spiritual practices for kundalini

                                  
                      
our daily practice is all-important

The correct way to evolve spiritually is to have a daily practice, no matter what path you follow. It can be "short and sweet", but it is best done daily as much as possible. 

This builds up our prana, our life-force and although it is an overall effect, the chakras are recipients of this prana as well. Our whole being is affected and stimulated, in particular the physical, pranic, mental and astral bodies. With a daily practice we build up the energy, by degrees. Everyday a bit more prana is added to the storehouse of prana that we have already built up.

There are many people on this planet whose kundalini has awoken. Honestly, most of us have to do something on a regular basis for this to happen, and the majority of those who have awakened will have done practices to achieve this. Kundalini stimulation, activation, awakening and going up to reside in the brain, are all separate facets of the kundalini journey, each leading to the other.

a suggested daily sadhana (spiritual practice)

This is the daily practice that I first used, and did so for many decades. It is excellent for kundalini purposes:

• start with Agni Sara Kriya, standing version. Similar to uddiyana bandha, this "fans the fire": the digestive fire and it "fans" samana prana which has a direct link with manipura chakra and the kundalini. Stand, feet apart. hands on thighs above knees. Find the correct placement for your hands. Inhale deeply, exhale fast pulling abs in towards spine, hold breath out, push hands down on thighs, pull up abs towards rib cage, whilst you are tucking your chin into collarbones. Then, still holding breath out, push abs in and out, starting with three times, then up to ten times. Inhale, relax, then repeat twice more.

Then do some asanas:

• surya namaskara - at least three rounds of any style. You can do more, which is better. But if you try to do more, but can't keep up with it, then go back to three rounds. If you want to increase your prana, and work on the chakras, don't get into extreme stretching, nor going slowly. Move that body!! Go fast to build up an energy. Kundalini is not, I repeat - not! about stretching, nor postural alignment. Rest in savasana after. 
• a twist - I have used a reclining twist, done three with the breath; the same pose, relaxing into the pose for five or more breaths each side; or a dynamic seated, legs wide twist.
• a backbend - bow is best, if you can't do bow, do cobra, which is what I did for years, before going to live in an ashram and then doing the bow pose daily instead. Do three to five times of whatever pose you are using: up/inhaling; down/exhaling; or do once, holding for five breaths. Backbends stimulate the navel chakra, manipura, and also the pranic body, by direct association with manipura.
• half shoulderstand - eleven to twenty-seven breaths. Against the wall is fine, if you can't do this pose, then do the bridge pose instead as both your backbend and half shoulderstand substitute, for about five breaths. 

All other poses are great too, but this is a kundalini-specific, small set of asanas. If you do the minimum, it's maybe ten minutes, which is very doable. 

followed by pranayama (breathing)

• bhastrika (bellows breath) This is the kundalini specific pranayama. Do groups of five breaths, building up to five rounds of five breaths per round. Then move into three rounds of ten breaths, then three of fifteen, then two of twenty-five. Just do both nostrils together. Finally move into 54 or 108 bhastrikas in one round, doing just one round. Avoid bhastrika if you have high blood pressure. 
• nadi shodana (alternate nostril breath). Start with simple in/left; out/right; in/right; out/left, no breath retention. Do three rounds, work up to five. For years I just did nadi shodana, no bhastrika, and I had two chakras awaken in that time, so again, I know that this works. There are other wonderful pranayamas too, plus bandhas and mudras. 

Then simple contemplation/meditation. Spinal column awareness with Om chanting out loud on the exhale, or up/down with ujjayi and kechari if you wish, are excellent. Watch the Inner space after: do not skip this step!!! We absolutely need to allow the modifications of mind come and go, with us being The Silent Witness, the uninvolved witness of the mindstuff. So many people do not allow this, they get agitated and just can't do it. Relax, just do it as if it is neither here nor there. Take the stress out of it.

If you really want to "up the ante", add another sitting of meditation before sleep.

Note that if you do meditation lying down, it then becomes relaxation. It's always best to meditate seated as this creates an energy effect, which kundalini is about. Get the energy moving!! Sitting around thinking, daydreaming, reading, or talking, about kundalini, does not cause it to awaken. Trying to "make the practices better" is not necessary, either, because they will work without us making things hard.

be someone who walks tall

The next thing to do is to be a decent person. In yoga we have the yamas and niyamas, which are guidelines for living, really. They are ten basic principles for bringing inner peace.

The yamas are like moral restraints: they allow us to feel good within ourselves, they give us peace of mind and allow us to function easier both in our life and in society.

The niyamas are more about self training, or self care. Again, these too have the side effect of making us feel good about ourselves.

Don't obsess, nor pontificate, nor do yama/niyama - shaming. Just do your best.

Keep physically busy. Going back to energy, for kundalini purposes, for quite some time (many years!) in our life, we will need to keep ourselves moving. Find a purpose in your life. That will also help.

This post is but a start...if you need guidance or advice you can email me at ratnamurti108@gmail.com. My facebook page is Swami Ratnamurti Saraswati.