Chapter 1 – Breath and the Life Force
Breath is life. It sustains us and it is an expression of the life force within
So much of life is instinct. We breathe, we eat, we sleep, we become active, we procreate… Within all of that, we are making choices about what to do with our life, going about our business – getting an education, pursuing a career, making money, raising a family, working for the things that matter to us, and so on. All the while, something is wondering inside: “What is all this for? Why am I here? Is there something more?” We have an instinct to be asking these questions. Like breath itself, the questions are spurred through the impulse of life stirring deep within us.
Within all of that, we are making choices about what to do with our life, going about our business – getting an education, pursuing a career, making money, raising a family, working for the things that matter to us, and so on. All the while, something is wondering inside: “What is all this for? Why am I here? Is there something more?” We have an instinct to be asking these questions. Like breath itself, the questions are spurred through the impulse of life stirring deep within us.
What is this life force that sustains and animates every aspect of our existence, and spurs us on to find answers? We know that all of material existence is made up of energy. Physics tells us that all matter is empty space made to behave as solid by the polarities of energy whirling inside.
The whirling energies are still there creating the appearance of matter. Yet, something more is operating to bring the matter together into an intelligent expression – an intelligent and evolving system. This something else we can call the “life force.” In the ancient teachings of yoga from India, the life force is given another name – prana, which means “first unit” or “first manifestation.”
The rocks and earth are expressions of prana. The seas are an expression of prana.
stillness is the source of prana, the life force that energizes the universe we experience. The stillness we speak of is of a special kind – a stillness that is filled with possibilities. It is an awareness that does not move.
(Spinal breathing as the most effective pranayama for enlightenment)
But one stands out above all the rest. It is called spinal breathing pranayama. The reason it stands out is because of its effectiveness in stimulating and regulating prana within us in a way that covers the three primary objectives of all pranayama: Culturing the nervous system to become a steadily improving vehicle for inner silence rising from deep meditation. Awakening the nervous system to a condition of permanent ecstatic conductivity. Increasing and balancing the flow of inner energy (prana) over the long term to facilitate a progressive and safe unfoldment of the individual toward enlightenment.
This is the central principle in deep meditation, where we systematically go from thinking to inner silence and come out into the body/mind with great purifying effects. This kind of process is also central in the application of spinal breathing pranayama, on the level of the breath and the body, where we are going in and cultivating the nerves in a specific and purifying way. In doing so, we are improving the ability of the subtle neurobiology to serve as a much better vehicle for inner silence brought out through deep meditation.
Together, inner silence and the awakening of our inner energies (prana, the life force) intermingle to produce a condition of unshakable inner steadiness and ecstatic bliss.
Chapter 2 – Spinal Breathing Pranayama We are all wired for enlightenment. We are all wired to be illuminated from within. It is only a matter of purifying the wiring, our nervous system, to know the truth of this.
The scenery we will see along the way will be dazzling at times, dull at other times, and perhaps even stuck at yet other times. But, all the while we will be traveling forward, if we keep up our daily practice.
(The basic technique: tracing the spinal nerve with slow deep breath)
First, we slow down our breathing in a comfortable way – no straining. We just take it to the slowest comfortable pace we can. As part of this we breathe deeper, drawing more air in and expelling more air out than we do in normal breathing. We just breathe slower and deeper, keeping comfort well in hand. No heroics are necessary. Got it? Good. Second, we imagine a tiny nerve, like a little tube the size of a thread running from our perineum all the way up to the center of our brow. The perineum is the place underneath, between the genitals and the anus – we also call it the root.
The main thing is that we end up at the brow at the completion of inhalation and at the root at the completion of exhalation. How we get back and forth is less important than traveling from one end to the other without strain during our slow deep breathing. In time, it all comes together.
I was in a huge blissful space. What was it? It was the spinal nerve. Really, that is what it can be like. It is a paradox. How could such a tiny nerve become so big? It is the essential nature of our neurobiology. Our nervous system is the doorway to vast inner space. More than that – it is the doorway to unimaginable peace, intelligence, energy, ecstatic bliss and divine love. All that inside a tiny little nerve. It is infinity in a bottle, and we are the bottle! We cannot force our way into this. We can gently coax the purification in our nervous system that will eventually reveal what is within us as a full time experience. This is why we do spinal breathing.
What we have covered so far is the essence of spinal breathing – slow deep breathing while tracing the spinal nerve between root and brow, upward on inhalation and downward on exhalation.
Opening on Inhalation – Restricting on Exhalation When we engage in spinal breathing, it is possible to regulate the passage of air through our throat in a way that enhances the process. This is done by opening the throat wider than usual during inhalation, and by restricting it using the epiglottis during exhalation. In doing so, we can achieve better control of the air flow, particularly during exhalation, and enhance the restraint aspect of our pranayama. Recall that pranayama means restraint of prana (breath). As we are inhaling slowly and deeply, while tracing the spinal nerve upward from root to brow with our attention, we can let our throat relax and become larger than usual in the back.
When exhaling in spinal breathing, we close the epiglottis in a way that produces a slight hissing sound deep in our throat, and this is what regulates the exit of air from our lungs.
We do not use this sort of restriction during inhalation for two reasons: First, we want to take advantage of the benefit of the throat opening aspect of practice during inhalation and the stimulation of the brain stem it provides. And, second, restricting the air flow with the epiglottis during inhalation creates negative pressure in the lungs, which is not healthy for the lungs if done over an extended period of time in practices.
To enhance our spinal breathing, some additional stimulation can be provided in this area by developing the habit of a gentle lift of the eyes during spinal breathing. This is not anything extreme or heroic – only a slight lifting of the eyes. As we do this, we can also place a very slight furrowing intention on the center of the brow. Not enough to physically furrow the center of the brow. Only enough to feel some physical intention there.
Cool and Warm Currents There is a natural tendency in spinal breathing for ascending energy to be cool and descending energy to be warm. When we are able to perceive this and incorporate it into the tracing of the spinal nerve with our attention, it can help us in perceiving the spinal nerve and in more effectively purifying and opening our neurobiology throughout the body.
This is what we use in spinal breathing. It is a simple transference of sensation (coolness and warmness) felt in the throat and lungs to the path of our attention in spinal breathing – up and down the spinal nerve. It can be part of tracing the breathing up and down the spinal nerve.
In stillness we find absolute freedom amidst all the circumstances of life. And in the ecstatic flow of our inner realms we find the beginnings of an outward flow from us into our physical environment. This outward flow is a giving, a giving of a very special kind. It is an outpouring of divine love coming through us from within. It is effortless and uplifts everyone and everything around us. As we become free in inner silence and are becoming ecstatically conductive, this process happens all by itself as we go about our ordinary business in daily life.
If we are not familiar with yoga postures, a class can be taken just about anywhere. Other AYP writings cover postures (also called asanas) as well. It takes only five or ten minutes of a well-rounded routine of postures to provide a good foundation of inner flexibility and relaxation in the nervous system.
The truth of the matter is that our nervous system already does know all of yoga. The systems of yoga that have been developed over the centuries simply mirror what the human nervous system has taught us about its natural ways of purifying and opening itself. Yoga systems do not define what yoga is. The human nervous system does! We don’t even have to call it yoga.
(Automatic yoga: the raw force of spiritual energy expressing itself)
The more dramatic and convincing kinds of automatic yoga involve physical movement and postures. The kinds that can come up during or after our spinal breathing practice are automatic suspensions of breath, sudden bellows-like exhalations, or even rapid breathing (panting) that has nothing to do with any external physical activity. Sometimes the head can go down or back. Sometimes it can rotate around as though automatically clearing energy in the neck. The entire torso can lean forward, and, in less-common instances, can lurch, bringing the entire body off the seat. The anus can go into gentle compressions. The eyes can go up. The tip of the tongue can go back on the roof of the mouth. These are all manifestations of automatic yoga. There are many more things that can happen. Or there may be none. Automatic yoga is not a prerequisite for progress.
The question may arise, “If automatic yoga is automatic, why don’t we let go of our structured routine and just go with the automatic yoga?” There are several reasons why we don’t do this. First, while automatic yoga is impressive (a confirmation!) it is not very systematic. While an automatic breath suspension may happen, it does not know what is supposed to happen next to facilitate the effective integration of its effects. Such integration is essential if we are to stay on a stable path of purification and opening. Automatic yoga is not capable of keeping us on a regular routine of practice either. It is the raw expression of our spiritual energies.
truth is that automatic yoga, while a very significant phenomenon, does not care about the well-being of our body, or our emotional and mental state. It is the raw force of nature attempting to purify and open us all at once. It will try and do it all today if we will allow it. But that is not possible, so, in that sense, automatic yoga is not practical in the moment. It is our innate spiritual energy expressing itself. Intense spiritual desire is also like that, having great power to transform us. It too is an automatic yoga that arises from our practice. If taken to extremes, spiritual desire can lead to irrational acts that can harm us. So spiritual desire must be tempered and utilized within the realm of what is practical. Spiritual desire (in some form) has brought us to spinal breathing, and our practice will increase our spiritual desire further.
It is a crossing over into the realm of inner space, where we speak of our experiences less as being perceptible manifestations of energy within us, and more as being visions. It is the same purification and opening, going deeper and taking our experiences deeper also. How do we treat these so-called visions when they come up during our spinal breathing practice? In the same way that we treat physical and energy experiences – when we find our attention off into a vision, we just easily come back to our spinal breathing practice.
If our experience is refining, it stands to reason that not only are we becoming refined within in a material way, but so too is our ability to perceive what is happening through our senses being refined. It is an integrated process.
We have called this stillness pure bliss consciousness, or our being. The feelings in our heart originate in stillness, as well. Our deepest feelings are in stillness. So we can say that whether we are talking about material existence, sensory perception, feeling, or thinking, all of these are rooted in stillness. In stillness, all of these things are one, and they are intertwined at every level coming outward from stillness into manifestation.
If we start at the very beginning with imagining the spinal nerve, we can construct a general scenario for the changes that can occur. The first thing we may notice is a thread-like energy where we have been tracing up and down with our visualization. It can be warm or cool, corresponding to the cool and warm currents we have been promoting with that particular feature of our practice. It can be hot and cold at the same time, like mint. It can take on a silver color and develop a certain intensity about it. We might feel it coming right out of our loins, which gives it a pleasurable sexual coloring. But not entirely sexual. It is something else. Something going up through our center and away from our genitals.
Keep in mind that the drama we might see happening with our inner energies is part of the process of purification going on within us. As our nervous system becomes more pure, the drama will become less, even as the energies are becoming greater and expanding further and further out from the center like a giant spiritual cyclone. And still we will be sitting there quietly during our daily practice, easily doing our spinal breathing just the way we have always done it. Life will go on the way it did before, except we will be much more engaged from within – more alert, more balanced, more creative, and more able to give to those around us than we could before, because we will have so much more to give.
If we find ourselves running off on a tangent, becoming infatuated with our inner experiences, then it is time to easily come back to our simple spinal breathing practice. It is the practice that will carry us forward, not the experience. Let’s never forget that.
The Heart Space While there can certainly be a lot of dynamic energy moving as our nervous system purifies and opens, we will also find profound stillness within it.
There can be sweet smells and wonderful tastes. Whatever the experience may be in there, if the space seems unbounded, it will be the heart space.
and it is our practice that will further that experience in ways that we can scarcely imagine.
Opening of the Third Eye We have all heard of the third eye. What is it, and what does it do?
As the upper part of our spinal nerve purifies and opens we can have many symptoms in the head, including visions, humming sounds (OM) and other sensations. In some systems, these intermittent symptoms of purification and opening are used for practice, but not in our approach here.
The Tunnel and Star
Sometimes during spinal breathing a circular vision can appear. It can be very hazy. It can be dark in color, or just about any color of the rainbow. Dark blue or violet is common. The vision can also be two concentric circles with a light outer one and a dark inner one. The vision can be as dramatic as a rainbow of concentric circles going from red on the outside through orange, yellow, green and blue to deep violet in the center, or any partial view of these. There can be flashes of white light in these concentric circles, or a single blazing white star or white point of light in the center of the circular vision. What is all this?
The colors are of decreasing density going from the root to the brow, toward the center, and the white light is the view out through the third eye.
Let’s always keep that in mind whenever we feel tempted to chase after the sirens of experience. Just easily come back to the simple procedure of spinal breathing, and all will be progressing fine.
So, localized inner events will fade into the much bigger landscape of our cosmic interior. All that has been described up until now is in the direction of expanding us far beyond the limited spiritual experiences that define the world of psychic phenomena and mediumship.
Usually, it is much more subtle and much more powerful, and very much within us. Higher beings are within us. Where? Well, everywhere, but especially in our heart and up through our third eye.
How will we know? By the many blessings that are coming our way. Do we have to believe in this to receive the results? Absolutely not. It is a mechanical process of purifying and opening our nervous system. As it opens, whatever is within us becomes available. No matter how we view it, the results will speak for themselves, and we can interpret them however we wish.
So, there is no need to wait for our savior to ride up in a golden chariot to save us from a life that we are not enjoying. We can practice spinal breathing pranayama and save ourselves, and our savior will be smiling more and more each day from within us.
Chakras may be experienced as whirling wheels of energy located at various locations in the body, and are connected by the spinal nerve. There are seven primary chakra locations – root/perineum, internal sexual neurobiology, naval/solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye (brow to brain stem), and the crown of the head.
The answer is simple: Purifying the spinal nerve between root and crown in spinal breathing has the potential to produce huge and unstable energy flows in the nervous system.
The Evolution of Ecstatic Conductivity The human nervous system has a capacity for ecstatic pleasure that far exceeds what most of us can imagine. We don’t have to be shy to say this, or hesitant to systematically go about cultivating it as part of our normal everyday life.
Our spinal nerve is conducting the ecstatic energy like an electric current. The third eye becomes like a switch and a volume control that can be used to increase or decrease the intensity of the ecstatic current. This is the beginning of ecstatic conductivity.
The thread-like ecstatic spinal nerve expands to become like a rope, then like a column, and finally a vast field of energy that reaches far beyond our body. Even in thread-like mode, our ecstatic conductivity has a radiant quality about it. Like when an electric current travels through a wire, a field is generated whose influence can be felt beyond the wire. In science, it is called electromagnetism. It is the principle upon which all electrical machinery operates – currents producing magnetic fields and vice versa. A similar principle exists with the movement of ecstatic energy within our nervous system. As the inner flow increases, the radiation of ecstatic energy increases also. The increasing ecstatic conductivity within us produces radiance. We call this ecstatic radiance.
Obstructions in our nervous system create friction as energy passes through. As the obstructions dissolve, the friction becomes less, and the flow becomes very smooth. As the evolution of our ecstatic conductivity continues in this direction, we are able to conduct much larger flows of inner energy without the resistance we experienced before. In fact, in the end, we will have vast amounts of divine energy flowing through us, and may not even notice. But others will, because the greatly increased inner energy flows will produce greatly increased ecstatic radiance in all directions around us. In this way, our energy influences others without us having to do anything other than attend to our own inner evolution.
It is the marriage of our dynamic ecstatic conductivity with our immovable inner silence – and these two become One.
Chapter 4 – The Cosmic You Where is inner space? Where is the legendary kingdom of heaven where “all is added” to us? The answer seems obvious enough, doesn’t it? It is within us!
(Ecstasy and bliss as opposites that marry into one ecstatic bliss)
Ecstasy is a dynamic quality characterized by movement that can be readily observed in our nervous system once the necessary inner openings have occurred. Bliss is a quality of inner silence and is not dynamic. At least by itself it is not. By itself, the bliss of inner silence can be said to be a self-contained and eternal state of happiness residing deep within us. With both pranayama and meditation in our twice-daily routine of sitting practices, we are cultivating ecstatic conductivity (ecstasy) and inner silence (bliss) at the same time. One is active and moving around all the time – wanting to radiate. The other is pure awareness, content within itself, a silent witness to all that we experience. These two qualities are opposites.
As they do, we find that our ecstatic flow contains more stillness and is more blissful, and that our inner silence becomes more dynamic and is more ecstatic.
Then we have to ask ourselves if these two qualities of ecstasy and bliss are still two, or have they become one?
Ecstatic Bliss If we imagine that there is a border between our unmoving blissful inner silence and the constant movement of ecstatic energy inherent in our rising ecstatic conductivity, how might the marriage of these two qualities occur across this border? It is the classic question of the coexistence of diversity and unity. How does the One express the many, and how do the many express the One? Well, we may never know intellectually how this happens.
This combination of dynamic movement with divine attributes can be called a divine flow, or an outpouring divine love.
The Infinite Self and Divine Love
If the tree is properly fertilized and watered, the fruit will come out. It will happen regardless of any other assessments.
In the beginning, we may experience our inner silence as an inactive witness, where we find ourselves observing events as though separate from them. This witness, separated from events, is a common experience that arises in those doing deep mediation alone. But when this unmoving witness quality is combined with the rise of ecstatic conductivity, then stillness becomes dynamic in our external environment. Inner silence then combines with the dynamics of everything going on around us. It is an extension of the marriage of opposites within us. Only now it is occurring all around us as well! What are the implications of this? Quite simply, we find our sense of self emerging everywhere in our daily life.