Zoe: I don't know if this is the sort of thing you are looking for? - http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/browse?th=Chanting and Ritual
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I think the thing is, meditating when you are suffering from pain, or fatigue, or various discomforts (all of which of course I have too) is not the same as trying to meditate when your body is literally panicking. And that is what mine does. It is like my body is on high alert all of the time, and the slightest noise sends it into overdrive and my whole body reacts as if a tiger just jumped out of the wardrobe and is going to eat me!
And once this reaction starts, my body stays on red alert for a long time. I would say that when I do get quiet, I can still reach a meditative state when I am suffering pain, fatigue and various discomforts, because I can still calm my body and enter into a state of consciousness where I am aware of these things, but they are not causing me suffering. However, when I am in the panic state due to my noise sensitivity (or other things can set it off too), I cannot calm my body (well, I can calm my emotions a little, but my body will still be panicking), so I find it impossible to enter into any different state of consciousness.
Interesting post, RecoverySoon.
Yes I do know what you are saying. I have been taught this many times at the centre I go to (well, used to. I'm finally having to admit that I'm too ill to go). I also read an excellent book on this very thing: Living Well With Pain and Illness by Vidyamala Burch.
It has, however, not worked out when it comes to this particular problem. This has pained me a great deal, as I love Buddhism so much, and I have been very confused as to why I cannot maintain my mindfulness or my meditations when my body starts reacting to noise.
I think the thing is, meditating when you are suffering from pain, or fatigue, or various discomforts (all of which of course I have too) is not the same as trying to meditate when your body is literally panicking. And that is what mine does. It is like my body is on high alert all of the time, and the slightest noise sends it into overdrive and my whole body reacts as if a tiger just jumped out of the wardrobe and is going to eat me!
And once this reaction starts, my body stays on red alert for a long time. I would say that when I do get quiet, I can still reach a meditative state when I am suffering pain, fatigue and various discomforts, because I can still calm my body and enter into a state of consciousness where I am aware of these things, but they are not causing me suffering. However, when I am in the panic state due to my noise sensitivity (or other things can set it off too), I cannot calm my body (well, I can calm my emotions a little, but my body will still be panicking), so I find it impossible to enter into any different state of consciousness.
And I do not find just being aware of the reaction in my body useful. It actually tends to make the reaction worse. If I distract myself, generally my body panics less, but if I stay with the panic, even if I stay emotionally calm, it only grows and grows until it eventually becomes so bad that it is intolerable.
Thanks for your book suggestion. Here's a good one as well: "Full Catastrophe Living" by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. He started the MBSR- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Clinic in the early 70's in the basement of UMASS Medical Center, and put terminal patients (and patients with panic disorder) through an 8 week mindfulness course. 30 years later, the program is utilized to great success in over 250 medical clinics worldwide.
Wow Recovery Soon, I wish you were a local teacher!
I remembered to be kind to myself and accept my own limitations and simply do what I can do. .
I helped noise sensitivity (low Seratonin) with supplements so that is 90% better. It was awful before that.
Zoe - Thanks. I have actually tried flower remedies, homeopathic remedies, and I have been having acupuncture for a long time! I have not found flower remedies or homeopathic remedies useful, but acupuncture has been very useful. I have tried countless therapies over the years, and acupuncture is the only one that has significantly helped me. And yes I have had an 'ear seed' in before, and have had needles in my ears. Never found the ear stuff that useful personally though, but acupuncture in general has helped me loads.
It's interesting what you say about valium. My mum has said a thousand times I should try it, but have always been reluctant as I always thought that it would only help in the short term anyway, and wouldn't solve anything. It's interesting to hear you've tried it and being very pleased with the results though. How long did you take it for? And how frequently do you take it now? I'm not on any prescription drugss Have actually avoided them for years now, mainly because I do not trust doctors. During the early stages of my illness, I followed doctors advice and took many different drugs, all of which made me worse. I then took on their really bad advice (telling me to push myself and walk every day no matter what, despite the fact that I was mainly bedbound and actually pretty severe at the time), and got much much worse. I eventually lost all trust in doctors, and decided that in Britain at least, most doctors knew nothing about the illness, and so I would stay well away and if necessary suffer without the help of drugs. However, looking back I now wonder if this was the best decision, as there are many drugs that could possibly help me, but I have never tried.
I'll check out Waking The Tiger
I'm curious about this too. I still think it's a tricky business, neurotransmitters. I think about 80% are in the gut as well, so often it's changes in the gut that end up bringing such things into balance, it's a funny thing that the SSRIs have brought the idea of chemical imbalance into the world as though it's reality. I don't mean to doubt their importance, just that it's a bit like nailing jello to the wall in my experience!What supplements??
Recovery soon, I didn't mean to imply you were a teacher--you are just inspirational in your wording and thoughts and I was wishing that things were different and someone like yourself was local to me... Or maybe just wishing a local teacher spoke as well as you! For some reason, my town is populated with several groups all practicing a "fast-track to enlightenment" process that just does not speak to me.
Thanks for the compliment, Zoe. I actually would like to teach meditation one day. I agree with your fast track to enlightenment aversion. That's a pretty telltale sign of a charlatan.
I see mindfulness as being a way to practice our own activities with a clear thought & focused attention.
Whereas, I see positive thinking as being channelling our thoughts down a specific path. I think many people mistake meditation as being going somewhere. I think of it as being in the moment & emptying your mind of thoughts & distractions.
I see meditation as a personal, inner thing.
Zoe, do you think that maybe the "fast track camps" are all about direction & movement, perhaps (ie. not being in the moment)?
It's difficult for me to withhold judgment about people thinking mindfulness is about getting somewhere (else) fast.
I see mindfulness as being a way to practice our own activities with a clear thought & focused attention.
Whereas, I see positive thinking as being channelling our thoughts down a specific path. I think many people mistake meditation as being going somewhere. I think of it as being in the moment & emptying your mind of thoughts & distractions.
Victoria,
I don't know why there are so many of the "fast track camps" where I am except that the town is small and is made up of many non-working people (myself included ) who have quite a lot of money. There is so much "healing" work here: reiki, energy healing, re-birthing, several fast-track groups, many yoga classes which people attend up to 10x/week, etc. Basically a lot of practitioners who practice for pretty high fees. Not everyone is like that of course, but even until recently, I would describe it as a semi-concierge community. I should state that most of the people doing all of this healing work are what we would call the 'healthy' population. I think there's a pace to it, definitely about moving forward, overcoming, "The Secret" type-of stuff and thinking.