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jellyfish
12 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 20 2008 : 12:38:24 PM
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Hi, This is my first post so I hop it is in the right place.
My problem is that I get this feeling of pressure in my face and neck when I am in the present moment. If I am idly thinking about something it does not occur and it goes away if I stop trying to be present. It is quite annoying because I want to practice mindfulness. It also seems to be connected to sore throats I am getting. It occured before I started practicing deep meditation (I started in january although I was practicing various other meditations for about a year) although it has got worse with this practice.
What is this pressure I feel when I try to be in the moment? Is it because I am trying to hard? Is it a cathartic release? Is it some kind of feedback loop of stress? Is it just where I store my tress to be released when I become present? It seems to be connected to my emotions in some way because it also occurs sometimes when i feel stress, anger or irritation.
Any ideas as to what this is would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Edited by - jellyfish on Apr 20 2008 12:40:28 PM |
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Christi
United Kingdom
4514 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2008 : 1:13:20 PM
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Hi Jellyfish and welcome to the forum.
It is a normal occurence that happens during meditation. It is nothing to worry about. There are many energetic effects that happen in the body and this is one of them. It will change over time. I get it a lot and have been doing so for several years now. It is not unpleasant when you get used to it. It has more to do with relaxing into the present moment than with stress, and it is a good sign.
Christi |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2008 : 3:36:26 PM
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Hi jellyfish
Welcome to the forum
Fully agree with what Christi said.
It sounds to me like you are being in the present moment or being mindful in an effective way. The pressure in the throat and face is probably always there it's just that it is revealed when you relax into the moment, you are being mindful of it in the moment.
Just wondering, since you also experience this when stressed or angry, do you find yourself gagging with anger, unable to express yourself?
It is useful to know that when this occurs in the moment and you stay with it, without any stories attached, just stay with the feeling of it, that it is being transformed. It might help to befriend it and love it in the knowledge that this beneficial transformation is going on.
The deep meditation and the consequent deepening of inner silence also help the transformation greatly.
Keep us posted
Louis
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jellyfish
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2008 : 8:18:46 PM
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Thanks a lot for the answers. Its much appreciated.
I do feel like there is this heaviness there all the time and I only really notice it when I am in the moment. It feels like a build up of years of emotion. When I go into it it feels like disgust. I think the pressure may be because I am naturally inclined to resist or deny these disgust-like emotions.I have been experimenting with expressing and sort of letting through this build up of emotion through facial gestures and I find I get a bit of a release but one time it took me hours before I finally felt free. I'm thinking it could be best to just live with it and let the mantra do the work from the inside instead of trying to plow through years of build-up from the outside.
Sparkle, I don't really find myself gagging or getting particularly amgry. I do the work of Byron Katie (which is really working well now I get a bit of inner silence) and I find on the third question where you assess your reaction to your thoughts the same pressure can sometimes build with feelings of anger. As I say, I have had this for a while to some extent but it has increased after practicing deep meditation. A plus side to the prressure is that I can't ignore irritations as much and I have to Work on them.
To be honest I am sick of feeling terrible all the time and I want to function better in general. I am getting some breaks in the clouds. I have a feeling that things are goin g to go exponential soon. The practices I am doing all seem to be deepening. |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2008 : 11:40:47 PM
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A fairly "light" move to try that might help. Do you know how if you direct a yawn to your ears, it clears a pressure imbalance (e.g. on an airplane)? Try doing that a couple times, and I think you'll agree that's what you've taught yourself to do: direct a yawn to the ears. Then learn to apply the same move to the area at the base of the throat. Direct an opening, dilating, yawn to the notch at the base of the collarbone. NOT to the voicebox (there should be no action there!). Do it at odd times during the day. And see if things don't improve a little.
As far as your "feeling that things are going to go exponential soon", that's a sentiment we can all relate to. And it's a fundamental error in practice. I'd suggest you let go of your feeling that "something's about to happen" and practice with exactly the attitude you have when you brush your teeth.
You don't brush your teeth thinking that maybe this time you're going to have SENSATIONAL teeth. You don't peer eagerly into the mirror to see the results of any given brushing. It's just a daily ablution you do, knowing it's valuable in the long run (and, most of all, that NOT doing it will create quite a nasty outcome of aggregated decay) but without expectation or excitement or drama or imagining that a given session could make much diff in the scheme of things. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Apr 20 2008 11:43:42 PM |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2008 : 03:27:52 AM
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Hi jellyfish (like the name btw)
quote:
To be honest I am sick of feeling terrible all the time and I want to function better in general. I am getting some breaks in the clouds. I have a feeling that things are goin g to go exponential soon. The practices I am doing all seem to be deepening.
Just wondering about those breaks in the clouds. What is goin on there?, are you feeling some peace, the beginning of the witness perhaps? |
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jellyfish
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2008 : 11:11:05 AM
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Hi all, Thanks for the feedback.
Jim and his Karma - I tried the yawn thing and it seemed to work well. I actually started to laugh for some reason which seems positive. I feel a sort of release that goes up my face when I do that. Thanks for that one. What is it btw?
I understans what you mean by alsways expecting to get IT. I'm not particularly talking about enlightenment or anything like that, more a move up to a different level of functioing where I am more happy and productive. I have been getting the feeling recently that a shift like that could occur soon with all my practices having such a good effect. It could be more of a gradual shift though so it is a good idea to keep an open mind about how my progress will occur.
Sparkle - The breaks in the clouds refer to improvements in my mood mostly. I am not depressed (although I was years ago before I got a hold on hopeless thinking) but I am pretty grumpy a lot of the time. I am only 25 but I feel I have been worn down from very stressful thinking patterns over the years, some of which I am still breaking out of. I am feeling happy more of the time and my energy levels are improving. I am getting some peace and a little bit of stillness in daily activity.
Btw, I don't know if this is relevant but if anyone was wondering I only do one session a day where I do a couple of minutes of spinal breathing and then 5 minutes of the mantra followed by 5 minutes rest with eyes closed. I started off with 20 minutes twice a day but it felt forced and I was irritable afterwards, I got really irritated by sounds etc.
Also, I think the problem I am having is partly that I try to deny or dissown certain negative emotional states and they build up. When I go into the moment I automatically try to be peaceful and deny how I am actually feeling. I only just noticed this because it was so habitual and automatic. I am pretty sure this is what causes the build up although sometimes I feel really bad even though I am allowing myself to feel whatever I am feeling. I became more aware of my emotions during deep meditation today, I allowed myself to be in the state I was in without automatically trying to force myself into a peaceful state and it was one of the deepest meditations I have ever had. I got a lot of stillness and it felt really cathartic. I didnt always feel pleasant during the meditation but afterwards I felt almost blissful for a few moments while I was resting, and I have only experienced bliss a handful of times in meditation.
Thanks for all the advice guys. Its much appreciated. |
Edited by - jellyfish on Apr 21 2008 11:18:30 AM |
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jellyfish
12 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2008 : 8:19:59 PM
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As an update for tis topic, I have solved my problem on this one...
The pressure was/is in fact a build up of resistance and also resistance to resistance itself. I easily get caught up in these feedback loops of stress. it usually dissapears when I distract myself by watching TV or something which shows how it is my resistance to resistance that is doing it. when my mind is elsewhere the pressure recedes. It is ude to being more in the moment and as a result of that becoming more aware of my feelings and sensations in my body. because i am more aware of these feelings which i label as negative i experience more resistance to them which then creates the loop of resistance.
I am dealing with it effectively using an audio I found of the Sedona method called The Releasing Accelerator. I cheekily borrowed it using a .torrent but I''m going to buy some producs from that company anyway because their stuff has taught me so much in so little time. It is a blessing to finally be able to consciously release my attachmnet to emotions. they were a real problem for me, sometimes in the past i would snowball really easily. |
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Pressure in face/throat when in the present moment
