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@Arthur Snorting never worked for me. Plugging it was much more successfull. I haven't had a breakthrough trip yet though.

Well then, there lies a potential solution. Chances are you're anaemic. If you're committed to the vegan thing, then go for it thats great. Maybe try supplementing. But if you're willing to include some good quality meat twice a week into your diet, there's a good chance your fatigue issues will go away. Atleast thats what i've found anyway. Not saying it's definitely the solution to your issues. But it could be.

Nah I supplemented it.

Are you vegan or vegetarian? I was vegan for around 2 years and I resolved all of my quite severe fatigue issues in a matter of days by reintroducing meat into my meals a couple times a week.

@Alex bAlex You can start a journal in the 'Self-Actualization Journal' section.

@Alex bAlex You gotta realise that this work is a life-long process, or atleast a decades long process. 1 year and 3 months is nothing really. It seems like you were trying to go too fast and do too much at once. Changing your lifestyle so radically and trying to change so many habits at once is bound to fail. Thats homeostasis for ya, you should know this if you keep up with Leo's content. Also realise that everyone backslides. It's part of the process. Don't see it as failure or an excuse to give up. I understand that this work is hard and gruelling at times, but don't fall into the trap of just playing victim. Everyone else has the exact same challenges. Stop complaining about your situation and DO something about it. So you need to start by getting the basics of life in place before working on other areas, in my opinion. Then you can start to tackle the other things you've listed, but in a slow, methodical and importantly strategic manner. You were not strategic about this process. Moving alone, for example, was clearly a bad choice for you at this point in your life. So think about what are the main things you need to sort out and fix right now. Write them out and prioritise the top 3 things. What are the things that will improve your life the most right now. And don't say enlightenment. Is it making new friends? Is it working on your communication and social skills? Is it quitting smoking? All of these things are big, and will require a lot time and attention. You probably can't be trying to change 10 other habits whilst trying to quit smoking, for example. So once you've figured out what your priorities are, then start working on that. I should also say, stop complaining about not having good social skills. Social skills are learnt! If you went out to a social event every day for the next month and spoke to 10 different people I guarantee you would not be thinking the same way. Social skills and communication can be learnt just like any other skill. And I bet you'll be surprised at how quickly you can get good at conversing with strangers if you just actively practise with a positive and optimistic mindset. Stop thinking that you're just going to be bad at socialising for the rest of your life. This is classic victim mindset. All it takes is a little bit of work and the courage to face your fears. And then a few months down the line you can start looking at other areas, like implementing an exercise habit (if thats what you want to do), or slowly changing your diet etc. With diet, make one or two changes at a time so you can counter the homeostasis that you will inevitably face. Life isn't all that bad. Pull yourself up with your bootstraps and get to work!

I'm having difficulty clearly visualising the spinal breathing. Basically I visualise a small needle shaped object travelling up the spine and piercing all the chakras, but most of the time it's kinda patchy and vague with some areas like the top 3 chakras being much clearer. Any tips or recommendations? How clearly can you guys visualise the prana moving up the spine?

I’m 25 and have never really had any sort of relationship with a girl. My social skills in general suck because i’ve spent a large part of the past 2 years by myself. However I know that I can be quite confident, it just takes a lot of socialising and getting past those initial barriers. So I want to start taking some action towards getting this area of my life sorted. I’m quite familiar with RSD and all of the instructors etc. I’d like to get involved with them in some way. But like many guys i’ve watched a ton of videos but have taken very little action. So what is the general advice for someone in my position? Should I be looking into attending a bootcamp (quite limited options for instructors visiting my city - London). Or should I be going to some other live events? Should I be trying to do some day game? Should I be trying to go on dates using dating apps etc?

@Cortex Sounds like you're naturally spiritually inclined, which is pretty rare. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll look into contacting some peeps. Yea I just meant specifically RSD instructors visiting London for bootcamps.

The issue is I don't know what type of girls I want to meet. I'm not sure I even know what that means. I think I just need a lot of exposure to all types of women first.

@Jacko It's never too late to go to college. You'll find older students on pretty much every college course, and often much older than 26. I was once told by a professor that the older students are the best students because they're more mature, hardworking and usually have a much better idea about what they want to do. So you can certainly still go to college/university at your age. But, it depends on the course and what you might end up doing afterwards. As Leo mentioned recently on a different thread, college is somewhat necessary if you're going to do medicine, engineering, law, nutrition, psychology or something like that. But for a lot of other careers it might not be necessary. As an example, if someone wanted to get into the film industry working in production, going to college is basically pointless. You'd be much better off getting a job as a runner and working your way up.

How do you know it's related to your Kriya practise? Could be caused by a number of different things. If you do think it is the Kriya, maybe try pausing the practise for a while and see if your symptoms improve? Or try reaching out to a professional Kriya Yoga teacher.

@John Iverson 12 chants counts as 1 (6 on the in breath and 6 on the out breath). So you do 108 x 12.

@John Iverson 1. Yes you can. He only advises against it. It's up to you, but personally I do. Holding for 90 seconds is not an absolute necessity, but you want to be getting as close to that as possible. If you can't hold it for atleast half that I probably would work on improving your breath. Work up to it. You know the time by setting a timer at the beginning. 2. You chant Ohm 6 times on the in breath and 6 times on the out breath. 12 chants counts as 1 out of 108. Start with a lower number of pranayama's if thats easier in the beginning. 3. Yes. 4. Google 'where is the 2nd chakra and 3rd chakra'.

1. Yea it takes practise but you can get to a point where the breathing is relatively slow making the 6 ohms easier. In the beginning i'd say just focus on chanting the ohms as clearly as possible in the third eye area and keeping your attention there for the whole duration. Sometimes I like to just tap my finger on the third eye area and that helps to know where to chant. Also, mentally chant the ohms quite loudly. I find this helps with keeping the focus on that area. 2. It just means chant the word in your mind but imagine it emerging from the front of the forehead between the eye brows. Takes a little bit of practise but you'll get it in no time, it's quite easy.

If you have the money, go to one of Peter Ralston's retreats in Texas, ideally the Contemplation Intensive (I think thats the week of dyad self-inquiry). Incredibly direct and effective method for grasping the deep insights you seek. It will also provide you with an excellent foundation for solo contemplation.

I recently changed the order of my routine to do supreme fire first, then mahamudra and then pranayama. I find the pranayama puts me into a really relaxed and quiet state of mind which is great for the after-effect poise. Previously i'd do the supreme fire after pranayama and it kinda disrupted my flow a bit. Worth experimenting with though. What I haven't quite nailed down yet is visualising the energy flowing and down the spine during mahamudra. I'd say this probably makes quite a big difference.

I was going to mention the same thing. Eating a candy in your dream could be a reality check used to make you lucid dream. Not the most practical way to go about it but probably possible, as Leo said.

@Alec Interesting, I didn't know you could have those sorts of insights on MDMA. Thanks for sharing

@Pouya I think you should aim to be doing both. They both have their benefits. The meditation helps to slowly train and re-wire the mind which is very important for your day-to-day experience. Self-inquiry is obviously much more focused and direct. You're just going straight for the Truth without the long arduous path that often comes with meditation. So both are important. Work on establishing a daily meditation habit first. You need to find the balance between doing long enough sits to actually make it worth while, but also not so much that you burn out and quit. If you find Vipassana too difficult, read Culadasa's The Mind Illuminated. It's a very simple to follow technique that will take you all the way if you stick with it. Whilst you're implementing the meditation habit try to get in some occasional self-inquiry sessions here and there. You should read the books relating to self-inquiry on Leo's booklist for guidance. But again, a balance is required because too much information can very much hinder your self-inquiry progress. One very very important piece of advice with self-inquiry is to not just do it for the sake of the technique. Don't just do 30 mins if self-inquiry just so you can say to yourself you've done 30 mins and thats great, and feel good about it. Rather, the focus should be on getting the truth right this minute. If it takes another minute to get the truth then do another minute, and so on. I say this just because I wasted many hours doing self-inquiry just to tick that box for the day, and was not concerned with the actual purpose of the technique.

@Vasiles Stefanis Ralston is completely beyond SD. He's certainly not Yellow.

@Self Discovery Well done for going solo on your first retreat. I recently came back from my second group retreat and whilst they have their benefits, there are also many downsides with meditating with lots of other people. I'm considering going on my first solo retreat later this year so I have a few questions: Were you doing just meditation, or did you incorporate other things like self-inquiry, yoga etc? What did you schedule look like? Did you plan out your schedule prior to the retreat, or did you make it up as you went along? Did you rent a place like Leo has done? Did you find it challenging to motivate yourself at any point?

@Karlos Totally forgot about Ben Smythe! Definitely a great example of Yellow, possibly moving into Turquoise (I think he's had some sort of awakening, not sure though).

It's a contradiction to say you are not your thoughts and then to say you are your memories. Memories are thoughts of course, and only exist in the present. Nor are they continually present, just fleeting experiences. Try to see what memories are in your direct experience. Discard any concepts or ideas you have about what they might be. Don't assume that memories permanently sit somewhere in the back of the mind, or that they are somehow always here. This is just another invention. If you had never heard the word 'memories' would you still identify yourself those experiences? Observe what is true in your direct experience right now. Keep working on it and contemplate it from different angles. Don't get stuck repeating the same line of questioning. Or consider working on Who You Are first, instead of What.