joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Dec 15 2015 : 09:38:52 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Topic Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Message Delete Topic
pressure in head
ringing in the ears
noises much louder
powerful vivid thoughts
inability to focus when talking/listening/reading
strong desire to avoid people
excessive muscle tension
dizziness
everything in the field of vision 'shaking'
(Might add to this list when I think of more. Maybe it will help new people catch it before it gets more intense)
Overload is an interesting phenomenon. I'd like to understand it more. For me, yoga practices are not necessarily a cause of overload and can often help to reduce it. Does anyone else think this? I think my overloads are due to clinging to the vasanas and trying to control things. If I follow Krishnamurti's advice and 'not mind what happens' then my energy is much more balanced. The moment I get involved with thought the whole balance is disturbed, sometimes for hours. But I suppose witnessing this is the practice.
BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1486 Posts
Posted - Dec 16 2015 : 12:11:58 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Joseph
How intense are the symptoms you've listed? Can you rest at night? Do they get in the way of your daily activity?
quote:
Originally posted by joseph
For me, yoga practices are not necessarily a cause of overload and can often help to reduce it.
That is quite an unusual stance. The way I see it - there are two things that combine to cause feelings of overload. Impurities/blockages in the systems are hit by an increased flow of energy. The friction caused by this generates some discomfort. Yes, "trying to control things" means increased resistance, it makes sense that it would add to the feeling of overload. However, I would not underestimate the other lever i.e. gauging your practice level. If you do a lot of energy practices you will overload faster. You are not saying if you practice AYP, or just witnessing throughout the day.
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Dec 17 2015 : 4:53:02 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hey BlueRaincoat
All those symptoms I listed actually are not experienced regularly or intensely anymore. Because I know how to dissipate the energy now, things never get so bad that I cannot sleep. That said, pretty much every day I experience the triggers that caused those intense overload symptoms and I have to be careful to ensure it stays under control. Progress has been made
The reason for my thinking that yoga practices - such as SBP, asanas, and DM - are helpful in balancing energy is that they have, many times, reduced those symptoms which I listed. I was surprised at this too as it goes against what I read, so I wondered if other have experienced the same.
quote:
If you do a lot of energy practices you will overload faster. You are not saying if you practice AYP, or just witnessing throughout the day.
Yes I am doing both, AYP and witnessing. I feel the same, that the energy practices cause overload to come on much quicker, but I think the practices are not at all the cause of overload. The thinking mind is always, for me, the catalyst for overload.
When I'm experiencing the early stages of overload it's always because I've got stuck in some thought patterns and am trying to understand, work them out in my head. This causes stress for me but I'm powerless to stop it. Doing practices is often the only way to get through it without losing lots of energy.
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So-Hi
USA
481 Posts
Posted - Dec 17 2015 : 8:36:32 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Joseph you have entered a phase where Sadhana has to be practiced you belong to the Yogis now. In time you will come to understand what this cryptic mystical phrase means.
For now I will tell you welcome as a brother all is well and good for you now. Still you must self pace and keep your practices on a regular schedule.
Edited by - So-Hi on Dec 17 2015 8:49:38 PM
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Dec 18 2015 : 07:44:53 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hey So-Hi, thanks. Yes I often feel that sadhana has to be practiced now. There is little to no choice in the matter
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Jan 06 2016 : 5:04:54 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
During an overload there is a lot of contraction in the body. Why this happens I'm yet to discover. One of the symptoms, early signs, is bulging veins in the hands and feet. This must be because blood is displaced from contracted areas of the body like water falls from the sponge much faster when you squeeze it lowering it's capacity. And when the heart pumps blood back up there is resistance in the contracted muscles, so it cannot move up at it's normal rate.
My veins are massive but if I spend some time doing pranayama, opening up the chest and muscles then the veins become less conspicuous. I have to practice a lot for that to happen. Don't mind how they look, but the sensation of pressure which comes with it is unpleasant and if I can relieve it through doing yoga and massage it seems the thing to do..
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Aug 02 2016 : 11:06:21 AM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
an excellent "middle stage" practice that I have been using lately is to widen out the nostrils with a finger.
A theory: Pressure in the head is exacerbated by a blocked nose or constricted energy channels around the nose. This is because the air can't be expelled fast enough and some of it becomes trapped. Over time this begins to feel normal and it becomes the default position for nerves/muscles around the nose. Pressure then builds gradually.
The practice: Find something you can rest your elbows on if your arms are sore (I use the microwave sometimes (usually I don't need it)). Now put one finger up the nostril, very gently allow it to widen and open. Never force it up but you may be surprised at just how much wider it can go with little effort. Your finger can move up a bit more now. Your nose may run a lot, or sneeze. When mine did I felt better afterwards, like a block had shifted.
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Charliedog
1546 Posts
Posted - Aug 04 2016 : 07:44:02 AM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Charliedog's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Joseph,
Interesting observation.
I learned the practice of alternate nostril breathing from my teacher using Vishnu mudra (index finger and middle finger to the palm, ring finger and pinkie next to each other stretched out), with ring finger between the brows and closing from underneath gentle one nostril with the thumb. This way the other nostril is also a little bit more open. The elbow is in the middle front of the body. (first it feels perhaps a bit clunky)
I use this as my 'normal' practice, never thought about it this way. I don't know if it influence the practice but there is a significant difference as you mentioned. Closing the nostril from underneath is also less sticky then closing it from the side, another benefit.
Edited by - Charliedog on Aug 04 2016 08:48:57 AM
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Aug 05 2016 : 12:06:41 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Something important that I missed out which might be a bit gross is that if the nose really does start to run and it is all clear fluid, I'll put it in my mouth and swallow. I started doing this when my mouth was really dry and throat sore and it was impulsive, but it had a good soothing effect and felt 'right'. I don't know for sure but I think nose fluid is very rich in prana and because it's all blocked up inside the nose the head feels heavy and it increases any overload that is happening at the time. If we purge it from the nose and put it back in our body, providing it's clear, I believe it is 'recycled' and ends up having a grounding effect.
n.b. The reason I think it's energy rich is because when I've had hay fever in the past and lost a lot of fluid from the nose I've felt drained for several hours after. (That could be to do with salt and water loss as well).
#####
Hey Charliedog
That sounds like a good practice. Alternate nostril breathing in the way you've described is, I'm sure, much more gentle and probably actually better for those of us without a serious nasal block.
I think the one I'm using is something I'll use less as time goes on and energy flow smooths out. There won't be as much need for it then. Yogani says this about other middle stage practices.
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Charliedog
1546 Posts
Posted - Aug 05 2016 : 1:21:44 PM Show Profile Email Poster Visit Charliedog's Homepage Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Hi Joseph,
Yes, practice change while progress happens, I am not using the alternate nostril breathing very often anymore, it's replaced by more subtle pranayama's.
About your sharing here the nose fluid, are you sure it isn't soma or amrit, coming from the brain ? You can read in lesson 304 from Yogani...
The substance coming down from the brain into the GI tract is referred to as amrita (nectar) in the yoga tradition. It can sometimes be experienced as a sweet aroma in the nasal passages and sweet taste in the mouth.
The overall experience of this combining and transformation of substances, and the recycling of the resulting essences leads to large flows of ecstatic pleasure throughout the body, and the radiation of energy beyond the body.
Enjoy the practice
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joseph
117 Posts
Posted - Aug 07 2016 : 4:50:20 PM Show Profile Email Poster Edit Reply Reply with Quote View user's IP address Get a Link to this Reply Delete Reply
Thanks for quoting that lesson - very relevant at the minute. The fluid was more salty than sweet. A few times extremely salty! I heard salt is good for grounding hence the theory that this practice could end up having a grounding effect.
Hope you are enjoying your practices too
