Body health disrupting meditation practice

[Zack]

I'm sure this topic has been touched on elsewhere on the forum but I'm not sure where to find it. It seems a reasonable degree of good health is necessary to maintain a solid meditation practice and I'm wondering what others' experience with this has been.

I came home yesterday in the early evening and at the same time felt like I was 'lapsing out' of the material. I felt myself entering a meditative state spontaneously. I dropped my backpack and got out of my dirty work clothes and without much of any thought sat down (semi-reclining on my bed) and entered into a peaceful meditation for probably something like 30 minutes. After that I came out of it and it seemed obvious I wasn't going to get any more out of that moment or the position I was in, so I moved to a seated position on a pillow on the floor and went back at it. This phase of meditation wasn't particularly satisfying at all! It seemed to really just be an exploration of inflammation and pain. After a few minutes I became increasingly aware of the amount of inflammation in my body and the structural difficulties I have (skeletal, muscular, whatever else) and despite trying to maintain a good posture my upper body eventually painfully crumbled out of it and I had to stop. I immediately lay back on the floor in shavasana and tried to continue, but couldn't get into a good space and gave up. I spent a little while treating the pain and inflammation but ended up going to sleep.

Has anyone else found health problems to be too overwhelming to keep up a good practice? How do you deal with that? Minor health issues don't usually deter me but more often than not I have lingering problems stemming from immune problems and underlying inflammation (for one thing I have had and probably still have Lyme disease). Right now I am coming out of several weeks of sickness, which went from a terrible throat infection to intense congestion to severe double pink eye. Those have all passed but I now have a swollen lymph system and am trying to get that to flush. One day at its worst I could barely swallow and that too was more of an interruption than something I could just let go of and ignore. Do you just accept whatever amount of meditation you can muster, or do you try to be a little more persistent in meditating through the pain? I feel some days I may have given up too easily but other times my body is genuinely disruptive.

[Cal]

Hey Zack, nice to see you again as well. Some years back i herniated 6 discs in my back, and ruptured another, all work related. Ive struggled with back pain since. My own experiences with absorption and pain have been to ignore the pain and the session would take the pain away. It felt like it dulled it, then absorbed it, the session would actually make me have less pain afterwards. it was difficult for me at first to not get frustrated with the pain and let it be a distraction. What helped with this was seperating it, calling the pain a pain of the body and not of the spirit. I can only speak from my own experience though, as i know pain has been a distraction for other mystics, at least from what ive read.

[Zack]

Thanks, that makes sense. Sometimes I've found sickness can almost be a help, like my body feels like such a dead-weight that it's easy to plop down and let it all go. Other times it's not so easy. I will probably try more laying down meditation.

It seems like I spend an awful lot of energy tending to my body so that it's well enough to let go of it!

[Jhanananda]

Hello, Zack, sorry to read about your inflammatory conditions.  Many of us with chronic pain find that pain can be an aide to meditation, as Cal, pointed out; however, it is better to live a lifestyle that does not stress out your body and/or mind.

I found practicing hatha yoga daily helped me deal with chronic pain, but I found overall radical lifestyle change was in order.

You may find increasing the levels of Anthocyanin in your diet helpful, as I have.  If your body can tolerate high levels of carbohydrates, then you could enjoy eating black berries, concord grapes, black cherries, etc., and find they reduce your inflammatory condition.

[Zack]

Yes, it seems a holistic approach of eliminating general stress and antagonizers would be the best way to make my health problems not be such an overbearing nuisance. Lyme disease and other conditions I've had have led to chronic problems which I don't expect to fully go away, but reducing them some would help. Which is what I do try to do, but I guess I have to renew my efforts. Thanks for the responses.

[Zack]

After a few weeks of relatively good health and some deep, fulfilling meditations, I've dipped back into a phase of tired, ill health. I am sure Lyme disease is still with me. I have been pondering the possibility that I will not have enough energy in this lifetime to be very successful as a mystic, as that seems like a probable possibility. I wake up many days feeling like I've just been physically beaten, my heart feels weak, and my knees will often barely let me walk up a flight of stairs. I can feel the aging process acutely, combined and intertwined with illness. Coffee is sometimes the only thing that gets me up and around, though I really don't like drinking it because of the mental stimulation.

I have a hard time keeping track of these forums and the meditation know-how that's imparted here, but from what I can remember, it seems to me I spend a lot of time in the hypersensitive transition between the 2nd and 3rd jhanas. The auditory ringing is with me all day (sometimes deafeningly so; one day after a long sojourn into a nearby hollow I sat in truck with my head slumped over hearing what sounded like jet engines in my ears) and is what I focus on first when meditating, and I eventually move into feeling prickly sensations all over, or itching, or a heat... but not right now, because my energy feels dead. I feel sapped of vitality by the grip of whatever is inside me, bacteria or whatever it is.

[bodhimind]

After a few weeks of relatively good health and some deep, fulfilling meditations, I've dipped back into a phase of tired, ill health. I am sure Lyme disease is still with me. I have been pondering the possibility that I will not have enough energy in this lifetime to be very successful as a mystic, as that seems like a probable possibility. I wake up many days feeling like I've just been physically beaten, my heart feels weak, and my knees will often barely let me walk up a flight of stairs. I can feel the aging process acutely, combined and intertwined with illness. Coffee is sometimes the only thing that gets me up and around, though I really don't like drinking it because of the mental stimulation.

I have a hard time keeping track of these forums and the meditation know-how that's imparted here, but from what I can remember, it seems to me I spend a lot of time in the hypersensitive transition between the 2nd and 3rd jhanas. The auditory ringing is with me all day (sometimes deafeningly so; one day after a long sojourn into a nearby hollow I sat in truck with my head slumped over hearing what sounded like jet engines in my ears) and is what I focus on first when meditating, and I eventually move into feeling prickly sensations all over, or itching, or a heat... but not right now, because my energy feels dead. I feel sapped of vitality by the grip of whatever is inside me, bacteria or whatever it is.

Have you tried active/walking meditation, perhaps? There are some people who report doing qigong and it has helped out with lyme's disease (like here and here ). There is a lot of research going on in Western circles about alternative medicine as well, which shows how these things can help alleviate the symptoms. Hope you get better.

[Jhanananda]

Sorry to read of your health problems, Zack.  However, from your report it does sound like you have made considerable progress in your meditation, so keep up with attending to the charisms that you are experiencing.

You might try Anthocyanin, which is a natural anti-inflammatory.  It has helped me tremendously with my inflammatory arthritis.

[Cal]

Ya know man, if youre ever back around the tricities area I'd love to meet up with ya. I've heard some really good things about group meditations with other mystics. The 2 of us might even be able to talk Jason into participating here more, its good for him.

I am sorry to hear that your health is weighing so heavily on you. I know how it goes. It seems anyway that were able to suffer, is a way we most definitely end up suffering.

Yesterday I had a tooth bothering me. It seemed like a dull pain, but when i went in for my meditation sit, that theory disappeared rather quickly. That dull pain turned to excruciating and it felt as though my head was going to explode. I sat with this pain that did dull some as I absorbed, yet this particular session was cut short, around 40 minutes due to being unable to bear with the pain. I see these experiences as tests man. They also provide a hidden gift. I can forget, at times, that the world and its occupants are mad. That there might be some happiness in living with it. But stupid tooth aches during meditation sits, or inflamtion, or other pains and discomfort is a big road sign pointing to reality. This world, and this life, is suffering. Just gotta keep pushing on, liberation is there, it is real and can be had.

[Zack]

Thanks, to all. Physically I felt better today but I am also dealing with near catatonic depression.

bodhimind, yes, I have tried qigong, but as I think Jhananda said in one thread, it can often be a little too cognitive trying to remember the forms as I'm practicing, so despite trying I've never found it to be something I can integrate well into my daily life. There are a few forms I've internalized to the point where I can do them almost automatically, but generally I'm not very good at it.

I've had a few different illnesses over the past 15 years or so, so I've tried different types of alternative medicine and acupuncture, along with Chinese herbal therapy, has by far been the most helpful (though my acupuncturist says he thinks qigong can be the most powerful form of Chinese medicine). But I can't afford it at the moment, nor afford much of anything. I should try to muster a little more resolve and discipline and practice qigong, but then that's where depression comes in, as well as memory problems.

I know that I am grappling with the principle of Saturn in my life (among many other energies, which are all a holistic experience and which everyone has, but Saturn is pronounced for me). I have a conjunction of Mars and Saturn in the sign of Scorpio in my natal chart, and I confront in a very visceral and bodily-felt way how that planetary alignment at the time I was born affects me, every day. And as my progressed Moon (progressions being one facet of how the natal chart evolves throughout the life) has been moving through Scorpio for the past year or two, I've been presented with all this to really truly deal with, and... well it hasn't gone as well as I would like. The only way I can describe it is like taking a slow and jerky elevator ride down into my subconscious programming and witnessing all these subterranean survival instincts and anxieties up close, and a process of purging the emotions I've stored somatically over the years. But then I feel like I'm just generating more, so it's like treading water, making a tiny bit of progress, treading more water...

Cal, I would get that tooth looked at. I had some overdue dental work done this year (including getting a tooth extracted which still hasn't healed completely after three months; another reason I can tell Lyme is still present) and I'm so glad I did. And where is the tri-cities area?

[Sam Lim]

Neem and Lyme Disease

http://www.curezone.org/forums/am.asp?i=1520671

If you should require the neem products, I can give it to you. I will personally go and pluck the leaves and dry them and grind them into powder for you. Do message me your address and in time I will send them to you.

I know that I am grappling with the principle of Saturn in my life (among many other energies, which are all a holistic experience and which everyone has, but Saturn is pronounced for me). I have a conjunction of Mars and Saturn in the sign of Scorpio in my natal chart, and I confront in a very visceral and bodily-felt way how that planetary alignment at the time I was born affects me, every day. And as my progressed Moon (progressions being one facet of how the natal chart evolves throughout the life) has been moving through Scorpio for the past year or two, I've been presented with all this to really truly deal with, and... well it hasn't gone as well as I would like. The only way I can describe it is like taking a slow and jerky elevator ride down into my subconscious programming and witnessing all these subterranean survival instincts and anxieties up close, and a process of purging the emotions I've stored somatically over the years. But then I feel like I'm just generating more, so it's like treading water, making a tiny bit of progress, treading more water...

Even though I have written in the forum about astrology, I would encourage any one not to have full faith in it. You create your own destiny.

bodhimind, yes, I have tried qigong, but as I think Jhananda said in one thread, it can often be a little too cognitive trying to remember the forms as I'm practicing, so despite trying I've never found it to be something I can integrate well into my daily life. There are a few forms I've internalized to the point where I can do them almost automatically, but generally I'm not very good at it.

I will post here a simple method of qi-gong. Whether you want to practice it, will be your own discretion.

Lie down on the floor or bed
Put your both your palms besides your navel chakra
Breathe in slowly until your stomach is 75% full and should be bloated
Hold on for about 3 to 5 seconds
Exhale slowly and repeat the process
It's best to do half an hour every day

It should help you to amass energy faster
This method have been proven to help and heal people.

[Zack]

Even though I have written in the forum about astrology, I would encourage any one not to have full faith in it. You create your own destiny.

That may be true about destiny, but I respectfully disagree on astrology. It only has certain uses (those being within the realm of describing time and space, not the immaterial, or so it seems), but I've never met anyone that's dismissive of it that has also applied a sustained study of it.

Thanks for the qigong exercise. I'll definitely try it out.