I will describe a method for learning Ketamine-State Yoga more efficiently. It applies to any psychedelic journeying and to any learning endeavor.
I'll begin with a discussion of playing the didgeridoo (a wind instrument of the native Australians). The didgeridoo is an incredible tool for breath practice, for sound healing and meditation. And it is a wonderful thing to play didgeridoo in certain psychedelic states -- so energizing, balancing, entrancing... But KSY doesn't call for didgeridoo playing! I'm using it to make a point about learning. The two essential questions are:
-- How can you improve motivation to practice?
-- How can you most efficiently learn the pranayama (breath practices) of KSY? Most folks have never practiced with their breath at all, let alone a specific technique designed for peak psychedelic states!
This method resoundingly rises to these questions! Here goes...
I wanted to learn a new musical instrument. Why did I choose the didgeridoo?
I had three reasons for choosing this instrument.
(1) It is related to yoga. I knew it was used traditionally to enable trance states, and that vibrations felt in the body are an important part of chanting "Om." It turns out there are myriad ways the didgeridoo connects to yoga! I have used it to guide folks in a ceremony practicing shamanic breathing together, to focus my awareness on the central chakras of Dream Yoga, and more.
(2) I am getting on in years, approaching my mid-50s. My "learning curve" is flattening out as my knees erode and my hair grays and thins! If I am going to play a musical instrument, I want to play it well -- which for me means being able to really express myself. The didgeridoo is (at first appearance) a simple musical instrument -- there is only one root note! -- no finger-work at all, no learning scales in different keys, just a loose "buzzing" of the lips.
(3) The most complex aspect of playing the didgeridoo can be "piggybacked" onto something I know extremely well. Therefore I have a shortcut to surmounting the most difficult challenge.
Let me explain -- this is the key! (I will explain "piggybacking".)
At first assessment, there seem to be two main goals in playing the didgeridoo. One is to learn to circular-breathe. This means expelling air with your jowls at the same time as you're inhaling through your nose -- this allows the player to keep the drone going without pause. When I play, at first the audience thinks -- wow, he has an enormous lung capacity! -- and then it just keeps going and they realize I'm circular-breathing -- so I could continue indefinitely.
The other goal is to play music, and the didgeridoo only has one root note. (It's a long branch of hollowed-out eucalyptus or agave stalk -- basically just a tube.) How do you make music with one note?
The player focuses on rhythms and timbral melodies. What is a timbral melody? Think of "Om" being chanted slowly with constant pitch (the same note). What is changing? The timbre of the note is changing -- or you could say the vowel sound is changing (or if you were nerding out you could say the distribution of harmonics was changing).
The didgeridoo's being a long, thick tube makes it ideal for this sort of melody-making. Now pause to consider what is going on when the player makes different vowels sounds -- "eee," "aaah," "ooo," etc. -- on the instrument. It is mind-bogglingly complex!
In order to change the distribution of harmonics vibrating throughout the column of air inside the didgeridoo, the player has to shape the inner parts of their mouth and vocal tract in such a way that it dampens certain harmonics while allowing others. This requires a delicate coordinated maneuvering of many muscles of the lips and pharynx and within the mouth.
Why would such a complex thing be easy to learn for a middle-aged yogi? Because I "piggybacked" playing timbral melodies on the didgeridoo, on something that I learned very young -- speaking!
It took me a month to learn circular breathing, practicing an hour a day at least. Circular breathing is just inhaling through the nose while pushing air out through the mouth -- that's it!
Yet I could play intricate timbral melodies on the didgeridoo almost right away -- because it's almost identical to speaking! The sounds that comprise spoken language involve an incredibly complex blend of harmonics -- each consonant, each vowel, has to possess a number of very specific features to be perceived accurately. I learned how to do this -- how to create and dampen certain harmonics, quickly and without conscious thought, with the muscles of my lips, pharynx and inside of my mouth -- to create the impossibly intricate sounds of spoken language -- when I was a baby, the peak of my learning capacity!
Now as a middle-aged yogi, I can learn things that "piggyback" on this knowledge I acquired at an early age, things like playing didgeridoo.
Application to Ketamine-State Yoga and Psychedelic Healing in General
There is a particular pranayama (yogic breath practice) at the core of KSY. It builds energy, raising oxygen in the body, and then focuses on the very bottom of the exhalation, when the lungs have been emptied by complete letting go.
There are many versions of this pranayama, and I'll teach what I think will be suitable for the individual practitioner. Most folks have little experience working with their breath, so I teach a version far simpler than what I practice.
But here's the key question: Are there aspects to learning a relatively complex pranayama (which can be a powerful tool for psychedelic experience!) that can be "piggybacked" on something you're already really good at?
You can answer "Yes!" if you have practiced -- or just really appreciate -- music. Your sense of rhythm and melody will help you learn pranayama quickly and deeply. When you practice with your breath, really listen! Cultivate musical nuances -- maybe it's a whoosh of air (like they did at my Aya ceremonies!) or fluttering lips -- that give your pranayama some musical flair!
You can answer "Yes!" if you have practiced athletics, any sport of any kind. Your ego may sabotage this power when the going gets tough, but you have experienced -- and thus learned -- that feeling of the breath deepening and loosening. You may know what it feels like to let go of distracting thoughts so that you can focus on the difficult physical challenge of the moment. Consider your pranayama as a necessary skill to be developed, so you can excel at the sport of life!
You can answer "Yes!" if you used to blow smoke rings with your stoner friends from college -- I'm not kidding! That was a learning experience that involved the choreography of your lips and tongue, and also your exhalation as you unleashed the cloud of smoke. Maybe when you practice pranayama you can imagine you are blowing a smoke ring into deep space -- or upwards toward your third eye, or signifying "Om" as you voice the sound in your mind!
These are examples off the top of my head -- If you are creative, you will be able to find something in your life -- something learned young at the peak of your learning powers, and/or something you care about, that arouses natural motivation -- something -- that you can "piggyback" your pranayama practice on!
And this is a good strategy for learning anything!
Size up the challenge, express your goals -- and then ask:
What did I learn when I was young? -- What did I learn when I was motivated and felt that sense of flow? -- What did I learn, that is connected in some way to focusing on my exhalation? You can be creative when connecting your power and the pranayama of Ketamine-State Yoga!
Learning ANYTHING
Consider the same questions -- except now you're connecting whatever it is you intend to learn with whatever you learned when you were young, motivated, flowing, etc. -- And you can be as creative as you want! Linking your passion (even if long-ago) with your current goal will boost any learning endeavor!
This could go in many directions. What other "hacks" does modern cognitive science suggest? How do you teach an old yogi new tricks? How are learning, creativity, wellbeing and spiritual progress interconnected?
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