I'm more of a classic practictioner, I would practice hong-sau only when sitting.
Reasons: while lying down it may give a strong sleeping signal. Very strong. And the body would subsequently associate Hong sau to sleeping, even when sitting.
It would be a spiritual suicide. Unless people are very careful in practicing it when absolutely sleepless. Lots of caution is needed.
Running, other activities: I would choose another mantra, for the same reason as before: Hong-sau is meant as a breath-rate-slowing concentration technique. The opposite of what happens while running or practicing exercises.
When I used to meditate at the Redondo Center in my early 20’s I remember that people fell asleep so much during meditation sessions there, that they sent out a monk to talk to us about it. And I may have been the cause of it. That’s how bad I was. They gave it a kind designation as ‘nodding off’ The problem is that meditation is so calming it is easy to fall asleep. And falling asleep 😴 has never been difficult for me since learning to meditate. But meditation was not meant for sleeping and making it easy to fall asleep. The monks would tell us to tense and relax to stay awake and constantly keep you eyes up at the third eye. Also practice some double breathing 😮💨 taught in the SRF lessons.There are three levels of consciousness. Eyes above; super consciousness. Eyes level; waking and thinking consciousness and eyes falling; unconscious and sleeping consciousness.
I have my own thoughts and practicing staying awake. We are given so many techniques in meditation from the Self Realization Fellowship that when sleepy I would alter them quite frequently. Hong Sau a bit. Then Om as long as I could hear some of the Om sound or internal stimulation. Then some Kriya’s. Getting sleepy? Try some higher Kriya’s . Still sleepy? Pray for others and yourself. Still sleepy? Turn on the shower and meditate under the spray of water. Still sleepy ? Turn more cold water up. Still sleepy ? Stand in a corner after the shower and meditate and pray standing on your two feet. Still sleepy? Lay in bed and pray for others, you may be thinking too much about yourself.….. Still sleepy 🥱? Fall asleep 😴. You deserve it after all those efforts!!!
Mccoy I get your point about Hong Sau being for calming your breath. Perhaps I should practice the mantra that Amma gave me when I’m jogging. Many times though I use Hong Sau differently when jogging, It actually has Yogananda’s name in it. Thanks for the suggestion and thank you Amma.
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