Report from 7-Day Kriya Yoga Retreat at Home

[Girzo]

Hi there,

TL;DR in bold.

So I am just back from a solo meditation retreat. I wanted to go to Vipassana, but with all the surges in Covid cases in my country in the last weeks I had thought it might not be the brightest idea, so my room it is.

It started out as a mixed Vipassana/Kriya retreat, but slowly evolved into Kriya-based one. Yes, I am no good at sticking to the plan. Typical INFP guy here.

My Vipassana technique of choice was Shinzen Young's mindfulness with labeling, the "See, Hear, Feel" method. I like it more than the body scaning technique they teach at Goenka's Vipassana retreats. Shinzen Young is an inspiring person, too. It's thanks to him that I started to question if I am not undervaluing stuff like insight mediation and should give it more effort.

My Kriya routine is (I have had almost a year of a gap in practicing it and I am just getting back on track since the 1st January, practicing daily):

• Preliminary Kriya Supreme Fire up to 20 minuntes
• Maha Mudra 3-12x
• SantataGamana's/Mukherjee's Kriya Pranayama with concentration at the Third-Eye 108-144x
• Self-Inquiry or concentration for 20-40 minutes at the end.

 

It takes up to 1 h 30 min to complete.

For Kriya Supreme Fire I use Wim Hof-like technique of doing 30 short, sharp inhales and exhales to oxygenate the body, It's super easy to hit 1 min 30 s or 2 min that way. I remember that using this technique I was able to hold breath for 3 minutes in year 2019. So I think that I will switch to full Kriya Supreme Fire soon after the retreat.

I had a problem with Vipassana. The problem was I had been constantly falling asleep and lucid dreaming or simply dreaming instead of actually meditating. So 2-hours meditation sit was effectively more like a 1-1.5 hour sit. I even had a dream of me meditating in one place and then after waking up I saw that I am in a completely different place. And I was like, "duh, why is it happening to me?"

I know why, it's because I had constantly been laying on the floor with a straight back to give my legs and knees a rest, but it turns out I am godlike at falling asleep at completely flat, uncomfortable floors. But I had to, the knees got such a beating before I started this retreat (I went biking for the first time this year and kind of got carried away), that I didn't want to risk any injury.

That's why I have switched to yoga only. You can't fall asleep doing yoga (probably, haha).

Here is my schedule for the first 2 days:

Quote

4:00 Wake-up

4:30-6:30 Vipassana 2h

6:30-8:00 Breakfast

8:00-10:30 Kriya 2.5h

10:30-11:00 Preparing lunch

11:00-12:00 Eating lunch

12.00-13.00 Resting after lunch

13.00-14.30 Kriya 1.5h

14.30-17:00 Iyengar Yoga 2.5h

17.00-18.00 Tea

18.00-19.00 Vipassana 1h

19.00-20.15 Reading a book

20.15-21.00 Yin Yoga 45 min

21.00-21.30 Shower and stuff

21.30 Rest

It's basically appropiated Goenka's Vipassana schedlue. I didn't know what I was doing when planning this up, just went with my mojo and put stuff in there. Too much physical exercise.

I had set up timers on my phone to remind me of the schedule and put it into extra-battery saving mode.

I then went to improve it for the next two days:

Quote

4:00 Wake-up

4:30-6:30 Kriya 2h

6:30-8:00 Breakfast

8:00-9:00 Vipassana 1h

9:00-9:30 House chores

9:30-11:30 Kriya 2h

11:30-14:00 Lunch

14.00-16.00 Vipassana 2h

16.00-17:00 Reading a book

17.00-19.00 Iyengar 2h

19.00-20.00 Tea

20.00-21.00 Kriya 1h

21.00-21.30 Shower and stuff

21.30 Rest

This was better, but still not right. The lesson I have learned is that doing Kriya that close before sleep can make falling asleep more difficult, yet I haven't corrected it during this retreat.

The schedule I sticked to the end of the retreat is such:

Quote

4.55 Wake-up

5.00-6.30 Kriya 1.5h

6.30-8.00 Breakfast

8.00-9.30 Kriya 1.5h

9.30-12.30 Tripping on DPT (a psychedelic)

12.30-14.30 Lunch

14.30-16.00 Kriya 1.5h

16.00-17.00 Reading a book

17.00-19.00 Iyengar 2h

19.00-20.00 Tea

20.00-21.30 Kriya 1.5h

21.30-22.00 Shower

22.00 Rest

Yup, that's 400-600 Kriya Pranayamas a day. But I think this was still ineffective use of time. If I had to start again, I would cut physical yoga asanas (Iyengar) to 1h maximum. Do more sessions of Kriya, aiming for 800-1000 a day, no psychedelics. I would also try to all the Pranayamas as early in the day as possible, to crowd them in the morning and early afternoon. That would be it for a Kriya-themed retreat.

I will for sure experiment with other formats, like semi-retreat when I do yoga intensively in the morning and then go about the day as usual, work, etc., for a month. Or do 1-day intensives with 1728 pranyamas on Sundays, for example. 1728 x KP should take about ten hours, that's totally doable.

If anything, I could have structured this retreat so that I had 1728 repetitions of pranayama per day, yet as I have said, I didn't really know what I was doing there, before this retreat I was doing only 72 x KP per day and didn't know if there's a limit. There is no limit, one can go on and on and practice. The biggest obstacle is finding an assana to sit/lay in for ten hours with a straight back. I have heard you can drink water during the practice, preferably with ghee, but that sounds like a hindu dogma to me, haha. I would try to do it in "one sitting" from 5AM to 4PM and then rest.

What I am thankful to this retreat for is showing me the benefits of such a rigid time schedule. I think I will get serious about scheduling my normal days after this retreat in a similar manner. It's something I have never done really, but makes sitting down to do the practice super easy, because you are always well slept, nourished and at the right place when there's the time to practice.

About the psychedelics, I have thought that with so much time on my hands it would be interesting to try different routes of administration for DPT. I don't recommend doing that on a retreat, it's just something I have been curious about and couldn't find a better time to do.

So, vaping DPT freebase is easy, too easy. I have wasted like 200 mg because I didn't know how to vape. First, I have had problems with freebasing it, the stuff is a very sticky brownish oil and it's such a pain to manage. So after managing to put like 15 mg from the original 60 I have puffed it and felt threshold effects. After some time I tried to put a paste of DPT mixed with baking soda inside the vaporizer with a drop of water, it has worked, but the water was a problem, I had to carefully evaporate it at around 100C and don't know if that cooking hasn't destroyed some of the molecule. I don't know because when was about to take to take a puff from the vape, I forgot to empty my lungs. Before I have exhaled the air, the DPT has condensed on the glass and made everything dirty, I have only taken into lungs like 10% of the cloud and again felt light mood enchancement. That's when I gave up the method for now. Too much pain with freebasing it correctly and it leaves a smell in the room.

So oral administration it is. I have taken 200 mg put into capsule and the other day 300 mg. It works, works like a charm. So far the best ROA for this compound IMO. I have bought my DPT at $8 a gram so I don't feel like it's too wasteful to eat that much of it for one and a half hour of tripping. 200 mg is an equivalent of 45 mg insufflated (+ intensity) and 300 mg is similar to 60 mg insufflated or 110 mg plugged (++ intensity, Shulgin's scale), but with no clogged sinuses, bad taste or bleeding from anus. At least with my metabolism. I was scared because of the reports of extra long trips, like 6-10 hours from this ROA on very high doses, but it seems to not be case, it's a standard for DPT 1.5 hour duration, although I can't be sure of what would happen at a higher dose. I don't know anything about tolerance, maybe my 300 mg trip had been weaker because of the tolerance, dunno. Takes about 40 minutes to load when taken in a capsule (might depend on the capsule you have got).

What else I have been up to? Read SantataGamana's books, started Peter Ralston's The Book of Not-Knowing, indulged in the poetry of Ryokan and Rumi when had had a break from the meditation. Poetry totally recommended for a retreat, haha. Cooked some good food, worked on mindfulness in everyday activities, had a detox from the internet, video content, smartphone, messenger, etc.

Results from the practice:

• Feeling of a stronger control over the mind and its urges.
• Slightly elevated baseline level of consciousness. It's not much, but noticable.
• Learned to do Kriya Yoga well better.
• Found comfortable sitting postures.
• Some calm, spontaneus kundalini activity throughout the day.
• Improved concetration skills.

That's it, nothing fancy, no extraordinary experiences.

Here are the sitting set-ups I recommend:

1. For Maha Mudra and sitting with legs crossed/half-lotus. The tilt from the yoga block beneath is very useful and adds comfort by lowering the knees realatively to your hips.

2. For additional comfort, put a blanket on top. It's good for cross-legged postion and sitting on your knees if you like to have knees close together and calfs apart.

3. Put a zafu on the side to sit on your knees and have a support for you butt. This position is just as good as a zen sitting bench or maybe even better. You can put a stiff blanket on top to make it higher, but it has to be stiff, it can't be a soft one, because otherwise you will be sliding to the sides and forwards/backwards.

That's all I have had to share, much love and peace.

[_Archangel_]

@Girzo Thanks for the report.
I have some questions:
1- have you experimented with Stevens Pranayama? if so, why do you decided switch to Santata's?
2- How the hell do you count 108 breaths? do you use beads?
3 i guess you find Yoni mudra ineffective like i do, so you stick to concetration on the third eye with eyes pointing up right?

[Leo Gura]

@Girzo Excellent! I love the intensity and proactivity you put into this.

This is how this work should be done. Seriously, not dabbling around the edges with weaksauce methods.

[Preety_India]

I tried this a year ago. Time for me to try again. 

 

[Preety_India]

Actually ghee will make you sleepy. 

 

[Leo Gura]

If you really want to crank up your retreats, combine it with water fast. Don't eat any food during the whole retreat. Your mind will become crystal clear. Food fucks with your consciousness.

Water fasting is painful though the first few days. It really tests your self-discipline and tolerance for discomfort.

[blankisomeone]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

Food fucks with your consciousness.

True. I started eating much less a few weeks ago and felt soooooo much better. Head so much clearer! But I couldn’t exercise and people kept telling me I was starting to look too thin and were worried about me. So I went back to eating every 3 hours again. Now I went back to looking much better and to exercising. However I feel worse? Oh God how lovely this is...

Edited March 12, 2021 by blankisomeone

[Leo Gura]

@blankisomeone Well, you gotta seriously optimize your food.

But even then, you will never feel as clear-minded as you will on an empty stomach. That's just some basic biology. Which is why spiritual traditions around the world employ fasting. All the great mystics fasted a lot. The Buddha and Christ nearly killed themselves fasting so much.

[Preety_India]

I get better meditation results on fasting. 

 

Clarity of mind. 

Been meditating for 3 years now,.. 

. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Preety_India

[Girzo]

@_Archangel_

1. Yes. I don't know why I like this one. It just feels right, I had switched to it after reading Ennio Nimmis' book and seeing Mukherjee's comment that there is no reason to do less than 108 pranayamas, even for beginners and I liked this attitude and switched to this method. I might add visualization of the prana to my technique in the future because it does indeed silence the mind more than just chanting Om, yet is more strenuous to the body for some reason, I probably unconsciously tense up when doing it. I see it like this, you need to visualize to silence the mind, you do it. You don't need it, you keep it simple.

2. I count *144 pranayamas. It is super easy to do. Using your fingers you can count to 144. Use your thumb to count sections of your fingers, you have 4 fingers left, every single one with 3 sections, that's 12 repetitions you can count. Use the other hand to count how many rounds you have completed. 12x12=144.

You can use a rosary, rosary has 54 beads, times two it is 108, ideal.

I prefer a cheap $5 mala, it has 108x beads. I have used a blue rubber to mark the 36th bead so I can use it to count 36, 72, 108, or 144 pranayamas easily

3. I haven't yet really tried Yoni Mudra. I want to first master the more basic basics so to speak, haha. I might use it in the future. Might learn Navi Kriya and get serious about doing Khechari Mudra, too. Now it's not a priority. How to sit for a long time undisturbed is my number one focus for now.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Girzo

[_Archangel_]

@Girzo thanks for the tips

[Bando]

@Girzo Great post man defiantly going to bookmark for future reference