people hope for. There are lots of techniques that help spiritual progress (NEW for example), but I don't think there is any technique that works as fast as most people in our times want. It seems to me that devotion and surrender to the divine, along with positive thought and action raise energy better than doing techniques in a mechanical way. I have met more than a few that practice kechari, and frankly, some of them don't seem to have received much benefit. A wise man once said to me, "Don't seek techniques, seek only God, and God will then send you the tools you need to find him." Even though I say this, I do consider kechari one of the most powerful yoga practices that I have been exposed to. I didn't start working on kechari until about a year and half ago, and I can still only hold it for about ten minutes at a time before my tongue and soft palette get really sore. Its something that takes awhile to develop, but Lahiri Mahasay taught certain techniques to help. He said that just the practice of the most basic Kriya pranayam would help it develop, because it interiorizes the senses, and this is helpful for its practice.

Although, I find kechari to be very effective, I don't think any technique or practice is necessary for taking energy work to the next level, besides.....love :D

[Nick----]

I forgot to mention a few things....

When I first started attempting this practice, I could already put my tongue to my uvula, this is also a good technique. I stopped trying to practice kechari for about half a year because it was making me feel ungrounded and giving me bad third-eye headaches. So as with anything, ease off it if it seems to be too much. When I came back to it, I had no problems.

Secondly, there is no risk of swallowing the tongue or suffocating if this is down correctly, the tongue is going up, not down. Some have a gag reflex that makes them choke instinctively, but this goes away with time.

[ButterflyWoman]

Maybe you achieve enlightenment as you choke to death. :?
I don't think so. I nearly choked to death a few years ago and the only thing going through my mind was, "Well, if I can't get this out of my throat, I'm going to drop dead right here in the kitchen." It was a very surreal experience. On the one hand I was gagging and desperately trying to clear my throat, and on the other I had this totally calm "voice" in my head thinking stuff like "guess I'm gonna die now". Weird.

Somehow I don't think that's enlightenment. ;)


here is my experience...it brings mild to intense euphoria, helps with quieting the mind, and draws the energy inward and upward in the body. However, I don't think this is the "miracle" mudra people hope for. There are lots of techniques that help spiritual progress (NEW for example), but I don't think there is any technique that works as fast as most people in our times want.
Thanks for sharing that. I agree that there's no "fast track to enlightenment".


It seems to me that devotion and surrender to the divine, along with positive thought and action raise energy better than doing techniques in a mechanical way. [...] A wise man once said to me, "Don't seek techniques, seek only God, and God will then send you the tools you need to find him."
I agree with this completely and absolutely. Seek the Source.

I had a look at those MRI pictures. Fascinating. I gave it a try to see how flexible my tongue is and I can actually touch my uvula quite easily. It sets of a gag reflex, of course, and I don't think I would personally want to pursue this technique (the stuff I've been doing seems to be working pretty well, and I don't believe that this technique, while undoubtedly useful for some people, is going to speed anything up), but it was interesting to see that I can curl my tongue around that way. :)

Hey, learn something new every day, right? :P

[alwayson4]

well i should have clarified in my original post, that kechari needs to be done with other practices. On AYP they combine it with something called spinal breathing. But it takes whatever you are doing and adds the icing on the cake from what I am understanding.