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moonshine
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 20 2011 : 11:14:35 AM
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Hello fellow travellers,
I am a Reiki Master and experienced meditator (Vipassana and Zazen). I started practicing Deep Meditation about a week and a half ago after reading the book. Initially, I was experiencing some irritation afterwards so I've extended the rest period to ten minutes. I am still experiencing some minor irritation and anxiety but am more aware of these reactions now. However, I have not really noticed any difference in myself but have been having some very vivid and often disturbing dreams. Other than that, I haven't experienced the rising peace and stillness that most practitioners have reported after such a relatively short time with the technique. I plan to continue with it, but I was wondering if there was a reason for this.
Love to you all. |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2011 : 11:24:45 AM
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Welcome to the AYP forums, Moonshine.
How long do you meditate for (each session)? Maybe cut back on meditation time and increase the rest period by some more.
What time is your second practice? Close to bed time? That sometimes can cause vivid dreams.
Also, the benefits (rising peace and stillness ) may not be obvious yet, main reason for this is we have an idea of what rising peace and stillness should feel like. Give it a bit more time, you will feel it, may not be as you have imagined it... but you will definitely feel it.
Also, once the anxiety and minor irritation subsides, think about adding spinal breathing. If you are a Reiki Master, you have had your kundalini awakened and your crown opened... so adding spinal breathing http://www.aypsite.org/41.html ... root to 3rd eye and not crown, will take some of the energy away from the crown and help smooth out your practice.
Wish you all the best.
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CarsonZi
Canada
3189 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2011 : 11:46:32 AM
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Hi moonshine and welcome to the AYP forums! 
Couple of things....
In my experience, the vivid disturbing dreams can often be attributed to purification. I get this all the time. During periods of intense purification (like during or after a retreat for example) I often have several dreams a night, all of them insanely vivid, most of them incredibly disturbing. I think it could be safe to say that the dreams are a sign that the meditation is rapidly purifying your nervous system and that you are likely fairly sensitive to (ripe for) spiritual practice (likely because of all the practices you have been doing in the past).
The dreams and the irritation are likely a sign that you may be overdoing the practices a bit. I would suggest dropping your meditation time little, (say lowering the time from 20 mins to 15 or 10 mins) and continue with the longer rest time. Personally, I was pretty undersensitive for a long time (or perhaps I just completely refused to acknowledge that I had been overloading for years  ) but at a certain point the pendulum swung and I had to drop my 3(ish) hour a day practice down to about 40 minutes a practice, 20 minutes of that being for DM the other 20 being for rest. This was the only way I could stay on the right side of the overload line.
As far as not seeing much for results.... in my opinion, the irritation and the dreams are a sign that the practices are working and there is purification happening. But with practices as powerful as the AYPractices it seems that we get LESS benefit when we do more practice then the nervous system can handle. Staying on the right side of the overload line is likely going to increase the visibility of the benefits I think. It took me a LONG time to accept this. Also, as Shanti mentions, we often have an idea in our mind about what the benefits are going to look like, which doesn't always match up with reality. Often times it is others around us who notice the benefits we are experiencing before we do. Sometimes we are just too close to ourselves to actually see the benefits clearly. I would suggest cutting back on the meditation time, continue with the practices for another few months or so (trying as best as possible to keep your expectations at bay), make sure you are grounding enough, and re-evaluate in a couple of months.
Again, welcome to the forums... hope to hear more from you soon.
Love!
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moonshine
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2011 : 12:19:31 PM
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Thank you Shanti and CarsonZi. I shall take your advice and reduce the meditation time to 10/15mins, staying with the 10 minute rest period.
Love xx |
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Akasha
421 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 11:11:18 AM
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Hello Moonshine & Welcome,
I am a bit late here, but i would reduce your deep meditation practice time and see if that helps. It is still early-ish days but you said a week and a half and for me ten days was roughly about the time the mantra "baked in" sufficiently for me.
I would:-
Reduce the DM time,
If that did'nt help then stopping it for a while with the hope you pick it back up again.
Another possibilty within AYP is to add spinal breathing, although this is another powerful practice you can consider.I know i added SpB after about amonth possibly at least i think...perhaps even six weeks even.
With AYP especially, LESS is always MORE.The dynamics of spiritual practices are usually more complicated than we think ,partly because our own expectations what we imagine should happen can get in the way sometimes, so sometimes laying off is a good approach(as even that I have begun to conclude is still self-pacing ,after all) if we're looking or expecting for certain results the way we imagine them to transpire and develop.The openings you may get or not don't always work along a linear framework though there is definite science to it all that can be mapped.
I would reduce your DM and see if that helps...to see if any irritation,irritability or anxiety subsides. Sometimes we can get too much of a good thing. Ideally we aim for seamless integration with our living.But the ten days was the main "baking in " cut-off point for mewhen i started.
When you rest you just lie in savasana so any changes are best assimilated that way...five-ten minutes or however long you like.
When you "do" the mantra a good bit of advice is probably not to force it too much.I don't know if this may or not make any sense but good results often seem to come from not making a big deal out of it.
When you first start it can churn up your emotional life a little and unearth unconscious areas of your psyche that were dormant or suppressed even but it may not be like that for everyone as everyone's experiences may be wildly different.I can only say what it was like for me but the effects did feel quite profound.What DM does eseentially is cultivates the witness state which is quite a big thing in yoga...it is witness consciousness.
Hope this may help.
Love,
Akasha
P.s If this continues(irritability or "not much happening") i would review your practice again if I was you via this forum if you like and/or with the help of the Main lessons.You might be expecting something to happen the way you think it should. Or perhaps not.A good idea is probably to drop all expectation and let go as much as you feel comfortable with.I have learnt to try and drop a sense of effort when i do(or sometimes it does me...) the mantra....
There are in fact yet more other tools for balancing out "wayward energies" but i think for now you've prob. got enough and plenty under your belt.So you can just see how things pan out for now with the modification(s) suggested. |
Edited by - Akasha on Apr 21 2011 11:37:35 AM |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 3:51:47 PM
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Welcome the forums Moonshine.
In a rush to get somewhere We all go through that stage and even after years of meditation the doldrums can still strike and you wonder why you are bothering.
All the frustration, desire, disappointment, elation, it's OK to fully experience all of these emotions and sensations, everything is exactly how it should be, even the thought that it isn't.
Just pace yourself to relieve the symptoms if it's getting uncomfortable for your mind. You won't be going faster or slower, you will be going along exactly as intended. |
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nearoanoke
USA
525 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2011 : 6:20:58 PM
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| Eat Lighter, that sometimes helps |
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manigma
India
1065 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2011 : 03:10:24 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by moonshine
I am a Reiki Master and experienced meditator (Vipassana and Zazen). I started practicing Deep Meditation about a week and a half ago after reading the book.
Where did you learn Vipassana and Zazen?
What was your experience with the above meditations and why switch to DM?
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moonshine
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Posted - Jun 05 2011 : 08:27:05 AM
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Thank you all for your wise replies. Apologies for posting after so long, I started a new job and it's been really busy. My cat also recently died after being run over and it's been quite an emotionally turbulent time. I've managed to meditate fairly regularly though, but I've also allowed myself to slip into old bad habits (cigarettes and alcohol) which in itself has been a bit of a learning curve for me. Lots of learning!
Manigma, I learned Vipassana at the Goenka 10 day retreat, and have been to a few Zazen sittings with the organisation, Zen in London. I don't know that I've necessarily stopped doing Vipassana and Zazen, but have been finding that both those practices somehow seem to 'fit' into the DM technique. Also, with Zen practice, it's something that can be incorporated into one's daily life, and despite the turbulence of the the last month, I've been able to observe my reactions and behaviour with the knowledge that I'm going through a process and that I won't allow myself to fall down a slippery slope. I've stopped judging myself...most of the time!
I hope you're all well, thank you again for taking the time to respond to my message.
Love. |
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AYPforum
351 Posts |
Posted - Jun 18 2011 : 12:42:09 AM
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| Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement |
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New to Deep Meditation and not much happening
