Hi Everyone, 
I’m rather new to this community, but have read DM, Pranayama and Samyama books by Yogani. I have also had a kundalini awakening which was very intense. I’ve posted under “Kundalini experiences not related to AYP”. Shanti has been graciously coaching me on getting my mind to just relax and stop predicting a disastrous future for myself with the Shakti energies 
In reading about how meditation is supposed to progress - and wanting to be careful of getting myself into overload; I have a question about Samyama. Samyama reminds me of a simple prayer technique where I offer my loved ones up to Silence. I march them all through one by one, until no one comes to Mind anymore. But there seems to be much caution advised regarding taking on Samyama before a few months of DM and then more months of Pranayama (which I am resisting) before Samyama is started. I could be so wrong about this - probably am, but would like a clarification on it - (if I’m making myself clear). 
It seems to me that if cultivating Silence is the first step and awakening the Energies, the second; then why is the practice of Samyama considered pre-mature when begun before Pranayama technique has been incorported and well established? Wouldn’t Samyama practice just be a deepening of the silent self, i.e.: bring Shiva down - closer to Shakti? So that the awakening Energies could be handled with the help of deeper Silence?
That’s my question. I hope someone gets what I’m trying to say. Maybe my understanding of Samyama is all off base!
Thanks Much AYP’ers
Renee
See if these help:
Lesson 269 - Leapfrogging to Samyama Practice – Moving Inner Silence Outward
Lesson 301 – Prayer and the Principles of Samyama
Thanks Shanti - I just purchased “The Eight Limbs Of Yoga”
Regarding the techniques of samyama to pray for some intention other than the usual list (love, radiance, …), such as the health of a loved one, is there any reason it cannot immediately follow the usual list in practice? I feel like I read somewhere Yogani mentioning keeping prayer separate from sitting practices, but maybe I’m mistaken? Also, I feel like I would have difficulty consistently making time for prayer in addition to making time twice a day for regular sitting practices. Thanks!
Hi Casey,
The core Samyama list is designed to produce a balanced purification of the subtle nervous system over the long term. So, this is the list that we use twice a day, day in, day out, like clockwork. In addition to these nine sutras, we can add the self-inquiry sutra to the list, making ten in total. We could also add the healing list sutra to the regular nine if we are taking part in the global meditations at the weekends, making ten, or eleven, depending on whether we are using the self-inquiry sutra, or not.
There are other sutras that can be added to these during our regular sitting practice sessions, and these are found in the appendix to the Samyama book by Yogani. Even with these additional sutras, they should not all be added at once. Someone may take just one of them, or just one or two of them, and experiment with them to see how they affect the overall process of inner purification taking place. Using a few of these additional sutras at one time would be a lot. So, that is a way of experimenting with additional sutras during our regular sitting practice sessions. We are always staying within the overall framework of balanced sutras.
Additional sutras can be added outside of our regular practice time, such as using Samyama with specific people’s names, or using Samyama with sutras such as “grace”, or “peace”, or “anger”, or “attachments” etc. Of course these sutras could be anything, being selected according to the intuition of the practitioner, but the overall process of inner purification will work out because the general process of purification taking place during our twice-daily sitting sessions will be a balanced one.