Hi Jim
Thanks for this wonderful info. I am hearing the buzzing sound (very feeble though) in my right ear, when i concentrate hard on something. I was wondering if my ear has some problem. You have given a new perspective to this. Will keep a watch!! Thanks again
Cheers
Hi Jim
Thanks for the info. I have started AYP sessions just a few months back, though have been on the path, off and on, for almost two years now. Just like Ajna, I too have been hearing this buzzing(?) sound in my right year. It does happen when I am in deep meditation and the deeper I go the louder and more distinct the sound becomes. Though yogani has said time and again that one should come back to the mantra as and when one realises one is away from it, I more often than not have felt like becoming one with the sound. At times I have almost found myself concentrationing a little too hard to find what shall happen if the sound, with all its distinctiveness, became louder and louder…Will there be some kind of an explosion… a burst… will this sound of my inner silence (is it so?) reach out and become one with THE ALL REIGNING SILENCE…
when we go further deep in meditation this buzzing sound turns into “OM”, the sound of cosmic motor.
Well…Shall have to wait to experience…thanks all the same!
Hey guys, nice to see some people have been posting on this thread lately.
I would like to share some of my experiences during the past few weeks.
First off, the painful ringing in my ears is nearly gone. Through moderate practice of asanas and daily spinal breathing, it has been mostly healed. I also occasionally experience OM in quiet places, or a very mild buzzing sound.
Second, I have a little bit of tension in a few places. One of them is my eyes, mainly my right eye. The past few days I’ve become more comfortable with spinal breathing and the sensations have lightened up a bit. I also get some pressure at the nose after practice, mostly in the right nostril. I try not to focus on it too much.
Third, my chronic pain symptoms still come and go. Most of my pain symptoms have been on the right side of my body, especially in my neck and back. I know there is nothing structurally wrong with these body parts because I am young, healthy and have been checked out by doctors. I am optimistic that these symptoms will continue to dissolve as I send positive messages to my body and continue my practices which have been quite stable over the past week.
Like many of you have told me, I’ve found it very helpful to stay grounded. I’ve been walking everyday and spending more time with people I enjoy being with in good surroundings.
I think it is important to practice with confidence. Even a little bit of fear can create as many symptoms as the practice itself. Thank you for all your helpful suggestions!
Here’s my take on what you’ve said.
Good News: stuff’s moving around. That makes me even more sure it’s a spiritual, not medical issue. And I’m glad you’re walking and socializing.
Bad News: one thing getting better and another thing getting worse means you’re still at zero sum - i.e. the energy problems are still in there, right on the brink of bad news, but manifesting in different ways. This is not a good place to be. I’d strongly suggest you ratchet back still more.
Pranayama is good for energy issues because it smooths out and distributes energy. But it also generates more energy. So it’s a two-edged sword to be used VERY carefully in times like these. If you’re doing more than 5 mins twice per day (and meditating more than 10 mins twice per day), I’d say you’re way over…until these symptoms subside, at which point you might ratchet up one (i.e. pranayama OR meditation OR asana) verrrrry gradually - carefully watching for more symptoms like these. I suggest ratcheting up one at a time, because if you increase more than one practice at a time, you’ll not know which is causing the problems. It’s all part of self pacing.
Most of all, I would strongly dispute your assertion that your practice is stable. The way to tell if practices are stable or not is by watching out for symptoms exactly like those you’re describing. If I were you, I’d do much much less. But the decision’s of course entirely yours. Good luck whatever you choose!
Hi Iced Earth,
Sounds like you are making some very good progress with your symptoms, it seems you have found a good balance of practices that are helping you. Remember to keep the principals of self-pacing in the back of your mind and if you are really hungry to do more then perhaps self-enquiry would be a good place to devote your energies. An excellent resource for me on self-enquiry has been the book “Loving What Is” by Byron Katie which gives a very easy and practical guide on how to do this.
Best of luck to you! 
Anthem11
Happy New Year Everyone!
By way of brief introduction to posting on this thread, I hold a Master of Science Degree (MS.OM) and a Doctorate Degree (OMD) in Oriental Medicine, with 36 years of clinical application experience to date. I have worked as an Acupuncturist, Herbalist, and Energy Healer virtually all of my adult life.
It has been my repeated observation during these years that chronic pain anywhere in the body is usually caused by localized nerve inflammation and constriction of local tissues due to stagnation of blood circulation, and stagnation of vital energy movement, resulting from excessive volume of both locked into an isolated area. Such areas of pain may also show a ‘flushed’ surface appearance of the skin, and may feel noticably warmer, or even hot, to the touch when compared with other skin surfaces outside the painful area. Muscle spasms with occaisional sharp ‘shooting pains’ may result as well, which temporarily release the overload and relieve the pain before the entire process of excessive build-up of volume runs its course again. 
Conversely, where a deficiency, or absence, of normal blood and vital energy circulation occurs, a reduction in normal feeling and sensation develops, resulting in gradual sensations of numbness and sometimes a complete loss of all feeling eventually. Loss of motor control and muscle strength may also develop, with eventual local paralysis as well, if left unresolved. In this instance, the affected area may show a more pale color to the skin, and may feel noticably cooler, or even icy cold, to the touch compared to surrounding skin surfaces. 
In either case, the source or root of the problem, from the perspective of Oriental Medicine, is a partial impediment or a toal blockage of normal blood circulation and vital energy flow. This may be the result of localized trauma injuries in the past, in which blood localized blood vessels were ruptured, and then became blocked with small masses of dead blood cells during healing, or in which the blood vessels were compressed or impinged to an extreme degree, and never opened back up to assume a normal interior diameter again thereafter.
Either way, an internal dam is essentially in place which creates too much stagnant blood and vital energy on one side of the blockage…producing pain…and/or too little blood and vital energy flow on the other side of the blockage…producing numbness and loss of motor control and normal function. Due to the elctro-magnetic nature of the vital energy, and to the presence of electro-magnetic particles in the blood, where vital energy flows…blood circulation will follow, and visa versa. 
The kinds of localized trauma injuries which are capable of creating these situations internally include severe impact injuries with resultant swelling and bruising; serious cuts, including surgical incisions, resulting in the formation of adhesions and scar tissue thereafter; as well as severe puncture wounds; gunshot wounds; bone fractures; and infections which severly traumatized local tissues and blood vessels. 
The key to eliminating such problems, whether pain or loss of normal feeling, is to determine where the blood circulation and vital energy (chi/ki/prana) is impeded or blocked, so that treatment measure can be employed to restore the normal flow of both. 
Hari OM!
Doc
Thanks for your posts people. Jim, I think you’re right in what you’ve said. I just have too much energy coursing around in me right now, particularly in my head causing pain in my nose, cheeks and eyes, mostly on the right side.
As for your post Doc, I agree with the lack of blood circulation that occurs in areas of the body and causes pain. I’ve read about this situation in a book called “The Mindbody Prescription” which describes how the brain triggers the decrease in oxygen supply to areas along the spinal nerve, a theory which many modern doctors believe to be true. They say that it is triggered by emotions such as anger, rage and fear which can occur indefinetely, and I agree, and that the physical conditions are harmless. While I have seen some of my symptoms miraculously dissapear overnight due to suggestion, it is still a good idea to take it easy.
I still need to get my practice routine stable. Is it harmful for me to be practicing siddhasana? I find it a very comfortable sitting position. I still practice my asana routine for 10-15 minutes as provided in the book, and I dont know what else I should be doing besides that. I’ve read that the spinal breathing is a great balancer but I seem to draw up too much energy into my head when I do it for 5 minutes. The meditation practice feels great, but I’m not sure if 10 minutes is enough. I’m doing 15 minutes per session and eventually I want to practice for a standard 20 minutes. I am also interested in samyama. I’d like some suggestions for how I should integrate these practices and where I should begin.
…and
Siddhasana cultivates more energy. If you feel you have an overabundance of energy, you don’t want to cultivate more energy. I’ve tried to explain this, and the lessons do as well. Please let me know how I can clarify further.
Meditation alone (in simple crosslegs) with no add-ons is absolutely sufficient for long term in this practice. Most of the other practices are for adding energy. You don’t need need energy right now in my opinion (and apparently in your opinion as well). You need less.
As for pranayama, yes, it’s a balancer, but as I said, it also creates more energy. If, as you say, You “seem to draw up too much energy into my head when I do it for 5 minutes.”, then, for goodness sake, do it for less than 5 minutes. Cut it in half and see how it goes. Or suspend it entirely. Why do things that increase the problems?
I’d strongly suggest you read the lessons on self-pacing (or reread them if you have already). Increasing practices and launching new ones when you are having symptoms of overdoing is the furthest thing from the intention of AYP. You’re insisting that siddhasana is “comfortable” and meditation “feels great” and your practice seems “stable” at the same time as you are complaining of serious side effects from your practice. I’d invite you to consider the contradiction, and to understand that we judge stability and self-pacing not on what feels good, but on what’s wrong. And you’ve got a lot wrong.
I’ve suggested how to fix it by ratcheting back. You seem to agree on ratcheting back, even as you make plans to move forward (samyama, more meditation, etc). I hope you can witness your inner conflict on this, accept that your practice is creating serious health problems for you, and wisely do what’s necessary to fix the situation, resisting the urge to do more and more because it feels good. You’ve already had a serious scare or two, and I hope more bad results arent’ necessary to persuade you to exercise self-pacing. I wish you all the best come what may, though.
Thanks for your recent reply Jim. Sometimes I have to step back and look at the big picture, and I can see the contradiction you pointed out. I do need to realize that for me right now, less is more. I think what I am afraid of is that I suck at doing these practices and I will be stuck with a short-duration practice for a very long time. I dont know how true that will be, but I experience a lot of deep silence during my day which I should be grateful for. No other meditation practice has done this for me so well.
I created a million bad samskaras during my teenage years and also with other yoga practices, lots of failures and problems that have been hard on my nervous system. I probably should just cool down a bit while I have a chance.
Let me offer this encouragement. I, too, have tons of energy. I, too ratcheted back to just about nothing. I’m just doing meditation and some pranyama, and only added samyama fairly recently. And my yoga practice has utterly transformed my life.
Be grateful for the energy. You have more juice than most people, and you don’t need to resort to lots of tricks to get that juice to flow. You need energy management, not cultivation. it’s doing you harm, not good.
This practice is not about energy…energy is just a means to the end. And the end is a deep abiding peacefulness. The way you’re headed is (I think you will yourself have to confess) away from that. You’re hung up on energy: on the irrational desire to cultivate more and on the urgent need to stem the damage created by already having too much.
I’d suggest taking EVERYTHING down a notch or ten. You need to find some stillness. The energy is interfering with that. Your ambition is interfering with that. Your self-judgment (and self-punishment) is interfering with that.
Here’s the answer: simplify. Sit on a pillow and say “I am” for a few mins per day. Do it like you’re brushing your teeth. Without goal or direction or striving. Don’t think about it, just do it (or, better, HAVE IT DONE TO YOU). All the weight and messy issues will shed and leave you unburdened. I promise you it’s true. Simplify and stop pushing.
I’m agreeing with what you say Jim. I need to sit down and practice ayam like brushing my teeth twice a day. I’ve really been punishing myself, and the right side of my face is on fire. It is painful for me to smile. I’m not going to do my asana routine tomorrow, and my body has felt jittery all day long.
Do you think in a couple days it would be safe to pick up the short asana routine, with some modifications to tone down twists and backbends? I need some real self-healing.
Doc, thanks for your post. It was a reminder for me that increasing blood flow is important. The easiest way to do that is to do physical excercise. It is not working locally, but in the whole system, and at least it is a great help for me to get rid of extra energy. It decreases any local pain I might have, and also bring me better sleep, also a help to self-pace.
Are you doing any physical excercise, Iced Earth?
Yes emc, I exercise daily. I go for a brisk walk for at least 30 minutes in the morning, and I do some push ups and crunches on most days. For the past few weeks I’ve done a short asana session before my meditation but when I paired it with pranayama I think it created too much energy. I want to continue doing the asanas to maintain flexibility and good health but I think I should wait a little longer, maybe a couple days before I pick it back up.
Btw, thanks Jim for helping me to move towards a stable practice. You’ve spoken to me like a good friend.
Look, this is a self-directed practice, so I hate to direct you in specifics. But you asked, and I’m worried about you, so let me stand in just this once for your inner guru.
Don’t even imagine doing a backbend for 6 months. Backbends are energizing. Don’t do ANYTHING energizing. C’mon, Iced (if I may call you Iced)! You’re smart and rational. Break down this situation. It’s not that complex: too much energy. Must manage energy. Must not create more energy!
Don’t do any grueling asana (do asana like a pregnant exhausted woman, if at all - here’s a good book: “Relax and Renew” by Judith Lasater). Don’t do anything that gets you all pepped up. Favor relaxation. Favor peace. Favor stillness. Favor silence.
Have a normal life, stop all this striving in the name of spirituality which is taking you away from spirituality (and away from health!). Perk down. Walk a lot. Do some gentle spinal twists. And say ayam for 15 mins per day. Don’t add anything else. Don’t seek to “progress”. Recoup and regroup. Put your mind into real world interaction. Come down. For months (not hours, not days, not weeks). Frankly, I think the meditation will go so well under these conditions that you may never add back much asana, or siddhasana or the other stuff. We’ll see, though.
That’s my advice. Needless to say, all choices are yours!
If you’re itching beyond restraint to do more, learn more, work more, take up Tai Chi. Very grounding. Yogani does it (or, at least, did it). But I"d strongly advise against getting into the other Taoist practices at this point. Just the Tai Chi.
One more aspect to ponder:
When you make less effort then you don’t loose what you have gained/learned so far.
Or, to put it another way: sometimes our effort means to make less effort !
Of course, less effort takes effort…
only when you make an effort… Surrender is the key… 