Tummo

" Anybody else on KFD mess with it?

"

I did. Without really knowing much about it and without a guide.
Read some instructions and did it. I managed to rise the kundalini up to the solar plexus. That experience was really powerful! I started rocking like crazy. It was so intense that I had to stop and I think it was a good thing since there are so many horrror stories about it. Good luck with that, you may need it!

From what I saw these instructions are missing the exact description what to do with your body and breath, which is the most important part.

I think this is a result of tibetans keeping the essentials of the practice secret and talking/writing only about the visualisations and other less important parts of the practice to mislead curious strangers.

The practice works more or less the same if you don't do the visualisations etc, but not at all if one doesn't do the bodily part. if there is interest i can try to describe it (it is pretty complicated to write it down if one doesn't see and feel it and has noone standing next to him to correct him)

"The practice works more or less the same if you don't do the visualisations etc, but not at all if one doesn't do the bodily part. if there is interest i can try to describe it (it is pretty complicated to write it down if one doesn't see and feel it and has noone standing next to him to correct him)

- LocoAustriaco"

I am intrestered and eagerly waiting for your description.

) You make me smile. The problem is to describe the details of the movements to reduce negative side effects... I was thinking about posting some movies on youtube, but on the other hand I didn't want to distract female yogis with my overweighted dreambody -gack(not the spiritual dreambody).

I will post some infos everyday because its a lot of stuff to type. I got the instructions from 3 different masters. I write about the one that worked best for me. My explanation will be more medical than mystical cause I feel more comfortable with it and if one steps out of the driving bus and finds himself in a strange state it doesn't help a lot to tell him that he is now in the hell of hungry ghosts or something like this.

PREPARATION PHASE:

1. Breath: One should be able hold the breath for 1min 30 sec minimum before one begins the real exercise. Everyday practice should make it possible quickly. Hold your breath whenever you can and relax the whole body especially the neck, the back and the eyes. Avoid any pressure building up in the body. Get gentle when it gets harsh.

Never go over 2 min. I have friends who can hold the breath up to 5 min, one for 9min (christian is champion in apnoediving). Don't do this. Stay under 2 min for medical reasons (brain cells dying).

It is not necessary to have no braincells left to get enlightened.

When you inhale and hold, fill the lungs only 75%. Give already a 25% tension to the lower deep core (abdominal) muscles (m. transversus abdominis). these are the muscles in the exact middle between bellybutton and pubic bone.
When you exhale and hold, breath out and let the mind follow the breath, when the breath stops send the mind further into infinity (let it go and watch it vanish in infinity). Dont let the body collapse when you breath out, its important that the spine makes a kind of up straightening movement when you breath out (selfelongating).

The sequence in that phenomena for the beginner will arise in the body is this:

Warmth - Shaking - Silence

You will know what I am talking about when you do Tummo. Now this circle can already happen by just holding the breath, must not but could happen.

At the beginning there can arise panic (to choke) probably between warmth and shaking or shaking and silence.

IGNORE IT. If you master the fear of dying you will have a new level of tolerance for all fears soon. Fear will no longer make you do or avoid anything and later will not be a topic in your daily life (if one has psychological anxiety problems make an additional therapy, its easy to cure normally)

Look at the watch and hold your breath. Nothing can happen to you in 1min 30 sec. Start slowly but get better quickly. Your willpower will increase soon to a tremendous level. This is the first step.

The traditional explanation is that the inner fire will burn through the blocked energychannels and this makes it that painful. Its not true but it helps to see that the pain is something good. whenever you avoid something in daily life it is because of this pain that you will feel in tummo. get used to it. get through it. it will disappear soon.

2. Pelvic muscles: lay down on the back. let the knees fall outside. lncrease the power of your pelvic floor. a) At the beginning just pump the muscles fast and without any power but as long as you can. the moment you give the impuls, let already go. with time you will get a feeling for it, it feels nearly autonomous, like the body would do it by himself, like having a orgasm, like a twitch. don't use power. let it inensify by itself.
let the rest of the body be relaxed, just train these muscles. b) then contract first the anal muscles at the backside, if they are fully contracted, contract them stronger then go forward and add the front "door" like you would stop to pee and hold contracted as long as possible, contract stronger. stronger! the picture that is taught is that of a bench vice. you can always do it stronger than you think. let the rest of the body relax and the breath completely normal and gentle. Its important to separate the flow of breath from the contraction of the pelvic floor. there are a lot of western descriptions in books like "tiger feeling" of this pelvic gymnastics or "kegel-execrises".

within 2 weeks you will reach a level from where one can begin with tummo. your muscles will get stronger and stronger.

1. Do the exercises in the morning BEFORE YOU HAVE EATEN. Dont do them with something in the stomach! Don't do them in the evening, you will pobably not be able to sleep.

2. You will already notiice increased selfconfidence, willpower, sexual lust, vital masculinity/femininity, apetite, potency and a strong feeling for your territory and knowing what you want, and what is yours. thats all ok! but be prepared for more to come. inform your girlfriend(s) so that she knows about the change or don't, she will be the first to realize it.

Just for the Info: PREPARATION PHASE TSA LUNG/TRUL KHOR

It would be clever to let the body get used to the new levels of energy to reduce unwanted sideeffects like itching in the forarms and legs, headache, stomachproblems etc, but I know nobody will listen, so go to amazone and buy the book of Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche "Awakening the sacred body" and watch the DVD. One can use this exercises to warm the body up or reduce negative sideffects. If you have problems with the spine be very careful or don't do them all, because not all of them are ergonomic, a good physiotherapist will know.

Then look at this: garudacostarica.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/trulkhor.jpg

This are also exercises to reduce side-effects called trulkhor. With trulkhor and tsa lung and the 9 breathings of purification you would have the whole system of sideeffectreducers.
the truth is, despite of all hocus-pocus they sometimes don't work. I will be posting a what to do when later.

All these execises come from originally from India and so does Tummo. They are just variations.

Tummo is a variation of Maha Bandha (Mula Bandha+ Uddiyana Bandha+Jalandhara Bandha). The exercises around it, are a tibetan add-on. One can check the web for a description and how to do Maha Bandha. cont.

PRACTISE OF TUMMO: STANDING PHASE

The practise is done standing, do not sit down at this point. It is important that the shaking can take over your whole body including the legs. If the legs are alive and full of feelings, they can give you the grounding in reality that you will need for all the upgoing energy.
Having a solid grounding in vibrant legs and feet is very important to not take off and get lost in all kinds of heady spiritual far from the world states of consciousness.

The stronger the base and the downflow capacity of the body the higher you can go without loosing contact with reality. the more energy you accumulate the better. if the body generates more energy than he can eventually discharge the difference in the energy budget will appear as free floating fear. So it is important that you develop enough dicharge ability via productive sexual and aggressive self expression. Tummo will generate a lot of energy.

Here is the picture of the northern wall of the private temple of the dalai lama. Thats the way he has learned Tummo, it is the right way: standing. Stand like the humpdidumpi that i will put on youtube:


The picture shows a yogi while holding the breath (hands up) and after having exhaled (hands down). Notice the position of the feet (important to get vibrations on the inner side of the thigh to get a channel down into the ground for the sexual energy otherwise it will heat up your head )

... to be cont...

Hello Loco,
thank you a lot for the descriptions. Normally these practises are obtained only after the numerous preliminaries and then you need a minimum proficiency in the creation phase yoga (visualizing yourself as a deity). Finally the empowerment which is (according to the traditions) of utmost importance for many reasons, all of this topped by a vow of secrecy.
A part of me is very happy of this disclosure and openness in the view of pragmatic spiritual paths and another part is wondering, maybe all this traditional stuff around the core practices (preliminaries, vows,...) are in fact really needed and maybe the practitioner and the one disclosing instructions maybe at risk in one way or another ?
Wow i probably sound really conservative now, sorry.
Have you learned these during the traditional 3 year retreat ? and if not which teacher are giving these instructions ? maybe they will come to europe someday?
Anyway thank you

Yes, and there is much more to come.... I just didn't have the time to type it all in, but the description is by far not complete. Well it took me years to learn all about it. different sects have their different ways to do things, at least the scientific explanation of phenomena made the decision easier which variation is the best to begin with.

I also have 2 souls in my heart and really hesitated to make it public because of several reasons. but when it comes to the decision i follow the rule to give everything useful I have to everybody who has a minimum chance to use it.

There are various tibetan and western masters around the world who do not keep useful things for themselves. The most important thing is not get it from somebody who tries to create a dependency in you, by only telling you the half of the truth. The results feel very magical yes, but there is no need to get superstitious. negative sideeffects can make you afraid and fall into magical thinking but there is no more need to, if you know enough. 111 111 prostrations in any way will help you nothing when things get "really hot"... and they will

From where in europe are you?

... cont....
Also notice the fingerposition. To finetune your experience you can press different points from tibetan medicine/TCM:
1 press with the indexfinger the lateral place under the corner of the fingernail of the thumb (Lung 11): deepens breath, makes one feel confident and "invincible", bring breath into its natural flow

2 press with the thumb the lateral place under the corner of the fingernail of the indexfinger (Large intestine 1): harmonising energy flow in the stomach, if you have the feeling of heat in the eyes use it, makes the eyes clear und increase concentration

Tell me if you need more of this ... Also notice that when one day you would like to change to sitting tummo the handposition is
completely different like this: www.google.at/imgres?q=gtummo&hl=de&sa=X...r:22,s:0&tx=94&ty=65
Some people do it with "vajrafists" then, others simple extend the indexfinger strongly. Strange but it helps to stand through some waves of shaking until the waters become more peaceful...

to be cont...

Thank you a lot for your answer.
As a tibetan translator i've been studying a lot tibetan practices and lineages, that's why i asked you from which teacher or traditions did you get these instructions and if you did the 3 year retreat ? just so that i can get the big picture.
I was wondering, if you don't do the creation phase before implementing gtum mo, can you get the four blisses, the four emptinesses and the clear light ?
sorry for these questions but it's the first time i can speak with a practitioner willing to talk openly about it.
By the way i'm from France.

"Thank you a lot for your answer.
As a tibetan translator i've been studying a lot tibetan practices and lineages, that's why i asked you from which teacher or traditions did you get these instructions and if you did the 3 year retreat ? just so that i can get the big picture.
I was wondering, if you don't do the creation phase before implementing gtum mo, can you get the four blisses, the four emptinesses and the clear light ?
sorry for these questions but it's the first time i can speak with a practitioner willing to talk openly about it.
By the way i'm from France.
"

Ah, Insider For academic interest in Na ro chos sdrug and the tradition of practice of gtummo I recommend the later works of Prof. Torricelli and the works on the project of Ms. Sernesi in Munich concerning the Ras chung snyan brgyud-tradition, also the works of Mr. Schiller in Hamburg.

Other practitioners of gTummo in France you should find in the retreat centers of the local bKa'-brgyud-pa-school, I remember some guys came from La-Phyi.

There is a westerner in the south of France who makes snowmelting seminars www.mauricedaubard.com/ . Also does Wim Hof (dutch) in Spain. Or travel with Glenn Mulin (see his HP). They all show all traditional mentioned signs of full accomplishment.

TOMMOROW starts a Tummo retreat with Tulku Lobsang in PORTUGAL (thats the closest and fastest to you I know, maybe no coincidence): www.tulkulamalobsang.org/index.php?page=tourplan&id=141

tbc....

I led scientific research with monks and patients about the results of different variations of tummo and its use in medical treatment. You can neglect the cultural adornments and just do the practice (and avoid the sometimes contradictory details) I am not part of a religious tradition and didn't do a 3 year retreat in one of them. Your other questions I would answer with: Yes. I wouldn't loose to much time beeing the book-carrier of a tibetan lama who feeds his unpaid secretary peanuts or something like this ("Confessions of a buddhist atheist" by Stephen Batchelor could be an interesting book, www.stephenbatchelor.org/tv_documentary.html ). But you probably don't. I would just get the instructions directly and practice. It is a rather strong practice but there are also softer alternatives on KFD.

1. Exhale
2. Close your nose with 2 fingers
3. Try to inhale without opening the nose
4. Recognise your lower abdomen beeing pulled in direction of the spine and if you do it stronger - upwards cranial
5. Do it stronger to find the place where you can "lock it in". keep it
6. Train it a while to find out how it opens the heart after releasing it. Notice also the joy.
7. We will use this movement to transport "energy" from the root to the heart, cultivating the wild animallike power

Don't do it if you have problems with gastritis or hernias in that region. Cure it first through medical treatment. There is an old saying in psychosomatics: "behind every neurosis there is a gastric ulcer" meaning that statistically 50% of the population have these problems and only recognise the changes in their psyche not knowing about the gastric problems as a cause (symptoms are: irascibility, constant bad mood, cynism, returning hiccup, burping, farting and bad breath ) also (dalai) lamas have these problems often afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hAlOttok3d5xxUF4k_rqCWY1bF9g some say it comes from the buttertea, some say it is from repression, some from tummo, i dont know. just keep an eye on it, to be safe. if you become angry and high-handed- stop.

There are different opinions about where to transform the generated energies namely bringing them into the central channel.

1. The most often heard is a spot 4 fingers below the navel in front of the spine, where it feels empty, bottomless, clear, open.

2. I prefer the middle of the perineum, where the contraction is strongest. feels very solid there

3. Some say more up even in the heart.

Depends on the teacher. Simply concentrate on one of this points. If it helps you and you like naked red women, you can do the whole visualisation described in all books. I have seen the strongest result in people who simply concentrated on one spot while doing the practice.

to be cont...

Having an orgasm, dying and tummo are closely related processes. tibetans tend to think in energetic terminology, not so much in scientific language. so I post a link here if you want to get informed what they think happens during death and partly tummo: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5460210845278177464 (by the way the guy talking is also not bad at tummo, you can easily see it in his body language (he is one of the 3minutes:-))

funny that western science can easily explain the results also with death related processes. simplified the change of ratio O2/CO2 through the change of breathing makes the brain think it has not enough O2 (is going to die) and the body reacts with flooding it with blood supply (vasodilatation).

Thats why some people can get headaches when they change their breathing patterns (or do tummo). The change of bloodpressure in the brain and the reaction of the vessels result in headaches.
Maybe you have also heard of DMT and its relation to spiritual perceptions and death. Let me know if want more of this details ...

fascinating, please continue
-Jake

Thank you LocoAustriaco for very clear and interesting descriptions! All this sounds very familiar from my asana and pranayama practices. I presume that Maha Bandha + sucking in the abdomen (like in Nauli) is done right after the exhale and held during the whole retention and then released.

Do you always do the retention after exhaling, or is it also done after inhaling, like in many pranayama practices? Or do you do just one exhale + retention for the maximum duration and then rest before doing it again?

How long did it take to get some results with this practice? What kinds of results did you get? How do you generate the warmth off the cushion?

I will post more during the next days and weeks, so that there will be nothing left unsaid.

There are just so many details that i couldn't post the technique itself but normally people are afraid of the sideeffects and I wanted to fix that first.

@Hi Antero, yes it's obvious that the tibetan yogic techniques have their roots in india and are refinements and results of the sometimes overboarding tibetan culture with all its love for adornment. normally they would start as described above, then do some exercises (Tsa Lung, 9 breaths of purification (more or less pranyama) and then start with tummo. later you just contract the muscles and hold the breath and should easily get the full energyboost, while sitting in the subway, watch TV etc.

1. stand like describe (footposition), knees lightly bent
2. hands like describe at the height of you shoulders (press the thumbnail under the corner of the indexfingernail)
3. Inhale into the chest 75% (put the head a bit into the neck whil inhaling to open the chest) and hold (gently, don't press the breath against something)
4. Pulll the lower abdomen in and up 75%
5. Press the chin against the chest (careful), tongue against roof of the mouth
6. contract the root as described
7. focus on one of the spots (I recommend perineum) or visualise the central channel
8. relax, wait
9. warmth - hold - relax, keep the sternum still a bit up like a "proud" prince
10. shaking - hold, 1st wave, stay, 2nd wave, stay
11. silence - hold as long as you can without creating pressure, pressure is normal while the shaking but shouldn't come from you
12. exhale (a bit stronger at the end of breath if you like, called arrowbreath or as it happens)
13. let your body calm down, blood pressure/breath normalise, but don't wait too long for the next burning circle, the faster you do the next the easier/better it will be

its ok to get shaken off at the first lets say 3 trials, but then use your willpower to dive through and get into the roam where you can feel that you have more space and the neurotic patterns are burned, where you overcome your flightinstinct and get as a price freedom.

we are crossing a river. if you jump off at the first wave you will not land on the other side of the river, you will land in the river. this is the place of unwanted sideeffects where you can get more problems than you had in the beginning (we talk about how to solve them later)

i would make sure to get to the silence part after the 2nd wave, their you can rest safer an repeat the exercise.

to be cont....

@exhale/inhale: the version of the "sucking in of the abdomen"/udiyana bandha that is used for tummo is done after inhaling 75% into the chest, thats why it is called "vase-breathing". (as you pointed out in the indian version or "udiyyana bandha" they pull in after exhaling completely) the breath is not like often thought kept down in the belly but in the chest. so one can still pull the abdomen inward upward (which looks like an upside-down-vase).
if one has used up all O2, breath in again - without letting go before - and get the missing 25%, so you can prolong the state, try to have both lungs filled with the same amount of air

@retention: the retention is done after inhaling. same in the tsa lung exercises (inhale -retention- movement - inhale rest 25%)

"How long did it take to get some results with this practice? What kinds of results did you get? How do you generate the warmth off the cushion?"

@time: This depends mainly on how long one can hold his breath, and this depends on1 the psychophysiological state (tensions in the body that become turbulences when the flow gets stronger/capacity of energy) and 2 how many red blood cells your body has developed through the preparations.
some of the famous wonders that appear, when you do tummo (fast growing hair and nails, increased speed of woundhealing and regeneration, high vitality) have their cause in this Hypoxy-phenomena that are also used in the training of professional athletes in environments of low O2/high altitudes. You simply have more (rbc) O2 in your system and over the mitochondrial system more energy in a physical sense. You get the same results (vitality, regeneration) if you book 10 session in a Hypoxy-studio in your hood.

you probably realize a pretty strong change after ten minutes when you have made it the first time really through the 3rd wave of shaking.

to practice for one hour a day will change your life completely from the first day on. just repeat the exercise for one hour. if to strong start with 20minutes and go up.
tibetans told me that this absolute silent void that appears after maybe maximum of 25min, where you nearly can't move and don't know if you are or not is the same like nirodha sampathi, i don't know, but here probably somebody can tell me.

They say after 6 weeks with 1 hour practice a day, one normally starts to kind of see the energies and can regulate them. For me it felt like there is suddenly a unbroken circuit in your trunk+head, a constant flow without leaks, no matter what your hands and feet are doing or your head is saying, the system feels like it is hermetically sealed and doesn't loose energy anymore. somehow closed and complete und incredible strong.

@off cushion: you willl learn to do the exercise under all circumstances. The last karmapa was famous for suddenly getting blue in the face in the middle of a negotiation. now you know why...

my experience is that the sideeffects vanish after some time it becomes completely effortless and gentle. everything becomes a source of lust somehow (and the girls love you, don't know how, but they somehow feel it)

let me just add that the head should not get hot, this a typical beginners mistake. after the training the body is pretty warm, soft and relaxed, the head is clear and cool.

It's not the kind of practice in which you have to ask yourself "ah, maybe it was this". The results and even the practice itself should be dramatic if done correctly. i have only seen people who couldnt handle it. until now nobody said it dont feel anything. it doesn't hurt if you have what one could translate as a "hero or warrior mind". but be careful with yourself also.

there are also sects who do it very soft, even just imagining to contract the muscles and if you are very finetuned this could also be a 2nd best way. it didn't work for me at all.

if also this is too strong or violent and you get more downsides than upside from it. go back to the preparation stage and train the pelvic muscles and the muscles of your abdomen (aka "core muscles") without too much breathwork. you can get beautiful fruits from that and the time will come when you want more and are able to. in the tibetan medicine there are also massages to cure what they call "lung"illness (sideeffects). i never tried them. for some also a combination with rolfing worked out fine to remove problems before they appear.

tbc...