Insight meditation and upward energy flow

M N, modified 9 Years ago at 4/7/14 10:29 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 4/7/14 10:28 AM

Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 210 Join Date: 3/3/12 Recent Posts
Hi!

For the past few months I've been doing mostly energy practices; now I'm thinking of coming back to vipassana again and I have a problem I'd like someone's input about.

So, basically I've become quite sensitive to energy moviments; relatively small sollicitations cause quite strong results on me. Now, I've noticed that everytime I practice vipassana a whole-body upward energy moviment, is created, and such flow is quite destabiliing.

I have the sense that practicing insight 24/7 would be quite dangerous for my health, as that kind of flow tends to hit the physical body quite quickly.

So, did anyone here have similar problems? If so, how'd you deal with it?
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Daniel M Ingram, modified 9 Years ago at 4/9/14 4:32 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 4/9/14 4:32 AM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 3268 Join Date: 4/20/09 Recent Posts
First general recommendation:

Backing off practice will generally reduce unpleasant symptoms. There are exceptions, but it holds most of the time.

Other thoughts:

If energy is rising, lay down and gently move it down. It may take time. Find where the energy is and then gently put the attention just below it and hold it there a while, maybe minutes, maybe 10s of minutes, feeling the energy slowly moving down into wherever awareness is, and then find the lower edge of the energy, put the attention there and then just slightly lower, and hold the attention there gently, moving the energy down. In this way, stepwise and slowly and deliberately, the energy will follow attention and move gradually down. Learning this is a skill like anything else. Do not rush this, as it is not as likely to work. Take your time, be deliberate and steady.

It can sometimes take a while to do this, like an hour, but if you are patient and gentle but steadily attentive, it will likely respond to your persistent and consistent intentions. Stop when it gets down just a few finger-breadths below the navel and hold it there a while, enjoying what the energy can feel like when it gets down there. See if that helps.

Daniel
M N, modified 9 Years ago at 4/9/14 10:09 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 4/9/14 9:55 AM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 210 Join Date: 3/3/12 Recent Posts
Hi!

My problem is not that I have a constant upward energy flow; it's more like, now it's April, and this makes two years spent in EQ nana. Now, after a lot of time spent doing mostly energy work, I'd like to switch to insight practices; it doesn't really feel like the next path is far away, not if the ease I can rise to a well-defined fourth vipassana jhana is a good marker; the problem is thatI noticed that, no matter what insight technique I use (it can be anything, from staying at a very fluxing level to watching impermanence in sounds to doing fast noting while walking), that creates immediatly an whole bodied upward energy flow, in a way thatis similar to what would happen ifI were focusing on the crown for awhile. It's not about energy going up in a particular location, it's more like, it feels like every cell of my body is uniformly rising up. Just doing vipassana for about 20 min before going to sleep causes minor physical problems the day after (sore throat, contractions being created in the intestins/solarplexus area), and to make things coming back to normal again I have to spend the next day a few hours breathing into my feets, wich creates a whole-body downward energy flow.
Now, 20 min are enought to go into a very nice fourth vipassana jhana and are also enought to create minor physical problems the next day; my concern is that if I were to practice insight it for a few days constantly, that might cause some more serious problem, as that kind of upward flow is notoriously destabilizing (as I said, it feels quite the same as if I were focusing on the crown), and I seem to be quite sensitive to these stimulations.

I can certainly do things to move energy downward; however, I find myself unable to do that and vipassanize the act, it seems like it's still beyond my reach.

More details: according to my observations, when there is a sensation in the body, that form of energy needs necessarily to get discharged outside; this happens either from specific points in the body (i.e. the joints), or from places where there is a huge concentration of little pores sending energy out and taking energy in from the environment (those are feet, hands, lips, eyes, the big homunculus's body parts); also, a small part of the energy rises up tothe third eye, and from there there is the intention to react, and that intention goes downward; another part of it cretes thoughts, and another small amount stays in the body, wich creates energy blockages; now, if I chose to see sensations clearly, energies do not follow any of those pathways, but get entirely discharged from the crown, wich might explain why seeing things clearly has on me the same effect than focusing there.
Vic Douglas, modified 9 Years ago at 6/18/14 6:34 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 6/18/14 6:34 PM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 13 Join Date: 4/13/13 Recent Posts
Hi Mario,

I have the same problem. I close my eyes to do vipassana and I feel that energy rising to my head. This has been going on for years. I had to leave vipassana for the same. But if I don't meditate I feel so awful. So then I medidate and the energy starts going to the crown. This started after I did  tantric intimacy practices.

When I eat food, the I feel energy/stuff rising to my head too. I am at my wits end. I am suffering really bad. Kindly let me know if you find a solution for the same.

I have tried to bring energy down as mentioned by Daniel several times and it just magnifies the energy and make me more uncomfortable.I have to mention here that I have tried to bring energy down for 5-8 minutes on each occasion and not any longer.
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tom moylan, modified 9 Years ago at 6/19/14 1:27 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 6/19/14 1:27 AM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 896 Join Date: 3/7/11 Recent Posts
Howdy Mario,
I've been in that phase for some months now although it is at present not problematic for me. My "energy" is concentrated heavily in the head.

When it began to predominate it was very blissful and because it was quite a change from a looong reobservation stint, I preferred it to the point of attachment.

I found Vimilaramsi's advice helpful.  He submits that this concentration of "energy" is craving and suggests relaxing as the solution.  In a post earlier this week about thailand, Simon mentions a particular form of vipassana which has a step of body focus added to it.   This may help you.

Good luck!

tom
Nicolas G, modified 5 Years ago at 9/15/18 5:24 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 9/15/18 5:24 AM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 27 Join Date: 1/4/18 Recent Posts
Vic,

It have been a long time since your posts about energy.

Please, could you update? I'm interested to know what happened.

metta.
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streamsurfer, modified 5 Years ago at 9/15/18 2:27 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 9/15/18 2:27 PM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 101 Join Date: 1/19/16 Recent Posts
Hello,

I had energy problems too when I focussed mainly on the head and upper body regions in vipassana.

Now I learnt the following vipassana technique which clears energy imbalances really well:

Note rising of your belly
Note falling
Note sitting
Note one body point* with "touch"
start again with rising

If something else draws your attention, note "stop" and then note the thing, then return to rising

*bodypoints are in this order: (do right side first, then left side)
lower back, butt check bottom, knees outide, feet outside, top of feet, knee inside, thigh inside, hip bone front, belly middle, shoulders front, shoulders back, back middle, lower back
Nicolas G, modified 5 Years ago at 9/16/18 4:13 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 9/16/18 4:13 AM

RE: Insight meditation and upward energy flow

Posts: 27 Join Date: 1/4/18 Recent Posts
Thanks for sharing, I will try it.

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