Non-straight spine and kundalini (and whatever else)
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Mostly to Mr. Eshelman, but everybody is welcome to step in.
Reading through the forums as I do sometimes I came across these statements: (If context is needed: here and here.)
@Jim Eshelman said
It could happen - especially if you have some back derangement (scoliosis) or other impediment.
@Jim Eshelman said
(Compare, say, a lumbar distortion which can cause really serious stuff once kundalini starts rising full force.)
I am curious since I have a minor degree of scoliosis. I googled it and found exactly nothing related.
So, to what point a non completely straight spine deters progress or causes kundalini-related problems?
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Just take it slow - especially when the time for SSS comes. You may find, earlier than that, that you can feel the pressure on the spine. It's its serious and correctible (or reducible), I suggest some chiropractic attention (gravity traction and other techniques can ease this in many cases, I'm told).
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To avoid related problems Crowley says one should be able to feel and move each(one by one) vertebra consciously before rising the kundalini. Bardon advises very similar thing at step3(ha !) of his system, as one is supposed to visit internaly every organ and part of the body(including spine).
In eastern practices, you can see for instance hatha yoga and qi gong prepares progressively ones spine(on specific muscular levels) and one's awareness of it not only before kundalini work as such, but even before serious pranayama. So i'd say better to be too safe than not enough, and if you were to do all the above techniques or at least one seriously you may be certain everything goes optimaly with minimum side effects.
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I'll ask this here instead of opening a new thread because it's related.
A few months ago after resuming longer pranayama sessions, I began to feel a weird sensation at the base of the spine, including the lumbar spine and sometimes irradiating above it as well. It was very pleasurable, better than sexual pleasure but similar. Like my spine had become an erogenous zone without need for outside stimuli. I'd be happy to just be still and feel that for hours. The first day this remained for quite some time non-stop. It then began to happen when I was in asana or meditating, but with less intensity. (This is what made me open this thread BTW.) The thing is, I obviously related this to possibly being kundalini, and thinking I wasn't ready I diminished and soon stopped pranayama practice.
A couple of months ago I walked into my room to perform sunset Resh and suddenly I felt the sensation again but with a plus, the electric tingling travelled all the way from the base of the spine to my brain, producing a similar pleasure in it. But it was very small, brief and that was the only time. I found it remarkable that that was just a few minutes after resolving an emotional conflict. While this has been a year of deep changes for me, I'm not at all sure it's related.
Bottom line question: is something like this normal? Is it likely not related to kundalini at all?
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Normal, yes (when one is ripe).
But most certainly a kundalini expression.
I think a lot of the sensational kundalini sensations are substantially a result of our resistance (a version of which is just not being open yet). After we've opened to a certain level, there isn't necessarily any further sensation about it (compare to stretching your muscles to a certain level).
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It should be written on the walls of all yoga classes.
I think expecting things crazy to happen actually creates many of those resistances. How many times i've heard stuff like "it is 10 000 volts", "if not ready, it is certain death", "go very slowly or you'll go crazy" lol . Yes in a sense, but back then, it was exactly the contrary i needed(?)to hear. Now in qi gong i've never heard such things and beginners seem to get it better with no particular side effects except having trouble to fall asleep at night.