What is the theory behind overload?

[wakeupneo]

Is it essentially that the bio-electrical system of the body (neck, brain, chakras) has not yet adapted to the higher electrical current which is being run through the system?

And in time the body's system learns(adapts) to handle the new current?

Is this the essence of over-load?

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by wakeupneo

Is it essentially that the bio-electrical system of the body (neck, brain, chakras) has not yet adapted to the higher electrical current which is being run through the system?

And in time the body's system learns(adapts) to handle the new current?

Is this the essence of over-load?

Yes, this is correct.
 
If you try to send a lot of energy through a nervous system that is not yet purified, it will be like trying to send 220 Volts of electricity thru an appliance that can only handle 110V.. well the appliance will burn. Similarly, if you overdo your practices and move lot of energy through an unpurified nervous system, you will burn yourself, hence the overloads.

[Clear White Light]

I have a question to tack on to this topic, if nobody minds.  It is related.

Is the only danger of overload the potential that one may lose their desire to practice daily?  That is, the overload becomes so great that it leads someone to a state where they lose their motivation to practice?  If one is able to tolerate the overload and proceed as normally, will it eventually subside, or will it only increase?

Once again, I hope nobody minds me asking this question here.

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by Clear White Light

I have a question to tack on to this topic, if nobody minds.  It is related.

Is the only danger of overload the potential that one may lose their desire to practice daily?  That is, the overload becomes so great that it leads someone to a state where they lose their motivation to practice?  If one is able to tolerate the overload and proceed as normally, will it eventually subside, or will it only increase?

Once again, I hope nobody minds me asking this question here.

Overload symptoms can be varies from person to person. They can involve excessive emotions, automatic yoga, excess energy, physical discomforts like heart palpitation, rashes, heat/cold in various parts of the body, feeling heavy headed, foggy headed, pressure and pain in head or other parts of the body.
There are many more, but these are the only ones I can think of right now. Hope they help.

[wakeupneo]

quote:Originally posted by Clear White Light

I have a question to tack on to this topic, if nobody minds.  It is related.

Is the only danger of overload the potential that one may lose their desire to practice daily?  That is, the overload becomes so great that it leads someone to a state where they lose their motivation to practice?  If one is able to tolerate the overload and proceed as normally, will it eventually subside, or will it only increase?

Once again, I hope nobody minds me asking this question here.

Many teachers have said that excessive energy in the head can do quite a bit of damage.

[YogaIsLife]

quote:Originally posted by wakeupneo

quote:Originally posted by Clear White Light

I have a question to tack on to this topic, if nobody minds.  It is related.

Is the only danger of overload the potential that one may lose their desire to practice daily?  That is, the overload becomes so great that it leads someone to a state where they lose their motivation to practice?  If one is able to tolerate the overload and proceed as normally, will it eventually subside, or will it only increase?

Once again, I hope nobody minds me asking this question here.

Many teachers have said that excessive energy in the head can do quite a bit of damage.

I agree.

The same may be for other parts of the body, but the head seems to be of special concern indeed.

As I see it (in answer to Clear White Light above), the risks are not only of losing motivation to practice (a minor concern in more extreme cases), but can be more severe in extreme cases. Symptoms can (severely at times) disrupt normal daily living. That is something to definitely avoid, as it has consequences on the simple enjoyment (not to mention normal functioning) of the most trivial mundane activities.

[Parallax]

By the way, if you want an account of the potential impact of excessive energy coursing through your system, read the Secrets of Wilder novel...thankfully we're able to learn from the lessons of those that have tread the path before us...hence the emphasis on self-pacing and grounding, exceptionally important pieces to the puzzle.

Bettter to have a steady and stable practice over the long-term, than to try to do it all at once, and have to back off of practices for months or years to reestablish stability. Its a marathon, not a sprint (even though my bhakti causes me to want to sprint all the time )

Much Love

[emc]

I think you are pretty mild in your descriptions.

My experience is that the Force does not have any consideration for our mental or physical health, really. We can end up in hospitals with various weird physical symptoms, in psychiatric care due to the emotional/mental turmoil it can cause, we might commit suicide in pure despair (know people having gone so desperate and acted on it as well), we might burn our nervous system so that it does not function very well, particularly the brain as people have mentioned, sometimes misinterpreted as a "burn-out" caused by stress. Can take several years to recover from it.

I have for example, for some reason lost very much of my speech. I cannot find words or get spelling or grammar correct nowadays. It's very odd for a former Scrabble-nerd and linguistic high-performer. It has gotten worse and worse during the journey. Mathematical ability is almost gone. Don't know why. I can't specifically connect this with overload, but I have suffered from a great deal of overload (haha - I misspelled it as loveroad ) and the decline in cognitive abilities started when the journey started and it seems to be a stable inhibition of verbal and logical skills. I know most people say the opposite - that geniouses are born during the journey and the intelligence is enhanced - just not my experience.

Don't want to frighten people, but overload is not a game. I strongly second Palallax's post!

(Edit: hahaha... seee? PARALLAX! sorry... )

[Parallax]

No worries...I spelled 'better' as 'bettter' in my post...seems to be contagious

And hang in there emc, you've got a lot of people here that care about you a lot

Peace and Love to You

[YogaIsLife]

Yes, good point emc! Thanks for making it so much clearer

 

quote:By the way, if you want an account of the potential impact of excessive energy coursing through your system, read the Secrets of Wilder novel...thankfully we're able to learn from the lessons of those that have tread the path before us...hence the emphasis on self-pacing and grounding, exceptionally important pieces to the puzzle.

Or read Gopi Krishna's story in his own words!

[Shanti]

So as not to scare anyone reading, Wilder and Gopi Krishna are extreme cases of overload. That is what we are avoiding by self pacing.
So we don't do more than what is recommended in the lessons, add practices one at a time, self pace (cut back) when we feel close to an overload, ground the energies as much as possible.
Being careful from the start can make the journey more pleasant and overload free.

[Clear White Light]

Now that I think about it, I can easily see how overload could build to a point where it would seriously disrupt your life.  The most serious overload I've ever experienced came as the result of heavy crown activity in response to coming into contact with a spirit.  The feeling reminded me very much of what it is like to "come up" on a psychedelic such as DMT or LSD, only the experience was certainly very unexpected and unwelcome.

[Ananda]

hi all, and yes you got it right wakeupneo.

concerning how an overload might look like, here's just a little brief sketch for you to watch out not to overload:

around the beginning of last month and after an intense period of sadhana, i turned into a walking human torch like literally burning with shakti flying all over the place.

i was emotionally unstable, ecstatic, depressed, moody, couldn't enjoy the peace of Self enquiry and mindfulness the way i used too, had lots of ups and downs... let's just say that it was very unpleasant.

in order to quiet things down i had to cut down a lot of practices including kechari mudra, decreased practice time as well and exhausted myself physically: lifting weights, walking and running every day, and doing push ups whenever i could, and eating lots of heavy foods...

now i am back into stable land with a few signs of overload at the crown every now and then but it all seems to be heading toward the best in general.

btw other than John Wilder and Gopi Krishna, i know that Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon is another example of those who overloaded to the extreme during their sadhana. (he ended up paralyzed for three days in a row after six months of powerful energetic practices)

guess i might've been headed the same way if i kept on the way i did...

L&L,

Ananda

[Parallax]

quote:Originally posted by Shanti

So as not to scare anyone reading, Wilder and Gopi Krishna are extreme cases of overload. That is what we are avoiding by self pacing.
So we don't do more than what is recommended in the lessons, add practices one at a time, self pace (cut back) when we feel close to an overload, ground the energies as much as possible.
Being careful from the start can make the journey more pleasant and overload free.

Very well put Shanti...respect the energies, don't fear them...the AYP self-pacing techniques have made my journey a smooth and bliss-filled one thus far

[Clear White Light]

Which of Gopi Krishna's writings contains the most detail of his experiences with overload?