Self pacing, modifications and self directed spiri

[naplesward]

I have been using the AYP system of practice for about a year. I built up to a practice of 10 asana/5sb/15dm/5 samyama/10 rest. At first it was going well and it seems as if I released some repressed emotions giving me more peace and happiness. Then I began to overload and started self pacing. I followed all the procedures in the lesson and self paced myself right out of practice. The last time I tried the I am mantra for 5 minutes I had a headache for about 5 days. After that I stabilized my practice with 10 minutes breathing meditation.
 Earlier in my life I spent 12 years in an ashram learning many similar  methods from a guru. However my Guru passed from the earth plane about 12 years ago. I was left with a lot of Bhakti and handful of methods but was not sure how to fit every thing together. The AYP lessons and practice help teach me how to build a sytematic practice and I am very grateful for that.
 Since the I am mantra is no longer working for me I think it is time for me to take on a true self-directed practice and modify the base line system. I began last week using a mantra I was given by by Guru for 10 min in the morning. Everything is going well so far. The purification process has started again and I feel more peace and comfort in my daily life. Combined with meditation I am also following the methods of Bhaki, Karma, and Jhana yoga. Later I plan on buildind up my practice along the line of AYP with some possible slight modification based on my past practice.
2 questions
Has anyone got passed the headache stage using the I am mantra?
Who else has modified the baseline system and with what results?

[Swan]

Hi naplesward,

I have been through the same. I had to cut my prctices to breath meditation - still could not continue, and then there was no meditation for around two months, only asana. It is great that you have found an way for a stable practice, but if you are thinking about going back to mantra meditation, be assured that this over sensitivity not permanent. During the worst time I could not even meditate for 2 minutes due to presssure on head, headache, and distracting enrgy concentration on head. now I am back to twice daily I AM meditation and SBP. Though I do DM for 10 minutes now on each sitting...

[faileforever]

Hi naplesward,

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have had similar issues, when i started AYP i used the i am mantra and had no problems at all, it felt great and life outside of meditation flowed quite nicely[] However, i also began experiencing some major overload after about 7 or 8 months and had to cut back severely. i started using the third mantra enhancement in the lessons, have you tried this one yet? I have been using it for three months or so now and I just recently have been able to add sb and samyama back into my practices but for quite awhile i only did about 5 or 6 minutes of DM with lots of rest.  Everyone is different and only you know what works and doesn't work for you, sounds like you're doing the right thing, going with what feels best.

[naplesward]

Swan glad to hear you have worked through the head aches.It gives me hope. I have read a lot about headaches but very little about working through them. If my new old mantra does not work out long term I will go back to breath meditation


Failforever I have not tried the third enhancement however my guru mantra is a long one so I am trying that one based on the same logic. Also that mantra was chosen for me by someone who knew me personally. With the I am mantra I wonder if I just need more purification or maybe it is not suited for me.

[naplesward]

I am a little confused and unsure about the right direction to take. Maybe I should stick with the breath meditation for awhile and then add asanas. I am going to go slow until I find a stable routine. The extreme self pacing is difficult with rising Bhakti. Sometimes I feel like I am stuck in the past with my previous ashram experience. I am not sure if it is a mistake to change your mantra or if you are married to one mantra for life. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Swan]

Rising Bhakti - yes this is what made me do all the self pacing. Well, I have followed some steps and altered my practices, which worked fine in my case. Practicing the technic of drawing awarness lower to the heart region is one step, so that the energy concentration moves towards the lower chakras, rather than overloading the crown. Have you considered this? you can get more information on this in this thread, in the later part:
http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/index.php?topic=10129

And I think what you are going through is similar to that I experienced. In that case, it is overload of the crown chakra (do you feel pressure and energy movement also?). The right direction would be downwards, working on the lower chakras. What worked for me was asanas, a hatha yoga sequence. I read somewhere that Hatha Yoga prepares the body for Raj Yoga (meditation and other advanced energy practices). Here also, lesson 71 says that asanas are helpful to balances kundalini imbalance. 2 to 3 months practice of asana and SBP have done it for me. My lower body become more alive and I feel that energy is evenly moving now, rather than concentrating on the crown. you can check out the sequence in the below link
http://www.aypsite.com/plus-forum/index.php?topic=9102#88562

Try another thing, when you find headache or pressure on the top of head, try to pull it on your ajna chakra. Ajna is your friend in need if you are having issues with crown. It may not click at the first try but its worth keep trying, it really brings relief.

When you feel better, I suggest you first build a stable practice of SBP & DM before adding samayama (I have not started yet) because adding another stuff before you are stable in your current practice would aggravate imbalance.

All the best...
love..

[naplesward]

Thanks Swan. You seem to now exactly what I'm going through. I'm am going to stick with breath meditation only and work with asanas. The pressure is at the crown. I know this is not recommended in the lessons but when I have excess pressure the best way for me to relieve it is to concentrate on the crown , release the tension and call down healing from above. Bringing down the healing might be the same as what you call pull it down to the ajna chakra. Anyway going forward I'm going to try 15 min asana and 10 min breathing meditation. I think it is best to forget all mantras for now and leave my past experiences in the past. Thanks again for your help. It means a lot to me.

[Swan]

Glad that you find it helpful. BTW, these are all from what I have got through this forum itself.

quote:
concentrate on the crown , release the tension and call down healing from above. Bringing down the healing might be the same as what you call pull it down to the ajna chakra.

Sounds like it, and yes - the step starts with concentration at crown for a moment and staying with the headache/pressure before pulling it down. At the end there is almost no particular sensation at the crown and the headache/pressure is felt on ajna instead - wich is much easier to live with.

Another thing I would like to suggest is, consider adding SBP after asana. This is supposed to awaken the conductivity, so it should help in overcoming imbalance. I found SBP to be complementary to asanas in my case.

All the best..

[Medea]

Hey Naplesward,

what helped me greatly in preventing headaches and pressure in the head was this lesson http://www.aypsite.com/plus/368.html on the solar centering enhancement. Every time I feel pressure building up at the crown or in the head, I bring my attention down to the solar plexus as is described in this lesson. I never had trouble with headaches etc. since. Hope this helps!