The Dangers Of Yoga, Meditation, Kundalini, ...

[Paul EMD]

Hi,

Has anyone read the following book? (@Leo Gura?)
Hidden Dangers of Meditation and Yoga: How to Play with Your Sacred Fires Safely by Del Pe

I think I am going to purchase it and study it. It seems quite logical and necessary to study some of the pitfalls and dangers coming along with a regular and consistent practice. Not only do I want to practice safely, but I also want to teach it well to others.

Has anyone anything to say on those hidden dangers already? Any tips? 

Thanks!

[philosogi]

Maybe keep the book on hand until you encounter a problem? Knowledge of the dangers might cause you to limit your practice. 

Also, problems are opportunities to uncover more truths.

Also, Leo has a video on the negative side-effects of meditation.

[Arman]

Meditation and spiritual practices, like any tools, can be misused. 

When practiced safely and with moderation, barring karmic or physiological predisposition, I would say danger is limited. On any path there is difficult experiences.

When practices are misused, moderation is not taken into consideration, the body is not listened to, intuition is ignored, or maybe you're just plain unlucky, there can be moderate to severe side effects, from discomfort all the way to full blown psychosis. These are rare. Moderation and pacing are more important topics particularly when it comes to pranayamas, specifically spinal breathing or kundalini related practices. 

That is not something to really worry about. Especially with more 'regular' meditation practices or basic mindfulness. Perhaps having some idea of more common pitfalls can be useful, because you may recognize them sooner and have an idea of what to do about them. These pitfalls are less extreme and more common. Things like discomfort, difficulty sleeping, bouts of returning to old unconscious behavior, feeling as though you're backsliding, irritation, emotional flares, changes in physiology, things like that. It might be useful to know about those things. 

Philosogi made a good recommendation with Leo's negative effects video. 

[Gabriel Antonio]

@Arman it's very hard to make a distinction between "intuition" and the ego. In my case, most of the time is just a bullshit resistance. And I find that if I am "overdoing" it, my body simply "crashes." So, in a way, I am learning this through trial and error. But in a way, I find it is better to overdo it than to be lazy.