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By
Michele Avanti, CAP
The
next step was breath. Breathing,
my childhood master had taught me, is the secret to longevity. Today I would
hear the same thing from Swamigi. He said in India, the yogis state that each
person is given three million breaths at birth and when these are spent, they
die. Thus anger, frustration, fear, overexertion and almost any emotion that is
out of balance causes faster breathing and shortens the lifespan of the
individual. He mentioned that the average person takes twenty-one thousand six
hundred breathes each day or fourteen to fifteen each minute. He added with a
smile that his master had recently died after three hundred and fifteen years of
life. Then he gave us the secret of breathing. The
perfect breathing pattern is: one count inhale to four counts hold to two counts
exhale. I
have been working with this during my Kundalini exercises and here are two ways
to count it. If you are a two count inhaler try this: count one, two as you
inhale, then count while holding it: three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten and then as you exhale count: eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. If you are
a three count inhaler think in terms of threes as you count. Try visualizing the
words in groups of threes. This is what I do. Inhale one group of three Lums:
Lum, Lum, Lum. Then hold it in four groups of three Lums: Lum, Lum, Lum; Lum,
Lum, Lum; Lum, Lum, Lum; Lum, Lum, Lum. Then exhale in two groups of three Lums:
Lum, Lum, Lum; Lum, Lum, Lum. You can use any of the sacred sounds. I am using
Lum here because it is the sound of the first energy center one opens in a
Kundalini exercise. Lum
is the main sound of the root chakra known in Sanskrit as the Muladhara
(pronounced: moolahdarra) it should sound like a drum when you say Lum. The
Muladhara is the first step to raising the Kundalini and it should not be taken
lightly. Swamigi stated he always says a prayer as he begins his Kundalini
practice (he has been doing this for the last nine years.) He prays: “Mother
Goddess Kundalini please protect me even if I make a mistake.” This is the key
to protection. As in all metaphysics, we need to remember to ask. No matter how
far along the path to mastery we go, we need to remember we are still on the
path—thus to be humble, ask for help and wisdom. Swamigi
added that the Kundalini is power, creation and love. And that what we receive
through opening these energy centers should always be used for the good of
humanity. This is why we are here. As
we continued in the workshop, we learned about each of the energy centers and
the benefits we would receive by opening them. The Swami stated that with twelve
years of practice most will master Kundalini Yoga. At first I thought, ‘Really
even to the point of opening the crown chakra.’ Then he added (surely he heard
my inner thoughts) most will activate the first three centers, only a few will
go above those. The
first three energy centers or chakras deal with the physical world. The next
four have to do with the spiritual or inner worlds. Opening the fourth through
seventh will bring visions, psychic abilities and supernatural powers, but they
require detachment from the physical including a state of celibacy and most
people will not be willing to do this.
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