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Jivaakabhasana_Yogi
USA
49 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 20 2009 : 8:15:24 PM
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Dear Friends,
For many years I ascribed to the "no back support/perfect posture" thinking with meditation...(creating a lot of discomfort. I have been practicing, now, since doing the A.Y.P. lessons, with my back against the wall.
Whilst in deep meditation (doesn't happen in pranayam), my spine, with no conscious effort on my part, starts to "elongate and errect itself" (in a proper way), and this has actually created much strength and balance in my spine, that I'd not had before.
I have noticed, that my posture is "arighting" itself from the top down...I'd in the past had nasty neck pain, shoulder, mid back, never low back though....and as all of this is improving, I notice, for the first time, pain in my lower/midback muscles on one side.
I'm such a creature of habit, and while I wouldn't mind sitting in a chair, it doesn't help...and I'm too much of a "stickler" to lay down to meditate, after all we do wish to remain conscious, ehh? ROFL....
I can tell that the (very real) discomfort is transient, but in the meantime, for say a week or so, could I not prop myself up with pillows in the bed? I really'd rather not do this, but I know that I must allow my body its time to adjust...
I basically sit for 15 minutes of S.B. and 30 of IAMIAMIAMIAMIAMIAM...etc...and I add the Sutra's (Patanjali's) in the evening...I practice about 1 to 1/2 hours of hatha yoga, and run 5 days a week...my spine is now strong and in excellent shape, so this is throwing me off.
My housemate, who is a massage therapist says, that the spine does tend to correct itself from the top down, and that the lumbar and sacrum are the last to correct, taking on the stress of all the previous misallignments...so far in my experience this is true...should I even try to meditate all "cushy" with pillows on the bed? I have been such a "purist" all my life that the very idea annoys me!
LOL (might be a good reason to do it then, ehh? LOL)
My normal tendency towards pratyahara is very strong, and I normally remain conscious of the mantr' but loose awareness of the body, and just "am" with the mantr'...within a few minutes, more often that not, I drop awareness of the body...often it is the monkey mind that would bring me "back" to it, and I go back to the mantr' (not with the "intention" of prayahar, that simply just occurs)...this can be troublesome at the end of a meditation, "coming back into" a body with a lower back spasm... :(
Anyone having/had similar experiences?
Oh, and BTW, is it possible to change the email addy associated with one's A.Y.P. group user name? I'd like to keep my user name, but would rather have it attached to my new blog email addy instead?
Ad Gure' Nameh
I bow to the Primal Guru
Jugad Gure' Nameh
I bow to the Guru existing prior to the Primal Guru
Sad Gure' Nameh
I bow to the essential/true Guru
S'ri Gur'Deve' Nameh
I bow to my beloved God/Guru
~Jivaakabhasana_Yogi
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Nov 20 2009 : 8:31:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Jivaakabhasana_Yogi
Oh, and BTW, is it possible to change the email addy associated with one's A.Y.P. group user name? I'd like to keep my user name, but would rather have it attached to my new blog email addy instead?
Click on profile in the upper right corner of this page. You can change your email address there.
You are asking if it is OK to meditate without pillows right? Yes, absolutely fine. If you can sit without back support that is great. The main reason to use back support is to minimize distractions, if you are not comfortable during meditation, your mind will be pulled into the discomfort... so whichever way you are comfortable, go with it. 
http://www.aypsite.org/13.html
quote:
Find a quiet, comfortable place where you can sit, preferably with back support. We want to remove unnecessary distractions. Just sit and relax somewhere where you can close your eyes for twenty minutes without interruptions.
Practicing AYP with 1 to 1/2 hours of hatha yoga seems like a lot and
30 min meditation may be a bit much. Keep an eye out for overload symptoms. |
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Jivaakabhasana_Yogi
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - Nov 20 2009 : 8:50:20 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Shanti
[quote]Practicing AYP with 1 to 1/2 hours of hatha yoga seems like a lot and
30 min meditation may be a bit much. Keep an eye out for overload symptoms.
Hmm, well, I have been doing more hatha than that for over 2 years, and actually "toned it down" once I started A.Y.P. LOL...I have been doing the AYP practice for about a year, and the 15"/30" works well for me...If I do not continue hatha practice, energy "bottlenecks" in the body, can't sleep, etc...for years was doing about 2.5 hours of hatha daily and more meditation.
I have been doing the 15/30 for about 8 months, and 10/20 just doesn't "cut it" for me...I understand everyone is different. I do watch for excessive energetic phenomenon and the like, and should it come up, I do know to back off a bit.
I'm aware of Yogani mentioning using pillows, etc..whatever, to minimize distraction; I was more relating my "stuckness" with method, and my not wanting to change it :-)
. Thank you for your kind advice,
~Jivaakabhasana_Yogi |
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Jivaakabhasana_Yogi
USA
49 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2009 : 4:11:13 PM
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quote:
Practicing AYP with 1 to 1/2 hours of hatha yoga seems like a lot and
30 min meditation may be a bit much. Keep an eye out for overload symptoms.
Interesting Shanti,
While I'd not felt moved to reduce my D.M. time, I reduced my S.B.P. time by only 5 minutes...and the shift was palpable.
I've been used to conducting such "high voltage" for so long, that it is second nature, and I don't necessarily always correlate it with discomfort...while I've rarely if everhad that issue with D.M. In reducing the S.B.P. time, not only did the intensity in the part of the back reside some, but my D.M. was really "saturated", if you get my use of the term.
My mentally repeating of the mantr' became very "laid back", "gentle", "comfy", yet far deeper than in quite a while.
I remember my first teacher mentioning (to me personally) that if someone continually opens to the Shakti, and is not prepared bodily and mental/emotionally to handle it, the results can be destructive rather than creative, as she really doesn't give a sh*t about our "mental physical health" (at least not in the way that we do! LOL
This was just another example of the stubborness manifested in this one's personality, to be certain...good lessons for me.
Angh Sangh Vaheguru,
Jivaakabhasana_Yogi |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Nov 21 2009 : 4:36:14 PM
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This is great J_Y.
Altho Yogani has mentioned many times this journey is a marathon not a sprint, your words above just made that hit home.
Thank you for sharing this. |
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