ADD treatment by Yoga

[sauravu]

Hi
  I am a new member of the AYP and have found it very useful. I am a brahmin by birth and grew up seeing a lot of traditional hindu systems in my house viz yoga , meditation etc. But I could never gain anything out of it . I have been doing various yoga practices on my own for now at last 7 years . But it seems that my Attention deficiency disorder is causing me to lose any gains that I make. I am now 32 years old employed as IT manager in world famous company and go around the world . But inside me seems the end is very near and keeps me in a state of torture all the time. I am a rational person and the irrational thoughts and feelings esp complete inability to work or concentrate on relevant tasks in wrenching my guts out. No matter how much how I try to do my day to day tasks the mind seems to refuse to function.

Any help will be held in great regard.

May god help us all.

Btw : I am practicing spinal breathing and is helping me out . But I dont know how long will I keep on doing it before my mind just trashes it despite knowing it is so useful.

[windarra]

Hi, I am new here but encourage you to keep trying.  My 10 year old son was professionally diagnosed with ADD.  He has gone through periods when he would meditate with me.  During these periods there was a huge difference in his ability to concentrate.  It was very obvious to everyone even him.  Iy have always given him the choice of whether or not to meditate with me.  Right now he isn't, but I suspect in time he will go back to it.  I know for me after I started meditation I was always drawn back to it.  We have also had some luck helping him with dietary manipulation.  Just a thought.

Good luck,

windarra

[david_obsidian]

quote:Originally posted by sauravu


Btw : I am practicing spinal breathing and is helping me out . But I dont know how long will I keep on doing it before my mind just trashes it despite knowing it is so useful.

Sauravu,

are you also trying conventional (medical) ways to treat your condition?

Depending on how severe it is,  you should also consider medication (if you are not using it already).  Medication and yoga practice can work well together.

Here's a good resource on ADD in general for anyone interested:

http://www.addresources.org/

-D

[lucidinterval1]

Sauravu,

Windarra makes a good point with diet. It has been shown that sugar, caffeine, and processed foods contribute to ADD symptoms. In todays society we are bombarded with bad dietary choices from fast food, processed foods, high fructose corn syrup, food dyes etc...You may have already considered this. Fortunately, we also have an abundance of healthy choices if we are careful and know how to look for them. With your exposure to the Hindu backround, perhaps you've already explored the ayurvedic perspective on nutrition based on your dosha.

Many people diagnosed with ADD seem to be "right brained" people which can have many positive attributes such as creative thinking, above average intelligence (which is reflected in your job position).

I am sure that AYP will help smooth out some of the bumps in your consciousness. If you can establish a habit of AYP, I believe that your mind will have a difficult time "trashing it". Give it time to take root into your psyche. Establishing the habit may be the difficult part. Once things take hold things will smooth out.

Best of luck to you and let us know how things go.

With Peace,
Paul

[sauravu]

I did take medication dexadrine used to treat ADHD . It did work for some time but it seems that I developed resistance to it within 6 months. Besides insomnia became a constant problem while taking the medication.

I would be interested in knowing the food combinations used for medication . As for doshas system of verifying and curing the disease sadly even in India people with authentic ability to cure are few and far .

But the silver lining to the cloud is that last 11 years of on and off yogic exercises have definitely improved my mental capabilities . And this changes is permanant . But on the flip side I am far from what I would like to .

If there are any special exercises let me know.

Saurav
 
Note: Why have I come to westerners looking for an answer you must be wondering. Bcoz you people are exploring the realms of eastern methods and revealing the truth from the tangled mass of eastern knowledge which sadly nobody in India cares to do it today.

[david_obsidian]

quote:Originally posted by sauravu
If there are any special exercises let me know.

Saurav,

I don't know of any special exercise,  or dietary practice per se,  but as you know amaroli can be a great all-round tonic.  So you might want to consider giving that a try.

-David

[sauravu]

As a contribution to the AYP if I go far enough to my college days the first dose of permanant success against ADD came from exercises called PET (Pranic enengisation technique) created by some NASA returned scientist at Bangalore. This works on the principile of yoga nidra and control of prana within the body . Seems more advanced technique of spinal breathing . Once you can generate enough energy it is used to rotate around the body and heal the body parts.

If someone desires I would hunt for it to give access to the simple and powerful systems inside it.

Regards
Saurav

[lucidinterval1]

Originally posted by sauravu


If there are any special exercises let me know.

Saurav
 
I would recommend that you start at the beginning of the AYP lessons and  incorporate spinal pranayama and "I am " mantra.
http://www.aypsite.com/plus/41.html - Spinal Breathing
http://www.aypsite.com/plus/13.html - I am Mantra

By the way, do you know what your dosha is? I'm guessing..........Vata??

[sauravu]

Spinal breathing is already I am practicing . Nadi shodhana pranyama is also very helpful but it takes up too much energy to do it fruitfuly.

I have not got myself diagnosed with the dosha  system of ayurvedic system . But it seems that I have the vata systme more prevalent in my body from limited knowledge I have of the subject.

[lucidinterval1]

Sauravu,

You mention that you are practicing spinal breathing. Are you taking the time to meditate immediately afterward? This is a very important part of AYP. In fact, these are the two most important practices. Meditation on the mantra after the spinal breathing helps to integrate the effects of spinal pranayama. Without the meditation aspect, your mind could become scattered, irritable etc..

It is the yin and yang aspect of AYP. We need both for balance.

Paul

[sauravu]

Lucid . I will definitely try the meditation after the spinal breathing. My present tactics is feel the spinal breath as a continuous activity in the whole day .I do meditation in the morning for a limited period around 10-20 mins chanting mantras .  

David- As for practicing amaroli it seems to be an advanced practice. I will have to find an expert for it. Besides living in Downtown chicago I do not have much chance to get chemical free food to produce suitable urine for amaroli. Seems to be a constraint as of now. Though it has struck to me that I can use cow urine esp produced in Indian ashrams for this practice. Plz advice.

There is this question haunts me . When I am ready to go into deeper states of meditation or feel concentrated a strange and strong mental/emotional pain occurs as if reliving a very traumatic experience .This pain is very earthy in nature which I have felt when I made a mistake which I could have avoided . But intensity could be very high . This causes breakage of my meditation . Kindly let me know what is it and any methods to overcome it.

[david_obsidian]

quote:Originally posted by sauravu


David- As for practicing amaroli it seems to be an advanced practice. I will have to find an expert for it. Besides living in Downtown chicago I do not have much chance to get chemical free food to produce suitable urine for amaroli. Seems to be a constraint as of now. Though it has struck to me that I can use cow urine esp produced in Indian ashrams for this practice. Plz advice.

Sauravu,

on the amaroli question,  you don't need to be on pure food to get the benefit from it.  Certainly,  pure food will improve almost anything.  But you can get benefit from amaroli without pure food.

In fact,  one of my own theories is that amaroli works partly by 'hormesis' which is basically stimulating the body's resistance by giving it a shot of certain toxins -- and what could be safer (and more appropriate) than giving some toxins that are already in your body?

As for its being advanced practice,  I think it is advanced only in the sense that it can become more powerful when the practioner becomes more advanced in yoga.  I think it really is a very safe,  general-purpose practice that needs no real supervision.  Just be aware that there can be a little adjustment period for some people while they start it (and almost none for others).  Adjustment (if needed) is easily handled by ramping up the dose.

I know of someone whose diabetes was cured simply through amaroli.  He did not do any yoga or augment the amaroli in any way.

-David

[david_obsidian]

quote:Originally posted by sauravu


There is this question haunts me . When I am ready to go into deeper states of meditation or feel concentrated a strange and strong mental/emotional pain occurs as if reliving a very traumatic experience .This pain is very earthy in nature which I have felt when I made a mistake which I could have avoided . But intensity could be very high . This causes breakage of my meditation . Kindly let me know what is it and any methods to overcome it.

Saurav,

sometimes,  with certain kinds of blocks, it can make sense to take other use other therapies in addition to your yoga practice.  There is an increasing body of alternative health-care providers who are attuned to the principles of Yoga and transformation.  They may help you get through these blocks,  and the therapy and the yoga will help each other.

From what I am hearing you may want to consider looking in to Self Regulation Therapy;  in a city as big as Chicago,  there should be plenty of practicioners.  It's a fairly new system,  and they have distilled the best from other systems.  It is specifically geared towards learning how to stop the nervous repetition of traumatic experiences.

(This link is a canadian website,  but it explains SRT well.)

http://www.cftre.com/srt.php

Also 'Network Chiropractic' from which you would also certainly find practicioners in Chicago:

http://www.10ac.com/

-D