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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 4:43:42 PM
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I have a new, unexpected problem. My creative work is directly connected to my meditation practice. I think that's the case with a lot of people on the forum. For me it's to the point where it's hard to draw a line between the 2. The problem that's coming up for me is that I'm starting to experience energy overload when I do my creative work.  It's not raging out of control or anything, but it's pretty clear to me that if I don't back off immediately, I'll probably have to deal with the classic overload problems, including backing off from both meditation and creative work. I'm not sure what to do about this, as stopping my creative work isn't an option. Backing off isn't good, either. Has anyone experienced this, and what do you do? |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 6:01:26 PM
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Hi Meg,
Well, I have not experienced what you have. I am sure there are others here who have and will help. But an energy overload is an energy overload.. and when you have one.. even visiting the forum can add to your overload.
What do you do when you are not in your work mode? Do you do things that are grounding when you are not working, or are you still in the work (thinking of your art)/spiritual (reading/practicing spiritual stuff, self inquiry) mode? What generally helps me is actually doing stuff that is mindless, very mundane and physically tiring. The more you focus on energy(use your mind), the more the energy increases. In your case, your work and practice are related.. when you take a break from work, do something that will completely take your mind off work/spirituality/self inquiry. Even if you are just taking a walk.. observe what your mind is doing.. and if it shifts into the "spiritual/work" mode.. divert it.. I mean you don't have to do this all the time, but when there is an overload try it and see if that helps. |
Edited by - Shanti on Apr 05 2007 6:08:41 PM |
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AccidentalYogi
21 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 6:21:24 PM
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I'm going with Shanti here. Energy... is energy. If you focus it in various areas you will find a means to express it. Sex, exercise, music, whatever are all good means of channeling excess energy.
I think one important thing that everyone who is experiencing excess energy should do is simply... broaden your scope of activities to things that require energy.
I find that sitting by a pool of water is incredibly inspirational as well as calming without having the energy consequences of meditation.
Namaste |
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AccidentalYogi
21 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 10:02:55 PM
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This is me thinking out loud, but I had an experience the other night that might apply. I was at a jazz club listening to the band play when this very drunk girl was randomly and instantly attracted to my friend and I. She just sat down and started jabbering.
I have never in my life gotten "vibes" so negative from anyone. All of a sudden my whole energy flow changed. It was like it was all twisted up or blocked. I was stunned and a little bit scared. I ceased being able to talk or to interact at all. I've been ecstaticly happy recently and to all of a sudden feel so utterly wretched so was extremely unsettling.
In any case, eventually the girl left and I noticed that I instantly began to feel better. When I was centered again I realized that my whole energy field had responded to this girl. It was my body, chi, spirit telling me very loudly that this person was someone I needed to avoid at all costs.
The point of this story and how it may apply to you is I believe that your body and energy will tell you if something is "good" or not.
I would imagine that if motivational speakers or Yoga teachers found themselves utterly overwhelmed whenever they began to do a certain activity then it would behoove them to rethink their behaviors for a while, maybe even their career choices.
The way one percieves themselves before kundalini enters the equation is immensely different from the way one does afterwards.
As I recall, most of the energy problems I had were a result of repeatedly doing things which caused the energy issue. Every time I smoked pot I would end up with a kundalini arousal so strong that it was as if the universe itself had just collapsed upon me. It took me a long time to figure out that to avoid that awful experience I needed to quit freaking smoking pot.
So perhaps the best advice I can give you is, whatever you are doing that consistantly causes an unpleasant energy situation, stop doing it.
You didn't give any specifics as to what your creative situation is so I'm not sure as to how applicable this advice might be, but as is the case from the Jazz club my whole body was sending me a clear message which took me a minute to comprehend.
Perhaps this energy experience may be your chi telling you that your actions are not particularly in line with your path.
It's that whole Tao thing. :) Path of least resistance.
All the best,
Namaste
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 10:26:20 PM
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| Wow - great post. The thing is, my creative urge is my path. But there may be something within it that's out of whack. Too much of it, I think, without enough other stimulation to temper it. If anyone reading along is engaged in a spiritual occupation - yoga instructor or the like - I'd be interested in how you keep working when you have an energy overload. |
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ranger
USA
45 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2007 : 12:02:37 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by meg
Wow - great post. The thing is, my creative urge is my path. But there may be something within it that's out of whack.
Or not. It's interesting that when some unforseen circumstance comes up like this, the first response of you, me and everyone else seems to be to find the right levers to pull to allow us to go back to whatever we were doing that caused the "problem" in the first place. What James Hillman calls "the heroic attitude."
It is not that some of the suggestions aren't valuable, and if your circumstances and inclinations permit, jogging, or swimming or tennis will certainly help with an abundance of energy.
I have had exactly the same experience as you. A year and a half ago I had almost three months to do pretty much what I pleased, and I dove into a major creative project, as well intensified meditation practice. Once all the daily routines started up again, it was too much, and I experienced what you described. Additionally, I had come upon some painful stuff that I had "buried" twenty years before. To this day, I don't need to go out of my way to invite purification, it's got a life of it's own!
To shorten a long story, I've come to a point (and I think of allergies as an analogy) where I'm better off not doing any spinal breathing whatsoever (and I experimented with all kinds of levers over many months). This may or may not change in the future, and at this moment, I really don't care.
I cannot comfortably do without meditation - skipping it in the morning is like leaving the house without brushing my teeth - nothing feels right. What works for me now is 15 or 20 minutes of Vipassana, morning and evening. Devotional (not vibrationally intense) mantra practice while active during the day. I have very much come to value walking meditation as well. Occasionally I sit with both a Buddhist and a Christain group who practice zazen.
I am with you, in your initial post, "stopping my creative work isn't an option." Experientially, that's where the "juice" is for me: joy and tears, an opening of the heart, as well as nearness of that "Presence" I've always been seeking.
This leads me to question a lot of spiritual assumptions, especially the "hierarchical" view of which activities are more spiritual than others. Meditation at the apex, creativity a little lower, jogging closer to the base of the pyramid. Hmmmm...
So anyway, what's clear is, I don't know nada about nada, but the above are some of my working assumptions. |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 10:16:19 AM
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I can't give add any useful advice to what Shanti said -- mundane things that are physically tiring are often the best for 'energy overload' -- as well as 'heavy' food.
It will be great if someone discovers something very effective for slowing down the opening process. But there seems to be no magic bullet. There are a lot of things in the yoga kit-bag which speed up the opening process, but we are short of really effective stuff for slowing it down.
Hatha yoga may help to get the energy flowing smoothly but on the other hand it may may make things worse by over-stimulating the energy flow, so it's not always to be recommended.
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Apr 09 2007 10:24:07 AM |
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yogani
USA
5242 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 11:36:02 AM
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Hi Meg:
The good news is that the overload is purification -- creative energy producing friction through our not yet fully purified nervous system. As this process advances, our manifested creativity will become much greater. The trick is to maintain stability during the growth process. So we self-pace and ground.
Isn't it the challenge of all artists -- to be the best channel possible for the infinite creative potential within? It is rarely a smooth ride, as the chaotic lives of so many artists illustrates. Expanding creativity isn't always a comfortable bedfellow. It takes some adjustment, and that takes time.
The means we are utilizing both stimulate our creative opening while buying us the time necessary to adjust. That is what we are aiming for. And, yes, our work is also our practice. The merging is inevitable.
Here's to art -- stillness in action! 
The guru is in you.
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 11:56:39 AM
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Thanks for your responses. It's all an experiment, trying to find the right balance. In case anyone has similar experiences with energy overload in their creative pursuits, I'll share the results of my experiment over the past 3-4 days:
I didn't want to back off the creative work, so I vigorously offset it by some heavy exercise and light (read: non-spiritual) socializing (thanks for that suggestion, Shanti). I literally had to force myself do these mundane things that I didn't want to do, but with good results, as my energy has calmed down considerably. I would suggest that if you want to dive into a major creative project like Ranger describes above, you have to allot a fair amount of down time to ground the energy and let it settle in. It's tempting to just plow on and skip the down time, but then you may find that in a day or 2 you have to completely stop to recover. |
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jillatay
USA
206 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 2:26:21 PM
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I want to thank this forum for pointing out the obvious (Once Again  ) For a few days at the first of the month I was sailing along so nicely, feeling the pleasant releases and "comfort" of progress and then boom, the last few days kicked out of heaven again.
And reading this thread, I see as if a light just went on, that I have just uncovered another layer of purification.  This is normal and predictable and just plain OK.
I had been instead ruminating that I was unworthy, or that I had been deluded that anything was really happening. Now I will instead be grateful that I have made progress toward this clearing away of the new layer, perhaps self pace and know there will be another swing back toward ecstacy not too long from now.
How easy to forget these simple truths.
Thank you all my fellow travelers on this path,
Jill |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 11:22:47 AM
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Meg, the first thing I'd try is as soon as you next notice yourself becoming immersed in creativity, you do a quick body scan. Are you even hinting toward moolabanda? is there any sambavi happening? What's your breating like? Try to knock off anything likely increasing energetic flow.
The second thing I'd try would be a pretty heavy ratcheting back of practices. Overdoing symptoms are overdoing symptoms, regardless of how it's happening. If it gets severe, there's no high commissioner of spirituality you can approach to complain "I was only doing art!"
Followup question: what's your kundalini situation? I think you said that it's flared up. How long ago? Were there symptoms? How frequently does it recur? What are symptoms when it does?
Finally, the energy we experience as we open up is not "energy out there" coming "in to me in here". It's not like filling a cup with water or pumping gas into your car. The energy is What Is. It's always been absolutely omnipresent. You move in it. You ARE it. But you've spent your life trying to recoil from it into the notion that you're a separate entity from What Is, and as you unpeel yourself from that withdrawal, the friction against the rawness is what makes it feel overloady (like too much direct, violent rubbing on a sexual organ). It's just the experience of Everything. Understanding this (even if only in dribs and drabs) helps a little. Experiencing so-called "energy" as an onslaught from out there reinforces the tendency to withdraw, and that creates more friction. Short version: relax into it more, accept it more, be it more. And, as with sex organs, bhakti is the key to turning it pleasant.
Art is a means of unpeeling the withdrawal, just as yoga is. And, apparently, it's working. That's a good sign, but it means you're doubling up. So pace accordingly. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Apr 10 2007 11:30:36 AM |
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jillatay
USA
206 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 1:08:18 PM
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Dear Jim/Karma
This really helped me, thanks.
quote:
Originally posted by Jim and His Karma
experience of Everything.
Never having been a non-dualist sort this quote woke me up a bit. Even to say "experience of Everything" separates it into two things.
Thanks again,
Jill |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 1:36:27 PM
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| everything we say separates it into two things. best not to pick at it with your mind. just let it all melt. go with the flow. don't fight the feeling....and all those other sort of motown-ish catchphrases. Swami Marvin Gaye would never steer you wrong. |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2007 : 2:14:45 PM
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| Thanks for your great post, Jim. Very insightful and helpful to me. |
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meenarashid
76 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2007 : 3:36:58 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by meg
Wow - great post. The thing is, my creative urge is my path. But there may be something within it that's out of whack. Too much of it, I think, without enough other stimulation to temper it. If anyone reading along is engaged in a spiritual occupation - yoga instructor or the like - I'd be interested in how you keep working when you have an energy overload.
Heck yes i go throuh this
hubby had cancer while i was teaching about 15 or more classes a week
the only thing that helped was breathing & teaching the class, would almost always leave calm refreshed & blissy quiet
but i had a HUGE resistance to teaching the yoga classes at that time
Then started thai yoga massage again same thing but just coming back to the breath
gone throuh anxiety attacks while practicing and the only way through was the breath
thats all
aum
a brilliant gf one time suggested writing *breathe* on a pill bottle for just such situations
smiling
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Edited by - meenarashid on Apr 20 2007 3:39:14 PM |
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energy overload
