When Head Pressure Became the Teacher, Not the Problem
For a long time, my yoga and meditation practices were accompanied by a familiar companion—pressure in the head. It was not painful, but it was unmistakable, dense, and demanding. The more sincerely I practiced asanas and dhyana, the more this pressure intensified. Initially, I accepted it as a byproduct of progress, perhaps even a sign of spiritual ascent. But over time, it became clear that something in the internal mechanics of my practice was misaligned. The pressure was not expanding into clarity; it was accumulating. That accumulation itself became the inquiry.
During this phase, I performed sutra neti, initially with the understanding that it was only a cleansing practice. On my first attempts, I could not pass the sutra through the nostrils. After a few days and multiple attempts, I was able to penetrate the right nostril on the third try. Something unexpected happened. Internally, the right nasal passage felt as if it had widened, not just physically but spatially. Subsequent attempts became easier. The left nostril, however, remained untouched, almost untouched territory, what I instinctively called “virgin.” Along with this, I felt a mild scratchy irritation at the opening inside the throat, near the back of the mouth. This sensation was not alarming, but noticeable.
What followed surprised me more than the physical changes. My awareness, which previously stabilized in the brain region during yoga and meditation, spontaneously began settling at the throat. Bliss arose there, not in the head. The head pressure reduced immediately and dramatically, regardless of how intensely I practiced. Pressure was now felt subtly inside the mouth, at the back where the throat begins. With this shift, dhyana became easier, quicker, and more stable. It became clear to me that sutra neti had not only cleansed a passage; it had prepared a center of awareness. For the first time, I understood it as a preparatory practice not just for hygiene, but for regulation. It is just amazing.
Discovering the Hissing Breath and the Throat as a Regulator
As awareness stabilized in the throat, I noticed that breath naturally began moving through the mouth with a hissing quality. This hissing was not forced. It arose spontaneously. It was like a serpent hissing—yes, the Kundalini serpent. Now it became clear why Kundalini Shakti is called a serpent. One more thing became evident: as it progresses upward in the Sushumna, it alternates left and right through Ida and Pingala respectively. It is the movement of a snake—going left, then going right, and with each alternation progressing forward, not straight ahead. This can be seen clearly: first on the left side of the face, then on the right, and finally along the midline at the back of the head.
What was striking was its effect. The sound and subtle pressure maintained dominance of the throat point and prevented awareness from rushing back into the head. The hissing applied a gentle pressure to the scratchy point, keeping it awake. With this, prana no longer felt like it was trying to go upward to the head. Instead, it circulated through the body and returned from the throat. The topmost functioning point no longer felt like Sahasrara but distinctly Vishuddhi.
This realization corrected an earlier assumption. I had thought that higher experiences must always culminate at the crown. But here, stability, bliss, and ease were arising without any demand to move upward. The throat was not a stopping point; it was a turning point.
Humming, Ujjayi, and the Ocean Undercurrent of Breath
When I applied gentle pressure to this scratchy inner throat point using a humming breath, similar to ujjayi pranayama, or even during simple inhalation when breath felt like an undercurrent rather than airflow, the point activated further. The sensation was like the deep currents of the ocean—movement without turbulence. This further sharpened regulation. The more the throat point activated, the less head pressure was possible.
The insight became clear: vibration, pressure, and subtle breath were not techniques here but regulators. The throat was acting as a valve. Bliss was no longer explosive or sharp; it was circulatory and breathable. Over time, the scratchy sensation softened, becoming a stable sensory anchor rather than irritation. However, it dulls with time, so it needs to be reawakened with Sutra Neti at intervals.
From Sound to Silence Without Losing Stability
As humming and hissing softened naturally, the throat did not fall asleep. Instead, silence itself seemed to vibrate there. Breath became subtle, almost invisible, yet the throat remained alive. Awareness rested without fixation. The head remained light. Bliss remained present without pressure. This was not loss of practice; it was practice absorbing itself. The system had shifted from technique to function.
This configuration resolved a long-standing fear—the fear of going too far, of irreversibility, of renunciate drift. Earlier, intense upward movement had always carried a sense of danger. Now, ascent completed a loop. Nothing terminated at the head. Nothing demanded escape from life. The architecture had changed.
Rethinking the Location of the Throat Chakra
Earlier, I believed the throat chakra was located at the middle front of the neck. Now, lived experience showed me that the operative center was inside, at the back of the mouth where the throat begins. This raised a question: was my earlier understanding wrong, or was this another sub-chakra?
The clarity that emerged was subtle but firm. The earlier understanding was not wrong; it was incomplete. The front of the neck corresponds to expression, voice, emotion, and outward communication. The inner throat is the regulatory core where breath, sound, prana, and awareness converge. These are not two chakras but two functional layers of the same Vishuddhi field. One expresses. The other governs flow.
This understanding was further confirmed when I noticed that strong emotions still created sensations in the mid-neck region. These effects were moderate and transient, linked to emotional expression. In contrast, the inner throat effects were stabilizing, structural, and long-lasting. Emotion moved through the front; regulation lived inside.
Early Sushumna Flow Through Inner Vishuddhi
Another critical discovery followed. Activating the inner throat chakra stimulated Sushumna flow earlier and more smoothly during the very beginning of dhyana. Previously, meditation had an entry phase filled with effort. Now, the system seemed aligned before meditation even began. Ida and Pingala quieted naturally. The central channel did not need to be forced open. It simply conducted.
This was not premature Sushumna dominance. It was regulated access. The throat acted as a gatekeeper, ensuring balance before ascent. As a result, bliss circulated, thoughts loosened, and awareness stabilized without dissociation or fear.
Why Ajna Became Easy Only After Alignment
A crucial realization followed. Immediately placing focus on Ajna was demanding and challenging. It created effort, pressure, and disturbance in pranic flow. But when Sushumna was first stabilized through the throat or even lower chakras, Ajna became effortless later. Ajna no longer functioned independently. It became linked to the lower centers through common awareness.
Trying to isolate Ajna created head pressure and disturbed circulation. Allowing Ajna to arise within a unified axis created clarity without strain. Ajna revealed itself not as a ruler but as a relay.
Dharana Reunderstood Through Experience
This brought clarity to the meaning of dharana. Dharana was not holding attention at a point. Dharana was establishing an internal architecture where attention no longer needed to be held. When effort was present, dharana was incomplete. When pressure arose, dharana was incomplete.
For me, dharana occurred when awareness stabilized at the inner throat, Sushumna conducted naturally, lateral pulls quieted, and circulation established itself. At that point, dhyana emerged automatically. Meditation no longer began; it continued. Ajna participated without dominating. Thoughts lost traction without suppression.
Dharana, in lived reality, was not concentration. It was removal of everything that prevented the system from holding itself.
The Final Integration
What changed through this journey was not technique but orientation. The system moved from vertical ambition to circulatory intelligence. Bliss became nourishing instead of demanding. Head pressure became impossible, not managed. Fear dissolved not through reassurance but through structural balance. Practice became livable.
The throat did not replace the head. It taught the head how to belong to the whole. Ajna did not disappear. It learned to function within the axis rather than above it. Dharana ceased to be effort. Dhyana ceased to be a goal. Awareness ceased to chase peaks and began to circulate as life.
This discovery was not accidental. It was the body’s correction of an incomplete architecture. Once seen, it does not reverse. One does not go back to diagram-based spirituality after touching functional truth. The chakra was not relocated. It was entered.
And with that, meditation stopped demanding attention and began returning it.
Demystifying Kundalini 