Alfredo Delregato, MS, CIH, FLAC, FMA Revving up the Sadhana

Om Yogi Madhvacharya Namah Lately, I have been trying to rev up the Sadhana, the spiritual practice. One
must be very careful when talking about this. This should be said only in whispers, quietly, really, so as not to
arouse the envy or attention of providence. It is like the Yoga of Celibacy. Are you into celibacy in any way or
form, Urdhva Retas, building up Ojas and Tejas to increase the power of your practice, increase your meditative
ability? Please, please, be quiet; dont say it, lest you set up yourself up for the biggest fall of your life. The
bang of your fall will be heard all the way in Timbuktu. So, I started increasing, filling up the time with spiritual
exercises, around 2 main practices of breath infusion (Bhastrika Prnyma) followed by meditation. These
practices occur at 4 AM and 12 Noon. The latter is done right under Aditya, Surya, the Most Beautiful God,
Dios Dorado, the center of our beings, Who here in Miami shines, verily castigates with increasing strength as it
moves toward the Summer Solstice. The filling up was started using 2 methods of pranayama: a) 2nd Kriya
spinal breathing with mantra; b) Nadi Shodhana (similar, but different, from Anulom Vilom in that in Nadi
Shodhana you inhale through the same nostril where you last exhaled). With the 2nd Kriya one I use a manual
counter. I will describe this technique in detail in another post for those interested in learning about it. As the
mind quiets down with the breathing exercises, then there is an opening for increasing the meditation time. This
is best accomplished at first by small bursts of meditation, and by increasing the time holding the breath, which
is accommodated by both prnyma techniques described above. There are those who say that there is
something wrong with holding your breath during prnyma. This is incorrect. This is Antar Kumbhaka, and it
is very good. You can go for up to a minute in this Kumbhaka. However, Bahya Kumbhaka is another story, this
I dont recommend to rookies, this is when you fully exhale and hold with empty lungs. There are concerns here
if you move around, especially up and down, there might be damage to the alveoli of the lungs under certain
conditions because of the change of atmospheric pressure. But again, do not fear the Antar Kumbhaka, as it can
be used to great benefit, and it is like a mini-meditation. The increments in the time of the Sadhana went from 4
to 8 hours straight from Friday to Sunday. Several beneficial results ensued. Some of them will only be of value
if I can hold onto them, which is the real problem because there is right away an increase in the forces, some of
them dark that push against this movement. First of all, you must become an adept at camouflage, a chameleon
verily, and have tons of good luck. Nryaa less