Inspired by the discussion about kechari mudra I recapitulated some of my former Kriya Yoga practices and experiences...

I must say that since I entered Qigong, the notion that the lower Dantian is the most important and foremost energy center, the point you should start with and work on,
lead in my case unconsciously to a an extreme habit in such, that in the end I haven't even dared to feel or gaze into other centers or parts of the body than the dantian and other officialy allowed routes like the channels.
For example one of my qigong teachers (maybe to make his point especially clear to the new age folks hanging out in his seminars) preached on the importance of the lower Dantian, it started almost to feel like a blashphemy to not gather your energy in the dantian, or to shift into bliss of the higher centers (I am also easily expressed by such talk- maybe my tendency to be the good boy and play the game as it is supposed to be)
.... well now in Kriya Yoga (this for me is a loong time ago) we first learned to focus inside the head and during this time I did so extensively and must say : the effect the "qigong police" warns you about all the time (becoming ungrounded, too much energy in the head, weakness, and what else) did Not happen, on the contrary, I was feeling full of energy (also physically) , and very very happy.

Now... I found two things recently.
One is that the Kriya yogis have a technique of charging the navel center (nabhi kriya), that seems to work incredibly strong (from my limited experience), I am very impressed by this practice, the first time I did it (now some days ago) my navel and mingmen very pulsing and vibrating with high frequency charge;
so there is some transfer so to speak of what I always thought Kriya Yoga was about (the higher centers) and daoist teachings (the importance of the belly).

and second: in Lu Kuan Yu's book 'Taoist yoga' is described how in daoist inner alchemy practice you are STARTING with the focus on the original cavity of the spirit (inside the head) , and in succession let the abundance of this point flow into the lower cauldron inside the belly to then further advance in the transformatory practices.

So... in short I started to focus on my center in the skull some days ago now, seeing the light and listening to the sound and feeling the pulsation and while doing this stilll feeling my awareness in the lower dantian (this has become an automatism, I cannot Not center myself around it) and eventually let this higher energy flow down in my cauldron. It has a very good effect, adds a more spiritual feeling I sometimes missed elsewise, I just love it! Let's see were it leads me...



so much about what I wanted to share about my practice, comments are very welcome

greetings,
affenbrot

Any kriya yoga tidbits are welcome. Did you take a Yogananda form, or through another lineage path?

AYP alludes that specific ltt work has martial and health benefits, but isn't needed for what he's shooting for. He says that the key imbalance that you run into amongst yogis is that they send energy up, but never send it back down and that creates a problematic imbalance. He doesn't know how to comment on MCO as he hasn't done it, but he wonders if it would activate the crown chakra before the third eye chakra is developed as the energy is sent over the top of the head. If so, then it could be a problematic practice.

Most MCO practitioners don't strike me as imbalanced in that way, and if there is a parking spot for the energy it is the third eye and the perineum (at least by my understanding) so there you go. By developing a good "up and down" practice you automatically develop the ltt, so maybe the debate isn't really a major concern.

AYP talks about targeted bellows breathing where you imagine powerfully moving chi with bellows breathing over the course of just a few inches where there may be some sort of blockage.

In my mind the two big blocks in the body are the whole ltt plus the top of the spine. Kechari solves the top of the spine connection definitively and that just leaves the ltt conundrum.

I'm stoked that you are having fun with kriya. how far can you get your tongue? We should have a first to the brain wins race.

-Yoda

I first did practice a SRF (Yogananda) form, the only Kriya Yoga I really actually practiced over quite some time (but only still the first initiation level),
I later on also did Kriya Yoga as taught by Vishnu-Devananda and still later another highly interesting tradition of Kriya Yoga taught by Marshall Govindan



During practice I did experience spontaneous curling and stretching of my tongue trying to reach inside, but unfortunately my frenum is very strong and quite short, so I cannot reach far... and again despite my fascination with it I won't enter this practice right now .... (... yet) ;-)

affenbrot

In my experience, imbalance can result by long term exclusive focus on any of the centers. Dogma at either extreme ain't so great. Focus too much in the head, and blah-blah-blah. Focus too much in the ltt and yadda-yadda-yadda. Balanced practice tends to made a better blend. (Though the ltt does take some more work because it is so dense, but still, important not to obsess.)

Regarding the focus on the upper dan tian, I have visited a website from a canuck who seems pretty well balanced and practices something resembling kria yoga:
Anami

In my experience, the dangers or overfocusing is highly individual. Its a matter of constitution and of how you percieve the effects of practice. Too little of too much sensitivity should be countered with a total-body approach. And that goes for many, including me.

In the end, the whole body is one Dan Tian anyway.

h