|
|
 |
|
| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 10 2024 : 11:45:28 AM
|
Hi all,
Over the last few years I have become aware of an increasing number of people who are using the AYP system, but who are basically not self-pacing their practices. These people usually experience a string of overload symptoms and do not progress far on the path.
There seem to be a number of reasons that people do not self-pace effectively:
1. Cutting back on practices once, thinking that is all that is needed, and not making further adjustments downwards beyond that if necessary.
2. Cutting back on practices for a day or two and then stepping back up to previous levels of practice, without first becoming stable at the new level of practice.
3. Not cutting back at all on practices, thinking that is it best to just "push through".
Usually when these situations arise, it is accompanied by a high level of "bhakti" (spiritual desire) in the practitioner. Unfortunately, people who do these things usually end up making slower progress overall, even though they have a desire for fast progress on the path.
Good self-pacing means cutting back on practices when necessary and then continuing to cut back until stable. It also means remaining at the new stable level for a reasonable amount of time (weeks rather than days) before stepping back up. Stepping back up should be done gradually, not simply in one step and may not be necessary at all, as the new level of practice may be ideal for the time-being.
|
|
|
Jeanjean82
France
31 Posts |
Posted - Mar 12 2024 : 3:25:04 PM
|
Hello Christi,
I recognize myself in these description. Some difficulty for me is to recognize overload symptom linked with too much practice. It seems to me that overload symptom may take various forms (fatigue, tension in the body, dark mood). Maybe some experience is needed here! |
 |
|
|
iamthat
India
14 Posts |
Posted - Mar 15 2024 : 04:31:47 AM
|
Thanks for reminding yet again
the critical importance of self pacing in our journeys  |
|
|
|
Deer
Indonesia
32 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2024 : 09:35:56 AM
|
Thank you for this gentle and critical reminder. I appreciate the self-pacing aspect of AYP so much.  |
|
|
|
Gabereal
USA
17 Posts |
Posted - Apr 11 2024 : 7:51:10 PM
|
| Well it is yoga lol. Upwards at any cost has been the mindset of many yogis for a millennium. I think diet and caffeine intake play a larger role than many suspect . Blaming kundalini for problems that the vast majority of the population suffer from is really sad. For some reason people think kundalini overload equates to some form of advancement . For the past decade I've seen people jump on a kundalini overload bandwagon and they wear it like a badge of honor. We can look back at say lahiri students and many of them reporting practicing to over 5 hours a day and I'm not aware of them complaining about "overloads". And to be fair I've blamed my fair share of problems on kundalini in the past. In all honesty unless someone experiences a surge of kundalini (which greatly changes perception - there's no mistaking this. You know something "abnormal" is happening. One may even think to go to the emergency because vitals are out the roof) you're likely blaming ordinary problems that most people (lay persons) experience and can be fixed by eating healthier. Get a food allergy test done. And then maybe ask yourself if you're exaggerating your symptoms in an attempt to feel like you're advanced and just jumping on this bandwagon of people pretending they are advanced yogis pointing to their "overloads" as the proof. |
|
|
|
Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2024 : 03:12:30 AM
|
| You make a good point Gabereal, that it takes discernment in what is overload, or something not related to your practices. It is good practice (as inner silence arises) to inquire and be curious about thoughts and happenings, and to rule out any possible medical or mental health issues. AYP is prudent to implore aspirants to reduce duration/practices when in discomfort or distress, knowing we all are different, and these practices may be stimulating. There is little overload here, in over ten years of AYP, and yoga finds a way into most minutes of daily living, asanas find their way into idle moments. This amount of yoga could be quite unstable in other bodies. |
|
|
|
th1996
Germany
37 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2024 : 11:52:35 AM
|
@Gabereal: I am not sure about this. Whenever I practise too much I have more "problems" in life than usual. Of course these problems are not much different like other people have. It's logical. But u know too much prana in my system leads to more tiredness, depressed feelings and a general uncomfortability.
So, I think we can't blame too much kundalini for our general problems, but we can blame it for having it increasingly. |
Edited by - th1996 on Apr 15 2024 1:05:20 PM |
|
|
|
Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2024 : 1:16:08 PM
|
Hi Gabriel and all,
Energetic overload is a particular condition where people have an excess of prana in their body and are experiencing uncomfortable, or painful symptoms as a result of that. It is the case that people can have problems in their life for other reasons, but that is not what I am referring to here.
Energetic overload does not necessarily occur due to long periods of spiritual practices. Some people are able to engage in long practice sessions each day and not experience energetic overload. They could simply be under-sensitive spiritually. Or, they could have already undergone a good amount of spiritual purification and so be able to handle the flows of large amounts of energy with little difficulty. Energetic overload is a situation where too much prana is flowing for the system to handle. Because the cause is an excess of prana in the body, any symptoms usually respond quite quickly to effective self-pacing and grounding practices. So there is a cause and effect, and a simple remedy. The old days of "upwards at any cost" are now outdated, as we have better management processes available, ones that are actually faster in the long-run. |
|
|
|
Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Apr 18 2024 : 8:34:51 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by th1996
@Gabereal: I am not sure about this. Whenever I practise too much I have more "problems" in life than usual. Of course these problems are not much different like other people have. It's logical. But u know too much prana in my system leads to more tiredness, depressed feelings and a general uncomfortability.
So, I think we can't blame too much kundalini for our general problems, but we can blame it for having it increasingly.
Consider the possibility that you are just noticing the problems more. Practice changes us, and we project those changes on our life and our world. You may have been far more numb and oblivious than you currently remember. |
|
|
|
Dogboy
USA
2294 Posts |
Posted - Apr 19 2024 : 01:41:41 AM
|
| Hello Jim! |
|
|
|
qspadone
31 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2024 : 02:11:37 AM
|
Hi,
I relate quite a lot to what?s been pointed out in Christi?s post.
In my case, on top of the moodiness, I experience a lot of muscle tension.
I seem to be quite lunatic from an external point of view.
I don?t know why but I keep believing that the muscle tension is a symptom of purification and that I should just embrace it.
The areas which get tensed are: the muscles behind the skull, the abdominal muscles. I sometimes carry these tensions with me for days until I realize something is probably not right. Then I do my best to get rid of the tensions. But I inevitably start practicing again within days, and sometimes quite aggressively. I believe that the reason I?m moody and all that is because I haven?t done enough spiritual practice. Then when everything starts collapsing again, I get fearful that I might be overloading again. Anyway, I seem stuck in a cycle where one day I believe it is the lack of spiritual practiced that is the cause for my unhappiness, and the next day I?ll have a sudden realization that I should really be careful with overdoing practices. I tend to push really far as well in terms of what I do, not following any structure.
So, the challenge right now is to come to a lasting realization that I should probably entirely quite any spiritual practice for a few weeks at least.
I have a lifestyle which definitely lacks grounding activities. I think I have found a good way to ground which is to bring my attention to the points of contact of my body with the material world (my feet touching the ground for example), and also listen to whatever noise there is around me, and other mindfulness stuff like that. I have to constantly remind myself to not follow the muscle tensions, as well, and make a conscious effort to deliberately relax any muscle tension through the day as I notice them. Anyone has had any similar experience? I know Yogani says that muscle tension reduces the flow of consciousness in ourselves, yet I keep falling for the illusion that muscle tension is good and is a purification symptom which must happen. I don?t really know when ideas come from inner silence or not, at this point, and it?s becoming quite dangerous. It?s been really challenging to engage in daily activity healthily. Sometimes I?ll meditate again after a few days of having cut out practices entirely, and experience a nice day or two, but then after a few days, everything starts collapsing again. Anyway, that really sucks because I have a really strong bakhti to awaken
It seems that I am someone who simply would benefit from living a more grounding lifestyle. I don?t know. I?ve experience some really scary dissociation symptoms (most likely because of meditation) and that sucks.
I?m sometimes wondering: how can we rule out the possibility that all these so-called overload symptoms actually come from meditating wrongly? I?ve always been moody, and irritable, like, that?s not new.
This is all very confusing, tbh. |
Edited by - qspadone on Jul 22 2024 03:51:12 AM |
|
|
|
Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2024 : 11:56:46 PM
|
Hi Qspadone,
One easy way to tell if something is a symptom of energetic overload or not is that overload symptoms usually get worse if we engage in spiritual practices and improve if we stop the practices and go for a walk instead. If you begin to watch for that, over time it becomes increasingly obvious.
Regarding the idea that we need to experience symptoms of purification and so should simply push through them, whatever they are, no one needs to experience things that are uncomfortable or painful and simply push through that. It is not necessary for the process of spiritual liberation. Everyone can self pace downwards if uncomfortable symptoms arise and still attain liberation. In fact it will be a faster and easier journey overall. The push through it method is usually more uncomfortable or even painful and takes longer because people need to take time off practices to recover. |
|
|
|
qspadone
31 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2024 : 10:56:40 AM
|
| Very helpful, thank you |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
| AYP Public Forum |
© Contributing Authors (opinions and advice belong to the respective authors) |
|
|
|
|
People not self-pacing their practices effectively
