It's been great to hear from people who have had similar experiences, it's ridiculously reassuring.
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@Shargol: It's been really clarifying to hear about how some people have more physical experiences, while some people have more 'mental'. It's nice to know that it's not a problem that people who have a mental experience may relate to the process differently (and vice versa). I will follow up on your suggestion and read through some practice journals to get a feel for other people's experiences, too. Doing my best to build a bit of a support network

@SVMonk: I'm really interested in your hypothesis about what might be happening in the brain with the "rushes" or energy flow. Culdasa mentions something similar in a footnote in the Mind Illuminated, through in a briefer and less detailed way. I have begun trying to cultivate a more neutral attitude towards them; I've also stopped trying to control or manipulate them in any way, or purposely experience pleasure. I feel like I may have shaken things up or upset some kind of balance when I did that.
@Anna: It's great to read your post. I would love to talk and hear more about your story. It seems that everyone is saying quite similar things.
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In regards to how I'm doing, it's okay. This past week was really, really hard, but things have settled down a little. My sleep has, for the most part, returned to normal, mainly because I've stopped resisting sensations.
Over the past few days I've had a lot of sensate activity in the jaw area, a lot of uncomfortable pulsing, throbbing and movement. There's also has been neck pain arising, though it's not as frequent, but can be accompanied by heat or warmth. There's been nausea on two occasions, on at least one of them it seemed like everything (sensate experience: primarily visual) was shaking very fast. At times there has been pressure in the head. Today, for a while, I was experience strong itches, as well as pains, over the body, accompanied by burning sensations; everything felt pretty uncomfortable. The energy flow has settled down; there have been no kriyas for a couple days, aside from the toes curling; I think this could be due to stopping practice. There has been heat and tingling in the feet a lot, and less frequently the hands. There's also times where everything seems to slow down and things feel altered and dreamy: I have the strongest aversion to this one. I would much prefer to deal with the uncomfortable sensations. Oh, there’s also intermittent periods where there is a strong emotional component of awe and wonder.
Eve n though the energy stuff has settled for a moment, as soon as I wake, I'm aware of all of the sensations of the body constantly shifting, changing moving. It doesn't scare me like it did before, though it can be a little annoying. A lot of my daily experience feels this way at the moment.
My short-term gameplan for now, based on the consistent advice I've received, is to:
1) Have a consistent exercise routine; I'm aiming for daily exercise
2) Eat regular, heavy meals, including meat (my flexible vegetarian diet has become much more flexible, lol)
3) Potentially introduce some body work like qigong and/or yoga
4) Make time to do grounding activities, including getting out in nature more; I've started scheduling some of this
5) Speaking to others who have been through this process as much as I can; finding people who can help in the difficult times
6) I've also massively cut down on caffeine and alcohol, for what it's worth
I also need to find a way forward past the dukkha nanas. For the moment, I've taken the foot off the gas, hoping for things to settle down; they have to some extent. However, I need to move forward while being able to balance work and responsibilties. I don't plan to do any more body scanning, as several people have cautioned against this. Though, I need to work on a solid plan for how to move forward with practice. Kenneth wants me to be doing precise moments of mindfulness, through noting, staying with the sensation for a while, not noting too fast, but noticing changes -- throughout the day -- even if I'm not sitting for now. A lot of the time, it seems like I’m mindful and aware of sensation, even if I didn’t really want to be: my attention is very easily there (at least, compared to how my attention was before). It seems unavoidable for now.
A part of me would like to try and give everything up for a while, to see if things return to normal. However, almost everyone has told me that this is very unlikely to happen.
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On a side note, related to Anna's comment... I need to get through the dark night first, but I'm thinking of doing a PhD to look into this in the future, likely in neuroscience/cognitive neuroscience. I did get accepted for a PhD in mindfulness and compassion a couple of years ago, though it was before I knew, or had experiences, any of this. I turned it down to pursue clinical work first, due to circumstances and how the registration process works in Australia. If anyone knows any researchers actively working in the area, who are familiar with the 'deep end' side of things, could you please PM me their names?
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A few of open questions.
I've heard a lot of people say that crossing the A&P is a point of no return. However, I've also heard people say that they've gone below the A&P and then had to work their way up. What do people think of this? Does anyone know people who crossed the A&P, gave up and then returned to their normal lives and experience?
Also, what do people feel about concentration practices after crossing? I’m not sure what to make of this. I know Kenneth just wants me to mindful to get me through to the other side. Other people mention concentration, calm abiding and/or focusing on breathing to build tranquillity/whatever. However, with the increased awareness of the changing, shifting nature of experience, is it possible to do that in the dukkha nanas?
Anna recommended metta meditation to help with the dark night. What do other people think of that practice in this stage?