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Dealing With Agitation

Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/6/13 4:30 PM
Greetings, this is my first post on the DO.

I've been having trouble dealing with physical agitation and restlessness while meditating. These sensations originate from the mind/emotions as symptoms of bipolar disorder. They also occur in other patience-testing tasks such as academic studying. They make it very difficult to sit without fidgeting for any period of time. I currently sit for ten minutes at a time. I have tried a variety of techniques but I always return to the breath counting/belly breathing of rinzai zen.

I'd like to note that my bipolar is otherwise under control at this time so I don't think it is a matter of medication or other medical treatment.

Also, I decided to post here because I am using a concentration technique.

Thanks for reading,
Noah

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/8/13 5:44 AM as a reply to Noah Starbuck.
Hi Noah,

Welcome to this forum.

I'd like to note that my bipolar is otherwise under control at this time so I don't think it is a matter of medication or other medical treatment.

Also, I decided to post here because I am using a concentration technique.
Good to know. There's a tremendous group of sincere and studious folks here, so hopefully it will be a useful place for you to share your experiences, get support, get queried, get teacher and retreat resources, give your own suggestions and so on.

Good luck with your practice,
Katy

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/8/13 10:16 AM as a reply to katy steger.
Thanks Katy,
I look forward to participating in discussions and hopefully developing more specific questions for future posts.

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/8/13 8:21 PM as a reply to Noah Starbuck.
I spend my mediation time doing concentration practice as well. Often, especially when I first started meditating, I felt restless and strongly wanted to stop and end my sitting. What I ended up doing instead was to notice the feeling, accept it, then return back to following the breath (repeating each time the sensation of restlessness came up). I came to see this experience as a sort of conditioning, in the sense that after experiencing the desire to stop, and sitting through it, after some weeks and months, it became easier, and the feeling prompting me to stop gradually went away. I was able to increase my sitting time as I became stronger.

This article was helpful for me at that time.

Strength Training for the Mind

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/8/13 9:20 PM as a reply to Noah Starbuck.
Hey, how's practice going? So you have BPD? I suppose that could make the ups and downs of meditation more apparent. You say you're doing a concentration technique. What is your aim? Are you doing vipassana or trying to get into jhanas? Are you familiar with the stages of insight? Have you ever crossed the A&P in meditation? Also, what is the nature of the agitation? Is it mental or physical?

I ask because when I started meditating, I was trying to do jhana based on the descriptions in the pali, but not having success, and experiencing feelings of restlessness and agitation manifesting as itches and uncomfortable feelings in the body. After reading Daniel Ingram's book, I learned about vipassana, and switched to a technique that made use of all sensations, that didn't rely on getting into pleasant jhanic states. As a result, I changed my approach and used willpower and determination to completely accept the unpleasant sensations of restlessness and itching. [1] By watching them, these feelings grew in intensity, and eventually gave way to the nana of the Arising and Passing Away. This was my big first breakthrough in meditation, and all I had to do was just tune in to the annoying things.

I'm not an expert but from what worked for me, if you want to make progress in insight practice, I recommend trying to approach the unpleasant sensations as gold, and stick with those unpleasant sensations as the main focus. Basically, through a lot of effort and determination, concentration should ramp up and the A&P may result. Oddly enough, after I switched to vipassana and crossed the A&P, jhana access became available quickly, compared to the months spent trying to follow the breath and getting to the state of restlessness.

Good luck! All the best to you!

[1] This state of agitation and restlessness may correspond to the nana of 3 Characteristics. I've read that most people experience this stage with a lot of solid bodily pain and tension, but for me, on the physical level, it consists primarily of itches and crawling feelings across my skin.

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
7/13/13 10:25 AM as a reply to Mind over easy.
Getting agitated by agitation itself merely propagates the agitation. To attenuate the signal of agitation, when one notices the agitation, use some technique to harness the energy potential and redirect it. Of course this will take time to build the habit energy. Just like when one notices he isnt mindful in meditation, there is no reason to fret over not having maintained perfect awareness - just return to the breath, return to whatever constructive protocol one wishes to implement that will harness a sort of 'negative' energy potential and create something positive of it.

Like an old master once said wrt/ thoughts arising during meditation,

"Leave the front door open, and leave the back door open - but do not invite them to stay for tea."

Mindfully NOT furthering the agitation and importantly, having a positive, constructive redirection for the energy potential is a good approach, but requires establishing, changing that habit-energy.

RE: Dealing With Agitation
Answer
12/20/13 6:43 AM as a reply to Mind over easy.
Thanks for your responses,

Mind over easy-

I can usually let the agitation ensue and experience mindfully but there are also many times when it "floods" into my perception/attention, making meditation impossible.

I got some really good advice from a roshi who said that my agitation is simply the same meditation pains (mental and physical) that everyone experiences but at a higher amplitude. He advised me to just be that amplitude- become one with the agitation rather than seeking to observe it mindfully. The advise does work sometimes.

Dan Cooney-

Energetic practices have worked for me in the past. Generally, if I can actively feel shakti in a practice (with or without a teacher), it provides me with enough 'nourishment' to counteract the agitation.

-Noah