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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 23 2008 : 8:25:42 PM
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Hey guys! Happy Easter :-)
I wanted to explain an occurance that has accompanied my practice for about a year now since I began. I have experimented and observed this event over and over and I think I should do something about it.
Anyway, speaking generally, when I perform sadhana around the time I get into spinal breathing and at varying times during meditation I experience this strong sensation that begins at my left trapezius and reaches sometimes up into my left side of my neck and also into my left pectoral. Sometimes it feels warm like putting Bengay on the skin, other times it is painful and creates a feeling of strong tension and pressure.
Now, for my observations. This sensation occurs:
* Most often when I have performed a whole sadhana (asana, pranayama, meditation)
* Starts during pranayama (never asana) and carries into meditation
*Becomes more intense the deeper I go into the mantra
*Occurs independently of whether I am using back support
*Occurs independently of whether I use right or left foot for siddhasana
*Occurs ONLY during sadhana, I have never felt this sensation outside of yoga practice
*Sometimes will last after practice, but goes away quickly when I resume daily activities
*Is only EVER on the left
Now, I considered that this is some sort of muscular tension arising from asana or my meditation posture. I do a very relaxing and light asana routine and never feel discomfort during. Also, I use pillow and backsupport for meditation and relax as well.
Left side theory:
I think I may have some sort of imbalance in my left side. During times of very intense energy I have "seen" my body split in half, one side colored red and the other blue. This may have been important or not. However, I have always noticed from day 1 that the mantra always seems to be coming from the left, though i make no effort to "locate" the mantra anywhere. Also, during spinal breathing is seems like the flow of energy, visualized or lightly experience, is sometimes off-center to the left. In fact, maybe due to this attention, sometimes I feel so leftish during sadhana it makes me feel like *I* exist on my left side and not the right.
This sensation dissapeared for a couple months when I started slacking on asana and had a bit of amotivation problem. Recently my bhakti has been higher and I have been doing asana. I love the effect of deeper meditation and spinal breathing, however, with the reintroduction of asana the sensation has returned. During tonight's sadhana during spinal breathing it kicked in and it was pretty painful. I didn;t know what to do so I tried to ignore it and focus on the mantra. It came and went in intensity based on how focused I was on the mantra (more when deeper) but at one point it seemed to stretch farther than normal into my chest and neck and it felt like it was going to go away but it just became slightly less painful and more warming.
Anyway, this is something I have brought up a while ago and I was generally told to ignore it. But the fact that it is getting really painful is making me think maybe I should do something. Is there some sort of practice I can do to focus on a potential "blockage"?
I am not very familiar with the yogic/energy applicatins of chiropracty, massage, acupuncture, reiki, ect. Could any of those maybe help, or at least diagnose my energy distribution?
Anyway help would be very appreciated :-)
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 03:58:33 AM
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Hi Anthony,
I also experience something similar on my left side but not as intense and not always.Mine is related to an injury from Karate of many years ago.I experience pain just to the left of my spine and slightly lower than shoulder blade.I'm pretty sure it has caused a blockage as when someone attempted to put energy into this point and sometimes when I do spinal breathing or meditation, I experience pain in my neck.Normally the pain in my neck is to the right side.This has dissipated a little although receiving shaktipat twice has not rid me of this so it's something I expect to take a while and only something sadhana is going to cure.My own thoughts and experiences tell me that Reiki or any other energy healing will only give you more pain but you might consider massage or chiropractice or shiatsu.
L&L
Dave |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 04:21:43 AM
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I see all tensions and aches in the body as blocked emotions, thus "wounds", "blind spots", obstructions or whatever we want to call it. It's something that the psyche needs help to carry, and that is not seen through yet. While we resist the emotion the body is kind enough to carry it for us. So it's very logical that the problem increases during periods of more meditation... it stirs things to the surface so that we can meet it and/or dissolve it!
I also have much tension in the area around shoulders and neck. That's where we often put the burden of RESPONSIBILITY! When we are very "good" and take on great responsibilities - that is, are IN CONTROL of things or think we should be - then the shoulders and neck will try to help us!  And that may include feeling responsible in the spiritual area, doing our practices correct and take responsibility for our journey... Can be very stressful!
When I get massage or just lean a soar spot in my back against a corner of a table or something stable, it can release immediately and I cry out whatever is there. The relief is great, but as long as I haven't understood where I'm making a thought mistake, the pain will come back. If I do The Work on my responsibility issues, I often get more profound relief! The issues tend to shift, though... The control-responsibility theme may alter it's face many times and is one of the core issues of the mind, used as an exquisite tool to make us believe WE are in charge and are the doers!
As Jim usually says...: relax, let go, and I'd like to add: HAVE FAITH! |
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Ananda
3115 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 07:16:38 AM
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hello everyone and happy easter, i have a friend that has similar side effects happening with him during meditation and he is going to an acupuncturer to get treatment and he says it's working.
hope u'll get better.
namaste |
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gumpi
United Kingdom
546 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 10:49:11 AM
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I don't know if this is related or not but recently i got a pain in my neck on the left side and it felt glandular. It created a type of heat-headache on the left portion of my brain. I have no idea if this is related to meditation because i also smoke pot and drink alcohol. But it was certainly a recent thing.
As of today my breathless states have been lasting longer and longer. I'm quite excited by this. It shows that yoga works. |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 5:10:11 PM
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I want to emphasize, however, that the pain is not like normal tension - it is a cool/hot Bengay like feeling that is not always painful. It can become painful sometimes.
Emc, your idea on emotions is interesting. The odd thing is though that when this happens I am usually having a pretty laid-back and relaxing meditation. They don't occur when I am thinking on emotions - if i were I would not be on the mantra. |
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Divineis
Canada
420 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 6:31:37 PM
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I used to get burning sensations in my third eye every now and then. Happened once in the root too. I imagine your experience is kinda different. For me, it was never so intense to cause me to worry too much. Nowadays it's more of a pulsing than a burning. I just let it be and continue on with my practice.
I've also had this one experience where I had this pain to the left and a bit below my heart. I was doing breath meditation at the time, though sometimes I feel your body is calling your attention somewhere, and so I did just that. With my focus on that spot of pain, trying to feel it fully, it becoming my new "object of meditation" after a few seconds, the pain dissapeared, but was replaced with the feeling of a snake squeezing through that spot, and going back out to the same spot (symetrically) out the other side.
I've sometimes wondered myself if I have a left\right imbalance, it got me thinking this was most likely my body balancing itself out on both sides. I tend to not think about this sort of thing too much though. As long as I don't have symptoms of overdoing, it's all good :) haha.
Maybe try that out... I know it kind of goes against the AYP philosophy of keeping your attention on the mantra, but in my opinion anything can become an object of meditation. As long as one consciously choses to favor one object or another, to me, it's all good. |
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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 10:56:21 PM
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| I had the sensation again tonight. It didn't appear until I detached myself from the mantra and expectations. It hurt for a while and then seemed to reach up my neck and then dissapeared, especially when I detached myself from physical and mental phenomena (scenery). That is kind of interesting. |
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brushjw
USA
191 Posts |
Posted - Mar 24 2008 : 11:03:47 PM
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anthony574,
This online article which may help you:
"Focus your minds-eye on any pain, constriction or ill feeling in the body and ask "what is this?" After a while a word will arise reflecting the dominant emotion connected with that stuck spot. Then find the opposite word and send the minds-eye on a hunt to search for the place and mechanism that switches the stuck negative emotion into its opposite. In this way we shift our vibration over to the positive. By emotionally clearing in this way we do not have to remain victim to entrenched, stressful states that play havoc with our organs and health."
I hope this helps.
aum namaste,
Joe |
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emc
2072 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2008 : 08:25:20 AM
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| Hi Anthony, "they don't occur when I am thinking on emotions". That is what I was trying to explain. The body carries what the psyche can't hold. It's not a conscious thing that happens, and it happens whether we think about or feel emotions or not. The block is exactly that: Frozen emotions in your body; you are BLIND to it, and therefore the body aches instead as a signt to let you know there IS something hiding in there. |
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Really strange and sometimes painful sensation
