I’m currently going through all the lessons, and I’ve managed to get into a routine of doing AYP twice a day. In the morning I do 5 min SB, 20 min IAM and 5 min savasana, and in the evening 10 min SP, 20 min IAM and 5 min savasana.
I think some background might be useful. When I first came to this forum, I had been having extremely overwhelming symptoms for more than a year after a spontaneous awakening. Because I didn’t have the right guidance at the time, I unknowingly kept pushing the energy further and further.
I eventually stopped all practice, but that didn’t completely help. It wasn’t until I read a post here that I realized that my very intense bhakti was still keeping the energy going, even though I had stopped practicing. I also had to let go of it mentally.
Today things are much more balanced, thankfully.
So my question is about something I’ve noticed since starting these sittings. My saliva production has increased massively. Sometimes there is so much of it that I get stuck focusing on swallowing during meditation, which can become quite distracting.
Is this something that is common? Have any of you experienced this, and is there any trick for getting past it without getting caught up in the swallowing?
No, I don’t think that is a common experience. First time I hear someone report on excessive salivating - perhaps those practicing kechari - and I have never experienced it, myself. I am sure it’s just another sign of purification, so don’t worry too much about it. Swallow as you need to and hopefully, it is a phase that will pass in a couple of weeks.
Good luck with your practices. Happy to hear you have found a stable routine.
As Sey says, this is not a common experience, but it is something that can happen as part of the purification process. There are other physical symptoms that can happen such as repeatedly swallowing air, excessive burping, the heart rate increasing dramatically, the breath slowing down and even stopping all together, sudden intakes of air, shaking, jolts, and sudden profuse sweating.
All these things are simply purification symptoms and are best ignored if possible. They don’t last forever and will gradually stop over time
I do suffer from excess salivation but not all the time. Some nights I wake up drooling on my pillow, so I dry my face, turn the pillow over and go back to sleep! Sometimes when I’m sitting down I notice that my mouth is full of saliva and that though makes me swallow my spit! What is strange is that in the last hour I probably swallowed my spit a few times without noticing it. And I did mention that it is not every day, so I suppose it has a cause, perhaps my diet, but it doesn’t bother me enough to look that up.
What has bothered me most about it is when I consciously swallow but I don’t concentrate enough when doing it, some spit goes down the wrong hole!!! That can be painful sometimes! It means a lot of coughing for a while!
When I do deep meditation I do kechari stage one, my maximum, and when I do so I block off the flow of air and saliva with my tongue parting my mouth cavity in half, that also leaves less space for saliva in the front of the mouth. If it is one of those days when I salivate a lot, at one point I will have to empty my mouth or start drooling, this is where I have to be careful about swallowing with care and intention. Now is not the time to swallow sideways and start coughing and crying for five or ten minutes!
Everything comes and goes in AYP, this is nothing to worry about, perhaps it has a natural cause, maybe there is an Ayurveda cure.
Your practice is probably not the cause of your symptoms, for me I suspect that my caffeine addiction is the cause
So lets suppose that during your 20 min of DM you spend a total of less than a minute on the thought of swallowing, that is only a fraction of the unwanted thought you create in your practice. Right? So keep on going it looks like you’re doing good!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences! It’s really reassuring to hear that others have experienced something similar.
Alain, I had to laugh at the pillow story I think we’ve all woken up to a drool-covered pillow at some point!
For me, the excess saliva has decreased a little. I suspect I sometimes get too internally focused on the saliva itself, which probably makes me notice it even more. I’ll try not to give it so much attention or space.
It’s helpful to hear that these things can come and go and eventually settle down. Thanks again for taking the time to reply!
I think we’ve all woken up to a drool-covered pillow at some point!