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anthony574
USA
549 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 11 2008 : 4:31:02 PM
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I'm going to put my thoughts and experiences down as best I can. To do this properly I would have to do essay-form with outlines and such but this will probably be more like a rant. For anyone who is interested enough to read it, thanks. I am not so much asking a question or requesting help, specifically. I am more so putting my thoughts out there about the topic and hoping for some input of any kind.
I'm not 100% comfortable talking about this, but I'll do my best.
The topic is the relationship between the root chakra and the anus, coprophobia, Freudian theory, and whatever else. This has come up throughout my year and a half of yogic practice and I think it is a very interesting, but seldom acknowledged, area of psychology, sociology, and spirituality. We are a pretty scatophobic society so this isn't something I really get to talk about often.
On a personal note I will just lay it out there - my sexual deviances and childhood experiences. I do not consider myself firstly to be clinically phobic of anything. When I use the word coprophobic or scatophobic I use them to describe the general and widespread "disownment" of the anus and its function. People are for the most part generally put off by flatulence, defecation, and the like. This is taught at a very early age when potty training begins. Freud (I am not a Freud expert) I know talks about this as being very significant in childhood and I actually remember this phase in my life. I remember being potty-trained and a sense of shame and embarrassment that came with it. I also remember the common anal-fixation phase that most children go through, especially boys. During this time I even remember a sexual arousal that was linked with this area of the body. This was prior to the Genital phase and I even recall having seen vaginas on girls but not being particularly interested in them. When I was around elementary school age and older I came to see that people were either very comfortable with this part of life or not. This was evident in their predilection towards potty-humor both verbal and physical and also in their openness about such matters (i.e. farting in public). I acknowledged in myself a discomfort about these things such that I was put off by potty-humor and I was uncomfortable defecating in a situation where it was known that I was. Things like "running the water" while in the bathroom and such. Also, avoiding using the bathroom while over a friend’s house. I also developed a slightly above-average germ phobia associated with feces that even now I will have the occasional dream-scenario where I am falling into a public toilet.
Sexually, there is an element of anal-fixation that very slowly emerged. This may have also been the result of viewing hardcore pornography when I was in my teens, but I don't think porn so much instills fetishes as much as brings them out. In my sexual attraction to women I noticed I was more drawn to the butt and thighs more than the breasts (not exactly uncommon) however in sexual fantasies anal sex would be involved. I never brought these fantasies into sexual practice, which brings up an interesting point about anal fetishism that a think very few men acknowledge. I think anal fetishism is either divided into two areas, which I believe correspond with Freud's Anal Expulsive and Retentive categories. On the expulsive side there are men who enjoy anal sex (I'm talking mostly in practice, here) because to them it is a full on confrontation with a fact that most men do not acknowledge - women defecate. Either a man who has anal sex enjoys the confrontation with this fact and finds it arousing (though he may not say so), or the Retentive man enjoys anal sex because he enjoys perpetuating the denial that women have these bodily functions as well. I fall into the latter. I found that although I would never practice anal sex, I enjoyed the exhibition of it in porn or in fantasy where the actual function of the anus would be 100% de-emphasized (no issue of cleanliness, hygiene...it was as if it weren't a real life issue). In reality, I don't think I would have been comfortable asking my girlfriend to take an enema or actually doing the act.
So that is the sexual aspect. There is an element of denial I have found exhibited through my interests (although it is lessening and I do not watch porn anymore) that focuses on women but perhaps is simply channeled through them.
So now here comes yoga. Throughout my practice this issue has come up. I only experience occasional energy and chakra awareness and most of my times of intense Kundalini were a result of using marijuana. With practice I started to realize that there is something wrong with feeling embarrassed of one's own bodily functions. I remember one particular incident during a time of pretty high Kundalini activity that I was on the toilet late at night and I found that I could not really move my bowels because I was afraid it would make an obvious sound that people would here in the silent house. Whereas normally I would run the faucet or something, I decided that I am going to anyway. But I couldn't really. I started having a flashback kind of thing to when I was very young being potty-trained on a mock-toilet in front of my mother and someone else and that feeling of discomfort. I realized how wrong and delusional it is for everyone to be parading around pretending they don't have an anus. So I decided I am going to work on it. The biggest issue was with my girlfriend who I spent the most time with. Being a vegetarian I move my bowels at least 2-3 times a day and I never felt it was healthy to avoid doing so. So I slowly started "making it known" that I defecate. I did so with humor and although it made me comfortable to make jokes about farting and such, it also felt relieving and healthy. So I am at a point now where I am becoming comfortable, however, I still cannot do it completely obviously and I think that is the case with many people in Western society.
An interesting observation I have made in terms of energy placement in the body is that I tend to be mind-centered. I assume my energy is very high around the throat and third eye chakras and I display blockages in the lower chakras in many ways. I just go with the flow and know that AYP will take care of it, however, so that's not a big issue. I notice though that people I know who tend to display similar scatophobic tendencies also seem to share many of my personality traits and tend to be people I "click" with. People I have known that are prone to potty-talk and are quite anal-expulsive or just generally extremely comfortable talking about such things also tend to be people who just seem more "grounded" to me. Grounded is the word I can think of those best fits. These are people that to me live in a relative freedom and who have no antagonist in the form of their forbidden bodily function. They also tend to be less obsessive-compulsive and seem to be able to just “go with the flow” and also accept themselves.
So I wonder - is there a relationship between scatophobia and a possible root chakra condition? I also wonder if there is a connection between the different stages of Freudian childhood phases and the chakras? Perhaps the manner in which we raise children in this respect can cause blockages of dysfunction in the chakras, especially the genitals and root?
Also, I remember reading in a book called "Rational Mysticism" about yogis that would meditate for big lengths of time in, we assume, is ecstatic bliss, and who would in their ecstasy basically crap their pants and revel in their own feces. This is also common in the mentally handicapped. It would seem that if you could conquer that aspect of yourself you really take a big step forward. I also recall reading in a book by Stanislav Grof (a pioneer of LSD therapy) about a patient who, on a guided trip, "became" the waste of the world and had a powerful realization about how we "fear" our true nature in this way. Quite possible that he was similar to me in his attitude.
Anyway guys, I don't know if this is way out in outer space for you guys of if it is relatable or interesting, but open discussion on this issue would be appreciated an interesting.
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Edited by - anthony574 on Jul 11 2008 4:39:49 PM |
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Divineis
Canada
420 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2008 : 5:02:06 PM
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Dude, that's gross.
haha, I kid. I know just what you mean. I find it halarious when people talk about "taking a dump" non-chalantly. "clean dumps" conversations come to mind haha, the kind you don't have to wipe :) . ahh, the joys of sitting on a can. I made a painting about it actually, I took "the thinker" and placed him on a can... I think that painting is the answer to this post in a way haha, human thought, and human defacation, all on the same artistic level. I'll post a link :).
Oh and, the thing with people that don't mind talking about this stuff... I think they're just generally more accepting, definetly more grounded and "don't mind talking about anything... or nothing" sort of people. Kinda like... you know when you can talk to someone about anything and it'll be interesting or at least entertaining on some level.
Here's a link to that painting of mine: http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs27/30...Divineis.jpg |
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brother neil
USA
752 Posts |
Posted - Jul 29 2008 : 9:09:01 PM
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so did you call that painting
the stinker?
and why do people say they have to take a dump? If they really want to take a dump I can go into the bathroom and leave one for them.
just thoughts
Me
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The root chakra, coprophobia, Freud, ect
