quote:
Originally posted by Yoda
There's a therapy similar to EFT that was mentioned in a recent magazine. It is used the same way that EFT is but the pattern interupt is by moving the eyes right and left several times. They've tested its effectiveness in one small study, and found that it does help many patients. I forget what it is called. I'll report more, if I can find the article.
Sounds like you're talking about EMDR ...?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing?
http://www.emdr.com/briefdes.htmI've done this a couple of times, with a professional practitioner.
I had some fairly amazing results with it - I was nauseated to the point of vomiting, due to a horrible headache which I originally thought was due to sinus / allergies, but which seemed exacerbated by circumstantial stress (the impracticality of throttling my boss at the time -- in a conscious and unconditionally loving way, of course ....
).
(And since we're talking about therapeutic type stuff, I'll be clear -- the last sentence above is a complete joke; I was experiencing boss-related stress, but more due to emotional hurt over something I had overheard her say about me, than anger.)
The practitioner guided me through EMDR -- and I literally has a wastebasket in my lap, in which I had vomited a couple of times already, in the 10-15 mins. I had been in his office -- and I don't mean to "gross anyone out" - but I feel that the level of my nausea at the time is highly illustrative
of the efficacy of EMDR, per the following:
During the EMDR (a period of a minute or so) - my headache and nausea were gone.
Not "better" --- gone.
As soon as the EMDR stopped -- they came back.
We did this 2-3 times, and the practitioner found it almost as curious as I did.
I felt about 50% better when I left his office, so that part was good - but the dynamic above was *very* intriguing.
I had actually forgotten about it, though -- so thanks for the reminder!
This was probably 7-8 months ago, right around the time I started becoming active in the forum -- and had been practicing AYP for a while (a year or so), on top of my several years of other practices.
Reason I mention this, is: "things yogic" were very present in my mind, when I did the EMDR.
And I realize that the stress-related disturbance described in this post may seem incongruous with what I've reported as some of the longer-term benefits I've gotten from AYP and yoga overall (much greater emotional equanimity, among other things) -- which it did to me, as well.
As I imagine we all know though, based on sub-conscious or semi-conscious psychological issues, certain events can blindside us, and be especially and unexpectedly "hard-hitting" -- which this circumstance was, for me.
I do feel that this circumstance, and related details which include the results of EMDR treatment, along with EMDR's potential tie-ins with yoga - are pertinent (potentially) information related to our shared goals in this forum (of helping each other enjoy optimal yogic practice - which includes all aspects of life) -- hence all the detail.
I hope it's helpful.
PLEASE NOTE: PER THE INFO ABOVE, THE FOLLOWING STORY SEEMS PERTINENT ON SEVERAL LEVELS, BUT NOT ESSENTIAL, TO THIS POST --- THOUGH SOME PEOPLE (I'M GUESSING) MAY FIND THE RELATED INFO USEFUL.
HOWEVER, SINCE THIS POST IS LONG EVEN WITHOUT THE STORY - I'VE MARKED "START STORY" AND "END STORY" CLEARLY, SO THAT YOU CAN SKIP IT, IF YOU LIKE.
START STORYThe sense of betrayal I felt upon hearing my boss speak negatively about me, to someone else apparently unlocked some very deep-seated psychological "stuff" I had - which came rushing to the surface in the form of the headache and nausea. She and I were very close - though always completely professional in our conduct with each other, to be clear (any time one talks about being "close" with a co-worker or boss of the opposite gender, this type of clarification is usually a good idea, I've found).
Because we were close, and because I had understood her to like me and respect me (and still do, in general - her comment was indicative of stress that she was feeling at the time, I believe) -- hearing her say to someone else that I was effectively a "legend in my own mind", felt bad on several levels (it felt kind of similar to a girlfriend saying, "I love the way you kiss", and then overhearing her say to a friend, "He's a nice guy, but yuck - what a lousy kisser!")
My "mental legend-ness" was proven out, though
-- I had told her that I could get the company's financial software to run a certain type of non-standard report, and one of the other executives had called her to ask where it was -- and she made the above-described comment, something like "Kirtanman said he could do it, but he couldn't - as I figured -- everyone's a super-hero in their own mind, but delivery is a different matter - as we see all too much of, around here ...!"
To round out the context: she (my former boss) had gotten me a couple of "special assignments" based on my talents, during my tenure at that company, which made a significant difference to the company - one of which saved the company a *lot* of money (hundreds of thousands of dollars -- an amount hugely disproportionate to the relatively small time investment on my part), and which showcased my capabilities to the executive she was speaking with on the phone, who was the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of the company.
So, it felt to me (at the time) that all of that positive stuff, and the presumed "good opinion" concerning me, held by both my boss, and the COO (her boss) was either A. an illusion, or B. likely to be erased by her comment (not necessarily true, but that's how it felt when I heard it -- "ego-filters" are amazing things ....).
So, that situation "brought up" all kinds of stuff related to loyalty (or lack thereof), having our worst fears of what people *really* think about us confirmed, economic security (since professional reputation can be tied to perceived and/or actual job performance), not being appreciated for one's demonstrated talents (the type of technical task I had said I could complete, is something I'm good at, and was known for being good at, at this company), and so on.
My former boss was also one of my primary "life resources" -- she largely determined all aspects of my professional success at that company (as my boss, she largely determined my compensation, the opportunities I had to grow professionally at that company, and so on), and -- she and I were close as personal / professional friends - and discussed, pretty much daily -- everything from family members with serious illnesses, to deep spiritual topics, and nearly anything else - so we had that kind of "bond" as well.
The task was taking longer than I thought (instead of an hour or so, it took closer to two -- to do something that no one else at the company could do at all, and which would have cost many thousands of dollars to have done by outside consultants) - and I had a personal appointment (to do EMDR, but hadn't told her that), so asked if I could finish the task when I returned.
My former boss stressed that it was *really* important (I hadn't realized that she had
told the executive team that the report would be *ready* within a couple of hours, based on my time estimate for creating the report-generating capability) - and that she would appreciate it if I could change the appointment (I couldn't; the EMDR therapist was only in my city one day a week, and often booked solid).
I knew I was close to finishing the task -- so I stayed to finish it (and was late to the appointment) - and she thought I had gone -- so made the comment she did to the COO, not realizing I was still within earshot.
About fifteen minutes later, I walked into her office and dropped the report on her desk. You can imagine the look on her face when she realized I was still there, and that I had likely heard what she said (she always "positioned" herself as someone who thought very highly of me, and was very loyal to me, etc.)
To her credit, she was very appreciative of the result, and that I had stayed to complete the task (in fact, her gratitude was expressed unusually often, over the next couple of days ....
).
I felt good about being "right" and showing what I could do (yes -
pure ego -- the whole situation described in this story is, obviously!) - but had felt the headache and nausea start after hearing her comment - and noticed them getting progressively worse.
END STORYThe point isn't to give you every possible detail about the related "story" (possible appearances to the contrary ...
) -- but to illustrate why the comment was hard-hitting to me, emotionally (if the comment had been made by a boss I didn't care for or about, if the boss made comments like this all the time, if the comment had been about a different topic, or to a different person, etc. -- all of those things would likely have caused it to have less impact.)
I had similar "bad sinus headaches" around that time - but always connected directly with stress at work. Because work was *always* stressful, I didn't make the connection between a significant "spike" in the stress, and the related headaches - so I thought the headaches were sinus-related, which was a symptom of seasonal allergies.
In retrospect (especially per the EMDR results) - I think the headaches were a direct stress reaction, based on stresses that were tied to some very deep-seated psychological issues, of which I was pretty much entirely unaware.
I don't know this for sure, of course - but based on various aspects of the situation (how close I was with my former boss, the disproportionately strong sense of betrayal I felt -- it's pretty hard for me to feel betrayal - or think in those terms - at all -- let alone in relation to a work situation) -- and the severity of my symptoms - and the results of the EMDR -- it's an "educated guess".
At first, I didn't connect the headache and nausea with stress; stress made the headache worse, but that's fairly standard.
However, the EMDR highlighted the likelihood that the entire physical disturbance was related to stress-related changes in my system - which were likely a combination of mental and emotional reaction, and related neuro-biological processes; <--- it doesn't take much to create neuro-biological processes via mental and emotional activity -- just engage in a rich sexual fantasy, or spend some time dwelling on your deepest fear, to verify this for yourself.
Around that time, I had really felt the tangible power of sambhavi (raised eyes, as taught in the AYP lessons) - and it was becoming clear to me that the eyes can be a major key (seemingly equivalent to the tongue) to "yogic neuro-biology" and our yogic evolution, once we learn how to use them as such - especially if we have prepared our physical and subtle energetic channels with yoga practice.
POTENTIALLY VERY IMPORTANT:
In my opinion, one of the great keys which is likely to open yoga to the entire world (as opposed to yoga remaining in its "niche" as an alternative health practice or spiritual practice) is to be able to replicably demonstrate that human beings can participate in their own "neuro-spiritual" evolution by engaging in yogic practices, in ways that the scientific / medical communities will accept.
Also, in my opinion, we are right on the cusp of being able to do this, in some very major ways. That "door" is still closed with respect to quite a few aspects of yoga, due to the inability of current technology to measure directly related changes in the body -- but it is opening in others, largely in connection with new technologies related to brain imaging and measurement (fMRI, PET scans, etc.) - where, in effective real-time, it can be shown that the patient's "activity x" (i.e. engaging in EMDR, and/or sambhavi) replicably yields "result y".
My point?
(Apologies to those of you who participate in the "bet he doesn't have a point or will never get to it in this post and/or my lifetime" pools ...
)
My point is (per the tons of info available via Google) that EMDR is clearly very popular, and growing in popularity (and with good reason; independent studies have verified its efficacy for some very serious maladies - including major depression and PTSD) ---- and it (EMDR) may therefore offer an opportunity for AYP (Yogani? Me? Others? Whoever makes sense, I figure) to begin a dialog with the EMDR community - essentially saying: "If you're excited about what EMDR can do, and what its scientific foundations tell us about neurobiology, check
this out ....!"
EVEN MORE IMPORTANT POINT
In my (very strongly held) opinion, the
only reason that the entire neuroscientific and medical communities aren't beating down the AYP door, is that they don't understand the gold mine of relatively near-term benefits which yoga (specifically AYP per its clarity, and non-dogmatic, culturally independent nature) holds for all areas of human health (specifically psychiatry and brain-related neuro-biology, in this case).
Because they aren't aware of yoga's benefits, or because they discount some of yoga's claims as non-scientific --- we need areas of commonality with which to begin dialog.
It seems fairly clear to me (especially based on my fairly dramatic EMDR experience, along with my attendant results from sambhavi and related practices) that EMDR-related dialog may be a good place to start.
Comments?
Peace & Namaste,
Kirtanman
PS - I love the real-time unfolding of things like this; this post wasn't planned -- I just saw the reference to EMDR -- and was going to help out by saying, "Oh, I think you're referring to EMDR ...." -- and then I remembered the other stuff cited above (including that I was going to mention these thoughts several months ago -- and as I said, forgot about it entirely -- and I am very grateful for the reminder, per my own interest and my opinion that it may be an important "conversation-starter" for AYP's growth.)