Whenever i bring my awareness to the third eye while not meditating, i feel a strong peaceful sensation in my spine, as if some energy is flowing upwards. The sensation is amazing, but it hinders my work, as i am not able to work with concentration. My whole attention goes to that feeling. What is happening and what should I do?
—Mihir, India
Dear One,
Your experience in truth is wonderful. It’s a little bit like the one of Swami Pranabananda as described in the Autobiography of a Yogi: “‘At work, I find an overpowering sensation rising in my spine. It permeates my whole body, unfitting me for the performance of my duties.” Yogananda explains: “The torrential bliss is overwhelming, but the yogi learns to control its outward manifestations.”
You received a little taste of it, a small degree of it.
The thing is this: when the inner energy starts to flow a bit more strongly in the spine, we think that it is really powerful. Sometimes people even feel what seems to be a headache, think it’s too much, or say they can’t concentrate at work. What’s needed is to strengthen your nervous system. Your system is not yet tuned to this increase of inner energy.
Yogananda taught the Energization Exercises to strengthen us. If you don’t know the exercises you may just practice the “20-body part recharging.” I describe the technique below. Please practice it well: tense until the body parts vibrate. With great will, mentally send energy from the medulla oblongata to the body. If you do so, your nervous system will become much stronger and that rising energy won’t bother you anymore. You will learn, as Yogananda put it, “to control its outward manifestations.”
All the best,
jayadev
20 body part recharging – Technique
1) Stand upright. Inhale slowly, gradually tensing the whole body (low, medium, high) to the point where it vibrates. Gaze upward at the point between the eyebrows, and with concentration feel the energy flowing into the body through the medulla oblongata. Hold the tension for a few moments, and consciously fill the whole body with energy. Then exhale and slowly relax (medium, low, completely), feeling the energy as it withdraws from the body parts. Always tense with will, then relax and feel.
2) Now tense and relax the following 20 body parts, one by one. Apply the same principles: look at the spiritual eye, feel the energy entering from the medulla oblongata, fill the body with cosmic energy. Tense gradually, with low, medium, then high tension, until the muscles vibrate. Hold for a few moments. Then relax: medium tension, low tension, to complete relaxation.
Left foot, then the right foot;
left calf, right calf;
left thigh, right thigh;
left buttock, right buttock;
abdomen, stomach;
left forearm, right forearm;
left upper arm, right upper arm;
left chest, right chest;
left side of the neck, right side;
throat, back of the neck.
Be especially aware of the neck: should you feel that a strong tension is too much, use a lower tension.
