|
|
| I am a new student of meditation and I have been practicing TM. It has really been some mind trip without a doubt. Sometimes as I'm coming to the end of a meditation sitting I find my heart is beating kind of hard and my body seems very warm. Recently I have seen a lot of discussion on line about "dangers" associated with excessive kundalini release resulting from "too much" meditation and yoga practice. I see people talking about things like the possibility of excessive kundalini release leading to sickness, insanity or worse....
Can anyone help me out with some knowledgable facts or advice on this issue?
|
|
| |
|
| This is a pretty hard question to answer, since there doesn't seem to be a lot of agreement on the facts. A lot of the stuff about kundalini releases being overwelming are from people who were engage in more normal pursuits, and not yoga/meditation. They essentially were in a state of having 20,000 volts run through a 110 volt system, lots of stuff blows out. With the yoga/meditation approach there is some release or raising of kundalini, but in a very managable manner. You should also be much more comfortable with working with your body's energy, and your body/mind will also be strengthened to deal with stronger energy flows.
You also have to realize the meditation itself will cause odd things to happen. Essentially your making a concious effort to effect the lens by which you percieve the world. So you'll get light headed, dizziness, see colors, lights, angels, have body tremors, etc. If any of this happens, don't worry about it. If it really freaks you out, stop for a while, and then come back to it when you feel more comfortable. Most of the time you'll get very mundane stuff, so don't let this worry you either. It's generally when you're getting close to something that the more frightening stuff happens.
If you're not currently doing yoga, it's a good idea to start. A lotof the system is designed to make meditation easier, and strength thebody to deal with things like this. A good flow/teacher will also helpyou to deal with the stress/energy imbalances that can come along.
Meditation/yoga is not easy, and not everything that's going to arise is all sweetness and light.
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| From my experience TM is a very safe practice. You should be getting "checked" frequently as a new meditator and take the opportunity to discuss this with your teacher. Be sure you are breathing easily and not tensing your body while you practice. Are you seated in a chair or trying to sit on the floor in a "classical" position? If so, moving to a chair may be the easiest way to better calm you body. But seeing a teacher is the very best way to answer these questions. |
|
| |
|
| I usually sit in a chair with my back, neck and head straight and my whole body as naturally relaxed as can be, letting my breath simply flow in the most natural, uncontrolled manner. And I have gotten regular checkings, just that I never heard of the issue of kundalini until recently. So I will bring it up the next time around. Thanks very much you guys for the very helpful advice.  |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Hmmmm...it does sound curious! My guess from a yoga background is that you may have some energetic blockages that could probably benefit from doing a bit of asana before you sit. When I went to a TM retreat they had a us do a short series in the morning, as I recall. I did enjoy the practice, had good results as far as relieving headaches, I found I had more time when I needed it (hard to explain, but true! I would think I had to hurry up to complete what I was doing and then look at the clock and find I had TONS of time) and some other great benefits. I simply could not sustain the practice on its own. Let us know what your teacher says! |
|
| |
|
| leogenx:
You say you are new student of meditation. So, hopefully, you are not doing prolonged meditation. Possibly 20 min at a time like what TM people told me they do. Also, TM is mainly a Stress Release practice and NOT a classical Mediation for Spiritual Realization, in my opinion.
So, you are definitely not getting any problems due to Kundalini and such.
You must check all your health habits, and do not worry about heart beat if itt is not causing pain, fear, breathing problem, etc. I mean do NOT meditate on Heart Beat.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
|
| |
"Dangers" of kundalini ???
