Hey MMlight,
Firstly, Yes I had to quit the AYP baseline several times because of overload. I have struggled with AYP in this way for 5 years or so. The technique which is the hardest to learn seems to be Self Pacing, at least to me. DM and SBP are the most potent practices I have ever come across, that’s why I couldn’t stay away for long. There’s nothing to it, but to do it. Right? Head through the wall.
In the end I was swinging between desire for and being oversensitive to DM and SBP for years. However, since AYP suggests to indulge yourself in grounding exercises to balance out sitting practices, I realized that I certainly do need more earthy activities in my life and signed up for a nearby karate school. True martial arts and Zen are not two different things, but thats high minded. In the end it just fits my personality better than other physical activities. Swimming and walking are as useful for grounding. I am beginning to see that blessed are those, who are truly able to relax and be easy. I mean ‘easy like Sunday morning’ or easy like ‘sitting at the dock of the bay’. I mean to have a look on your personality and think about what makes YOU able to let go. It’s a personal thing.
When it comes to grounding, being constantly on the verge of overload is is not so much about stabilizing bliss conciousness. Moreso the purpose for me was to release nervous tension, that was constantly building up.
In the AYP downtimes I tried some PHYSICAL practices to find out how my system responds to it. To me the most profound influence had a concept of Hatha Yoga, that prana can be transported by the blood system. So to speak, move your oxygenated blood and you will move prana accordingly. In its ancient form this is not a physically easy method like AYP, since it contains a lot of strenuous exercises. Blood doesn’t simply move by itself, at least not in the way we are talking about. If you want to indulge you can find a useful practice here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5S0-1muQa1Y
Other techniques I found to be most useful for nervous tension release are:
Quantum Light Breath https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc9ygrYmtzE
Tension release exercises (Dr. Berceli)
I would not suggest anyone to deviate from the teachings of AYP. My experiences did not speed anything up respective to the AYP baseline. We would be foolish to think we can make something better out of AYP.
In the past Hatha Yogis were to prepare themselves for years and decades until they were introduced to the higher forms of Yoga. So it is to be expected, that some will have problems with this powerful system of AYP, even though it is very balanced. The overly sensitive people like us are to bring up new ideas, how we can make AYP work on the ends of the bell curve.
How I finally managed to get into AYP baseline again, you can read here: Handling a case of sensitivity