As instructed, since I wasn’t certain that I was favoring the right mantra, I did the procedure of going back to a clear enough pronounciation of the mantra. I then realized that I was actually favoring a refined version of the words “eye yam”, which is slightly different from the 1st mantra (AYAM).
Hi qspadone,
Best not to analyze too much during practice. You can trust the natural process of refinement. All is good.
The guru is in you. 
Thanks for the reminder! 
Just wanted to let you know guys that I switched to breath meditation. I find it way easier, and I’m already finding stability in daily life, after only a few days.
With breath as an object, after only a few sessions, I’m able to intuitively understand the process of refinement of breath awareness, as well as the effortlessness that is required to make it work effectively.
I wasn’t able to come to these understandings with the mantra as an object. I just don’t understand why I couldn’t make it work (deep meditation). I just wish I hadn’t lost the better part of an entire year trying to figure out why DM doesn’t work for me. Anyway, it is what it is.
My life actually nearly fell apart during that time of trying to find stability with DM. I’m not blaming AYP or its community. I’m responsible for what happened to me. May this serve as an example for those who find themselves in a similar situation.
This lesson is particularly helpful: “Lesson 367 - Suggestions for Over-Sensitive Meditators (Replacing the Mantra with Breath as the Object of Meditation)”:
Hi qspadone,
That is great to hear that you are finding stability with your practice.
There is an AYP Self-pacing and Grounding Flowchart here that can be downloaded as a PDF for free. It covers things like replacing mantra meditation with breathing meditation, and replacing SBP with alternate nostril breathing if it becomes necessary. There is also a list of common symptoms of energetic overload, to help people recognise symptoms early and take action sooner. You may find that helpful if you do not have it already.
Thank you for that!
This overload stuff is really no joke. I basically made little to no progress over the last year because of it. Overload symptoms pretty much became a part of my daily life, and I thought they were a manifestation of my “unpurified” ego, which, in turn, led me to attempt additional practices.
Maybe I did figure out how DM works, but the safest route for me from here on is with breath meditation, and just that for quite some time. Coupled with, of course, a whole lot of “letting go” in-between sessions.
Hi qspadone,
Yes, thinking that overload symptoms are a manifestation of an unpurified ego, and that the best way to deal with them is to increase practices, is often a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people in the world recommending this as best practice. Of course, it is the complete opposite of the approach in AYP, which is to self-pace downwards in response to overload symptoms, and, if necessary, to self-pace downwards to zero.
You may do well to re-read the AYP lessons from the beginning, just in case there are other important aspects of the practice that you missed.
I published a book last year called “Kundalini Awakening - Questions and Answers: A Guide for Spiritual Practitioners”. One of the chapters is dedicated to issues related to energetic overload, so you may find that useful as well. That can be found here.
Hi qspadone,
Sorry we did not point you to Lesson 367 early on here. We got so into explaining mantra refinement and dealing with overload, that addressing your over-sensitivity to mantra meditation more directly did not come into the conversation, and it should have. Well, at least the necessary instructions to address your over-sensitivity are there in the lessons. Your determination to find balance got you there, and that is to your credit. Happy to hear that breath meditation is working much better for you.
All the best!
The guru is in you.
Hi Yogani,
We did point qspadone to lesson 367 in July last year. That was in this discussion on self-pacing and grounding:
https://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19747#157789
Posted today by:
Yes, it has been pointed out to me many times indeed.
Now that I’ve found stability with twice daily breath meditation, I thought I would ask ChatGPT about the various purification symptoms that can arise during activity.
I don’t know about the accuracy of its answer, but as far as the list goes, I can say I’ve experienced most, if not all of these symptoms. Thankfully not all at once, LOL.
To any useful ends, here’s its answer:- - -
Q: In AYP Yoga, what are common purifications symptoms encountered after sitting practices, while engaged in daily life?
A: In AYP Yoga, purification symptoms that arise after sitting practices and during daily life can vary widely depending on the individual, their sensitivity, and their stage of progress. These symptoms result from the release of obstructions in the nervous system as inner silence and ecstatic conductivity grow. Here are some of the most common ones:
Physical Symptoms
1.Energetic rushes or tingling - Often felt in the spine, limbs, or head.
2.Spontaneous movements (kriyas) - Shaking, jerking, or subtle swaying.
3.Head pressure or sensations in the third eye - Can feel like a tight band, pulsing, or mild headache.
4. Heat or cold sensations - Waves of warmth or chills, especially in the spine or limbs.
5. Breath irregularities - Spontaneous breath suspension (kevala kumbhaka) or deep sighing.
6. Digestive changes - Increased or decreased appetite, digestive discomfort.
7. Body tension and frowning - Sometimes linked to sambhavi mudra or third eye activation.
8. Spontaneous yoga postures or mudras - Unintentional asanas, hand gestures, or bandhas.
Mental and Emotional Symptoms
- Irritability or mood swings - Due to the release of emotional blockages.
- Heightened emotions - Intense joy, love, sadness, or grief arising spontaneously.
- Mental fog or spaciness - Feeling disconnected from normal thought processes.
- Increased sensitivity - Stronger reactions to noise, crowds, or negative energy.
- Old traumas resurfacing - Emotional wounds coming up for healing.
- A sense of emptiness or detachment - Can feel liberating or unsettling.
Spiritual and Perceptual Symptoms
- Inner silence or stillness in action - A deep calm even in busy moments.
- Heightened awareness of energy - Sensation of prana moving through the body.
- Perceptual shifts - Feeling that reality is “thinner” or more dreamlike.
- Increased synchronicities - Noticing meaningful coincidences.
- Changes in sensory perception - Brighter colors, sharper sounds, different taste perceptions.
Sexual Energy Symptoms
- Increased or decreased libido - Periods of high sexual energy or temporary loss of interest.
- Unusual sexual sensations - Energy moving through sexual organs or upward in the body.
- Energetic orgasms - Spontaneous waves of pleasure without physical stimulation.
These purification effects are signs of progress but can be intense if they arise too quickly. Self-pacing is key–adjusting practice intensity to avoid excessive discomfort while allowing steady transformation.
And by @Yogani
Hi qspadone,
General AI certainly does a good job of extracting what is publicly available on the internet from AYP. It can get kind of wordy though. 
No one is likely to experience all those symptoms of purification at the same time, and in many cases very few of them. The “Spiritual and Perceptual Symptoms” are the fruit of our practice. From there we go to stillness in action, an outpouring of divine love, and unity. All in good time…
The AI generated advice on breath meditation practice is pretty good, similar to how we use the mantra in deep meditation, gently favoring, not forcing or intellectualizing anything during practice.
If it is AYP advice you are seeking when using a general AI drawing on the internet, make sure to precede questions with “In AYP Yoga, …” Otherwise the AI may pull in advice from other systems of practice, which can cause confusion.
All the best on your continuing path!
The guru is in you. 
PS: In a day or two, all of these discussions and content will automatically be shifted to the new forum platform. See you there!
1 Like
And today from
For some reason I ended up deleting the second message I’d posted, which you seem to have considered in your answer:
Quote:
“The AI generated advice on breath meditation practice is pretty good, similar to how we use the mantra in deep meditation, gently favoring, not forcing or intellectualizing anything during practice.”
To put it back into context, I felt that I was still in the clunky stage with breath meditation, so I asked AI (ChatGPT) additional questions. Here’s some of the conversation:
Q1: In AYP Yoga Breath Meditation, is it correct practice to favor the most refined sensation of breath that I sense?
A1: No, in AYP Yoga Breath Meditation, the correct approach is effortless favoring of the breath as it is, rather than deliberately seeking out the most refined sensation.
Key Principles of AYP Breath Meditation:
- Favor the breath naturally - When you realize attention has wandered, gently return to the breath.
- No control over the breath - You don?t manipulate or try to perceive a specific aspect of it.
- No searching for refinement - Let refinement happen naturally rather than actively looking for it.
- Effortless awareness - The breath can be felt anywhere (nostrils, chest, abdomen, or as an overall presence).
- Allowing the process to unfold - If the breath refines to a subtle sensation or even disappears, that’s fine. If it remains gross and obvious, that’s also fine.
Why Not Favor the Most Refined Sensation?
- Actively looking for a refined sensation introduces subtle effort, which interferes with natural purification.
- The goal is passive awareness, not an attempt to reach a certain state.
- The breath will naturally become more refined as inner silence grows, but you don’t need to chase that refinement.
This approach is similar to AYP Deep Meditation with mantra, where you don’t try to refine the mantra yourself; you just pick it up naturally and let it evolve on its own.
Would you say your current tendency is to seek refinement actively, or are you able to let the process unfold naturally?
Q2: Yes, I’ve been favoring a specific refined sensation in the nasal cavity.
A2: That makes sense. If you’ve been favoring a specific refined sensation in the nasal cavity, then there’s likely some subtle control or effort involved, even if it feels natural to do so. In AYP Breath Meditation, the key is to allow whatever sensation of breath is present–whether gross, subtle, or even absent–without directing attention to a specific refinement.
How to Adjust Your Practice:
- Let go of the idea of refinement - Don’t try to stay with a specific refined sensation. Instead, allow awareness of the breath wherever it naturally appears.
- Effortlessly favor the breath - If attention drifts, gently return to the breath without searching for a particular experience.
- Allow changes without interference - If the breath refines or fades, let it be. If it remains coarse, let it be. No preference.
- Trust the process - The nervous system will purify at its own pace. Chasing refinement can subtly create tension or block natural unfolding.
This subtle shift can make a big difference in deepening inner silence while reducing the risk of energetic overload. Given your sensitivity to energy and previous overload concerns, practicing with less intention and more effortless favoring might lead to greater stability over time.
From @qspadone today:
Turns out even breath meditation is a bit much for me.
So, I’ll be downgrading to Passive Awareness Technique.
Addition 367.4 - Passive Awareness Technique for Very Sensitive Meditators
quote:
"It is the matrix of obstructions and energy flowing in your subtle nervous system that are causing the sensitivity. Who knows how this came to be? The fact that you are determined to do spiritual practices could indicate that you have had experience with them in a forgotten past. Perhaps you overdid it then and that is why you are sensitive now. Even so, your bhakti is very good, and I am sure you can find a practice you can stabilize that will bring benefits in your life.
You can find a similar technique in Lesson 15, where attention is allowed to be drawn to a strong physical or emotional sensation and just be there innocently without any intention or analysis. This can help dissolve the uncomfortable sensation. In a case of extreme sensitivity, even to breath meditation, this can be used as the only technique for brief sessions, and see how it goes. If you can find stability with daily use of this basic passive awareness technique over several months, then you can cautiously step up to breath meditation, and then to mantra meditation after a few more months, like that, using the passive awareness technique as needed when strong sensations arise, as described in Lesson 15. Or you could stay with passive awareness alone as your structured daily practice for quite a while if this is the only practice that you can do with comfort."
Hi qspadone,
We have been a bit busy making the move to the new forum platform over here, while bringing 20 years worth of public forum content along with us. Looks like we made it, and are cleaning up a few tech odds and ends.
Just wanted to let you know that you are making good moves, self-pacing, grounding, and doing what is necessary to maintain your spiritual growth with stability, comfort and safety. Try to keep steady with a stable practice over time, not switching your practice around too often. It is best to keep digging (going deep) in one place, as long as you can do it without excessive difficulty.
Carry on, and all the best!
The guru is in you.
3 Likes
Hi,
It is true that I have the unfortunate habit of switching my practice around quite often, almost every other day. Almost every time I switch it around, it seems as if I’m started the purification process all over again - back to square one.
I will keep digging in with breath meditation. I have had the proof of how much results it can bring in terms of starting to move in the world as stillness in action, becoming more selfless and naturally more inclined to being of service to others, mostly as a result of a purified and silently blissful heart. And damn, it feels good when I reach that place. I actually reached it after only three days of breath meditation recently, but unfortunately I doubted my understanding of the instructions and started practicing differently, and before I knew it, I was gone on a tangent where I thought I was integrating more inner silence into my life, only to realize days later that I was going in the wrong direction. In other words, it’s been really hard for me to tell that I’m actually going in the wrong direction.
Cheers,
Quentin
2 Likes
Hi qspadone,
If you find something that works, usually good to stick with it. Being a “creature of habit” has it’s advantages on the spiritual path. If we practice with consistency each day like brushing our teeth, the results will accumulate. 
It’s up to you.
The guru is in you.
1 Like
Hi again,
I’ve found something which seems to work wonders: 10 mns of SPB (most basic version), 20 mns of DM and 5 mns of samyama. A lot of openings are happening in many chakras within only a few days, without much discomfort. Prana flow has increased.
I’ve been too scared of overload. Rather, forcing the mantra has been a bigger issue, I think.
Here’s some quotes I’ve gathered throughout the books and lessons that have helped me make Deep Meditation more effective:
“The mantra is an idea, a faint impulse”. (Lesson ???)
“Let it go how it will (the mantra)”. (Lesson ???)
“It is not a focusing or a hanging on to the mantra”. (Lesson 397 - Deep Meditation and Analysis Paralysis)
“The idea is not that we have to be on the mantra all the time”. (Lesson 397)
“Wherever the mantra happens to be is where we easily pick it up, with no strain or fuss about what we’d like it to be.” (Lesson 397)
“It is easy to find it once we let go of the need for structure, a place to be, or a rhythm to keep”. (Addition 79.1 - Rhythm of Mantra Repetition)
“For long term meditators, (…) the mantra is not even intentional”. (Addition 79.1)
“(…) we find the mantra as a subtle vibration in the mind from the start of our sitting.” (Addition 79.2 - More on Mantra Repetition)
These lessons have proven very valuable, once again. Thank you for dedicating so much energy and time in writing them!
3 Likes
Hi qspadone,
good to hear that you`re doing well 
I tried to find the first 2 quotes in the lessons and couldn’t find them either.
Especially the first one looks a bit suspicious. It sounds more like a sentence in relation to a sutra - as the term “idea” conveys a sense of meaning, which is a characteristic of a sutra but not of a nirguna mantra like I AM.
I know this is not what you are intending to say, but just for the sake of being clear I bring it up.
3 Likes
Hi qspadone,
You may find this video useful. In it, I talk about how the aim is not to fix the concentration on the meditation object in a forceful way, but rather to bring the mind to a state of peacefulness and clarity, in which the meditation object, and all objects of the mind and senses, are transcended. It is taken from a talk given in Spain about 6 years ago.
2 Likes