Need help. Suffering after doing Isha foundation Inner Engineering program

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello All,

I am 25 year old working male. I need help to get balance in my body again which i lost after doing Inner Engineering program from Isha foundation. Let me describe the whole situation.

I did the IE program in January 2013. After doing this i was very impressed by the talk and all the information shared during program. During the program we were taught yoga practice [whole shambhavi mahamudra process] and at the end of program we were asked to continue at least for 40 days twice a day in empty stomach condition. That time i was sharing my room with one of my room partner so that was not possible for me to continue the practice so after program i haven’t did any practice. But i kept following isha foundation over the youtube and watched almost every video.

In Oct 2013 i shifted in new apartment where i was having my separate room so i decided to start practice. As i have subscribed to isha foundation mailing list so i was getting update about all the isha foundation future program and practice correction session. So before starting practice i attended practice correction session and made sure that i do the practice in right way. After joining 2 practice correction program i started isha yoga at home. After doing yoga practice 4-5 days at home i started to have negative thought and less focused on my work. So i contacted one of Isha yoga teacher and told him the situation. He suggested to continue the practice and said in starting our body may resist so continue the practice.

During this period i was also going Gym and gym trainer suggested me to eat eggs as much as i can in breakfast and dinner. So i was going gym in the morning then after returning i was doing my yoga practice then after i was taking my breakfast then i was going to work. In evening after returning from work i was doing practice again then i take my dinner. After doing this 3-4 days i started to have little pain in my lower back and my negative thoughts and less focus on work persisted. I started to feel more stressed, anxiety and fear So i contacted again the isha yoga teacher and told him the whole situation and asked him whether is it fine to eat eggs when i am doing yoga practice he said eating eggs is fine and suggested me to continue practice and consult a doctor if i have more pain. As pain was not so much so i didn’t go to the doctor, This was my bad.

These are the yoga steps which i was doing:

  1. Patanga aasan (Butterfly) for 2 min
  2. Shishupal aasan for 2 min with each leg
  3. Cat stretch 3 times which have 10 steps that i remember and practiced at practice correction session.
  4. Shukh Kriya for 6 min, which start with exhale with left nostril and end with exhale with left nostril.
  5. omkar chant 21 times
  6. flattering breath at the tip of the nose for 3-4 min
  7. Then i go for bhandash (The three locks )
  8. Then sit and concentrate on breath 3-4 min

As i continued this practice my condition started to become more worse. I was so stressed. I started to have fear about my future and started to think too much about my past. I was dying within myself, i was so less focused anything i do, I was never such. I forget to mention that i was having little gastric problem before starting the yoga practice but this was not so serious but after doing this yoga practice my gastric problem increased dramatically.

As i was having little lower back pain so i took pain killer and continued with daily work. Then one day i went to play cricket with some of my friend, It was 25 Nov 2013 and during playing cricket as i run i had a very sharp pain in my lower back i felt like something slipped within myself i stopped playing i returned to home. I did some massage with warm mustard oil took pain killer and rested the whole day. Then next day during bath i had so sharp pain again in right lower back that it was unbearable. Then i went to doctor After examining he said that i have slipped disk in L5-S1 lumber spine. It was a real shock for me. I was not able to walk with wide legs and not able to bend even more then 10 degree.

There was very less chance to have slipped disk to me because i was doing Gym since i was 18 and i have athletic body with 68 kg weight and i was always able to lift more weight then my body. My core muscles was so strong.

Now its been 9 months since my injury, I have consulted several doctors. Initially i tried allopathy for one month but there was no improvement in pain. Then i tried acupressure for 3 months but that gave temporary relief. After few days of injury i started to have sciatic nurve pain. I have random vibration in small portion of my legs several times a days in calf and thigh, sometime i feel those vibration in my shoulders, back and hands.

Initially there was pain in my left calf and right front thigh, From last 4 months i am doing physiotherapy and taking (pregabalin and methylcobalamin capsules) Now my left calf pain is gone but i still have right front thigh pain and sciatica pain. Now quite improvement in my lower back pain. My back pain shifts randomly between my lower back and upper back.

I tried Bhramari Pranayama (Humming Bee Breath) for several days and it reduced the random vibration in my legs.

Please Please suggest and Guide me which can help me to get balance in my body. As i have very serious VATA Dosha. :frowning:

More Information:
I am single. I used to do meditation since i was 21. I have completed the Art of Living basic course and didn’t had any bad experience with that. I am VATA dominating. After this injury i eat pure veg food, before that i used to each non veg sometime and drink rarely.

#2

More or less, I am also in the same boat. Only difference with me is that I have no Yoga guru, nor I attended any training program. (Though, I attended Art of living basic course- the one that teaches So Ham pranayama).

I have left shoulder pain and tingling (numbness) in both palms. I have been prescribed pregabalin and it showed no effect after 2 weeks of using it. So, I went to the doctor again and she asked for blood tests to see the levels of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. That nailed the root cause. I was having low levels of both Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. So, the doctor prescribed medicines (tablets + injections) to correct those vitamins for 3 months. I am due for the next tests of vitamin levels in another 2 months. But, with those vitamin supplements, my pain in the left arm and tingling have reduced and I am hoping the best after 2 months.

I was practicing Sarvangasana intensely, and that ruptured the left shoulder. Being low on the vitamins, that injury created nervous havoc and caused numbness in palms. Or, at least, that was the conclusion my doctor and myself have come to. :slight_smile:

And, after the injury, I completely stopped Sarvangasana and just practicing “lighter” asanas.

#3

The fact that you have been prescribed methylcobalamin capsules, means that you may be low on Vitamin B12. And, I do not know, whether capsule form is more efficient or the injection form. (I have been prescribed NURITE injections for 3 months).

Also, if one is low on Vitamin B12, it is not advisable to take “pure-veg” diet. Because, Vitamin B12 “can not grow” on plants. It is available in fish, some forms of meat and to some extent in eggs.

And, lack of Vitamin B12 can cause nervous problems in all parts of the body. I have random pains all over the body.

My suggestion is to consult a competent general physician. Check if your general health (nutrients, vitamins, blood glucose levels etc.) are OK. If not, corrective medication is required as prescribed by the doctors.

Regarding Vata dosha, any competent Ayurvedic doctor can give medicines for that. There are many dosha-balancing medicines.

I think, Yoga/Asana can be a preventive thing but may not be a curative thing. If you have nerve/spine related problems, please attack the root cause of the disease. Doing more yoga may not contribute to curing the disease problem.

P.S: These are my personal opinions. I AM NOT A DOCTOR…!!!

#4

Thanks Yaram for your suggestion. Yes i’ll consult a doctor and will get Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D level checked for confirmation. Before injury i was eating the 8 eggs per day and used to take shelcal tablet (calcium and vitamin D3) as suggested by Gym trainer.

#5

Not that I have any advice but I am curious as to your original desires/intentions/expectations driving you to experiment these trial and error methods that lead to your presently perceived calamity or perhaps you simply fell victim to effective marketing.

#6

The whole desire to try this yoga program was to be calm with daily life and more productive at work. I also wanted to grow on spritual path. After attending this program i was under so impression of this program that even after 2-3 month of injury i was not able to accept that this program drove me in this hell, Then finally one day i decided to drop all the nonsense i gathered from this program. From that day onward my condition started to improve. Yes i am victim of effective marketing. If you search for negative materiel on internet about isha foundation you will not find much because this group have a keen eye on the negative material and bring that down ASAP.

1 Like
#7

So basically you did the gym and then yoga every day? Your body got exhausted and your muscles couldnt support ur back properly and probably because of that you got a slipped disc as you continues to stress those muscles.

Good that you now feel better.

#8

Are you doing too much?

My advice is stop going to the gym, stop the yoga, stop the diet, and just live for a few weeks to put it all in perspective, healthy food, lots of rest, etc. During this recovery period, adapt your sadhana to include only step 8 of your sequence.

After the rest, hopefully a new balance will establish itself, from which you can rebuild, then carefully integrate new elements, one by one.

#9

@msankhala
What you’ve outlined is complex and certainly falls under the heading of therapeutics. I would suggest contact hours with a well trained teacher. On that topic I’m curious in what way or ways you’ve followed up with the ISHA? You are their “student” and therefore they are your “teacher” and there is at least some obligation to assist here. Have you consulted them?

In the meantime, as you respond and contemplate working with someone directly, I’d suggest only a calming practice, a simple diet, and steering clear of anything that might agitate the nervous system. This would include loud music, crowds, noise, horns, ringers, beepers, movies, computers, and electrical devices (emf).

@Yaram [QUOTE=yaram;85997]I was practicing Sarvangasana intensely, and that ruptured the left shoulder. Being low on the vitamins, that injury created nervous havoc and caused numbness in palms. Or, at least, that was the conclusion my doctor and myself have come to. .[/QUOTE]
It would be very helpful to hear whether you were doing Sarvangasana flat on the floor/mat or on raised props (foam or folded blankets et al) ?

#10

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;86010]
@Yaram
It would be very helpful to hear whether you were doing Sarvangasana flat on the floor/mat or on raised props (foam or folded blankets et al) ?[/QUOTE]

I was doing it on a mat without any props. May be it is a wrong practice to do without proper support.

#11

@hrit-padma-1:
I don’t think i was doing too much. I think a 25 year young man can do that much.
I have stopped doing yoga, Gym and heavy diet from the very first day i had the pain. How can you expect to slipped disk patient to do gym and yoga when he can barely sit, walk and bend.

@InnerAthlete

On that topic I’m curious in what way or ways you’ve followed up with the ISHA? You are their “student” and therefore they are your “teacher” and there is at least some obligation to assist here. Have you consulted them?

Yes i have contacted them after the injury. I got the single reply that was “Please come to next practice correction session so that we can watch and make correction in your practice.” How can they say this to a slipped disk patient who is suffering from immense pain and can barely sit.

Thank for your suggestion, Yes i am staying away from anything that might agitate the nervous system. Is it advisable to me to do simple yoga or breathing practice to calm nervous system If yes can you please suggest me few nervous system calming yoga practice?

#12

Step 8 of your sequence should be beneficial.

  1. Then sit and concentrate on breath

A mala of the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra will also help. Search the internet for pronunciation.

#13

[QUOTE=msankhala;85996]Hello All,
…

After doing yoga practice 4-5 days at home i started to have negative thought and less focused on my work. So i contacted one of Isha yoga teacher and told him the situation. He suggested to continue the practice and said in starting our body may resist so continue the practice.

… After doing this 3-4 days i started to have little pain in my lower back and my negative thoughts and less focus on work persisted. I started to feel more stressed, anxiety and fear So i contacted again the isha yoga teacher and told him the whole situation and asked him… he suggested me to continue practice and consult a doctor if i have more pain. As pain was not so much so i didn’t go to the doctor, This was my bad.

…As i continued this practice my condition started to become more worse. I was so stressed. I started to have fear about my future and started to think too much about my past. I was dying within myself, i was so less focused anything i do, I was never such. I forget to mention that i was having little gastric problem before starting the yoga practice but this was not so serious but after doing this yoga practice my gastric problem increased dramatically.

… I have random vibration in small portion of my legs several times a days in calf and thigh, sometime i feel those vibration in my shoulders, back and hands.
…
I tried Bhramari Pranayama (Humming Bee Breath) for several days and it reduced the random vibration in my legs.

[/QUOTE]

Hello,

It’s been a while I’ve been on this forum. So let’s see…

What you say about those negative effects and fears coming up, is not uncommono but I have [I]never[/I] heard any yoga teachers explain this at courses. It should be explained to the students at courses that one will inevitably sooner or later experience more or less of negative emotions and extremelu turbulent mind at times. These challenging periods alternate with calm, blissful and wonderful* periods all the way until one becomes liberated (jivanmukta). People are only told about how wonderful things they get from pranayama and whatever practices but when they hit the dark period they are totally at loss, at the teeth of the fear and it can have very bad effects. People can become very distraught because of this. All this is normal but it is quite misleading from the various organisations to tell people that all they will have is peace and bliss and as people are not prepared to experience these impulses springning from their subconscious mind, they think something is very wrong.

In such a situation I would never encourage the student just to continue practice without explaining what is going on. I tell of both the wonderful periods and challenging periods right at the first course to new students.

I do not know about this particular system of yoga but whenever pranayama and shambhavi are put together, without mantras and without proper initiation, it is quite likely that some percentage of people will have prana energy problems such as these. Oh yes, my analysis based on many similar cases is that this is a pranic disharmony (note: There is actually no such thing as “kundalini syndrome”, it is all prana problems). It can only be fixed with proper mindfulness/meditation paractice in a tutelage of a competent teacher or by receiving energetic help from a specialist healer or receiving energteic help from a valid spiritual (tantra-mantra) teacher/master.

What do you mean by the vibration in legs? Describe it in more detail, please.

#14

I do not know about this particular system of yoga but whenever pranayama and shambhavi are put together, without mantras and without proper initiation, it is quite likely that some percentage of people will have prana energy problems such as these. Oh yes, my analysis based on many similar cases is that this is a pranic disharmony (note: There is actually no such thing as “kundalini syndrome”, it is all prana problems). It can only be fixed with proper mindfulness/meditation paractice in a tutelage of a competent teacher or by receiving energetic help from a specialist healer or receiving energteic help from a valid spiritual (tantra-mantra) teacher/master.

What do you mean by the vibration in legs? Describe it in more detail, please.

Thanks @Babananda for your thought on this. Yes i came to know about the prana energy problem from some source at internet when i was searching after this problem but now i don’t remember that source. As you said it can be fixed with proper mindfulness/meditation practice. Can you please guide me on this? Can you please suggest me some meditation practice and energy healing technique or source? Currently i don’t have access to any competent teacher or specialist healer.

My mean by Vibration in legs is that after some days of injury in back i started to feel random nerve moment in my legs. My whole legs doesn’t shack but i can feel small portion of my legs have random nerve movement right under my skin. I feel that movement of nerve if i look at that portion of movement i can see something vibrating under the skin. This sensation last for 2-3 seconds. These kind of movements are very random and i can feel those in several part of my body like back, shoulder and hands. This could be Dyskinesia or any other Movement disorder.

#15

[QUOTE=msankhala;86032]Thanks @Babananda for your thought on this. Yes i came to know about the prana energy problem from some source at internet when i was searching after this problem but now i don’t remember that source. As you said it can be fixed with proper mindfulness/meditation practice. Can you please guide me on this? Can you please suggest me some meditation practice and energy healing technique or source? Currently i don’t have access to any competent teacher or specialist healer.

My mean by Vibration in legs is that after some days of injury in back i started to feel random nerve moment in my legs. My whole legs doesn’t shack but i can feel small portion of my legs have random nerve movement right under my skin. I feel that movement of nerve if i look at that portion of movement i can see something vibrating under the skin. This sensation last for 2-3 seconds. These kind of movements are very random and i can feel those in several part of my body like back, shoulder and hands. This could be Dyskinesia or any other Movement disorder.[/QUOTE]

Hi again. Sorry I didn’t remember to check back earlier.

Where are you located? I used to do healings, also from distance myself but don’t do it anymore. I do however give some basic instructions through emailing and Skypeing. I might (or not) be able to recommend some other professionals to you who you could meet in person but it all depends where you live.

[I]If [/I]you are looking for a new teacher and teaching to follow, this is one of the many possibilites. Whether you feel attracted to it and at home with it or not, I cannot say. You can give it a try and leave it altogether if you don’t feel good about it: http://en.samadhipath.com/111

I teach mostly in person (throughtout Finland, where I live) but at this period of time I have some distance students whom I have initiated and keep meeting through Skype because otherwise they have no access to further instruction. However, I do not give initiations and pass teachings too lightly just because someone wants to without giving it proper consideration.

Based on what you say about your legs doesn’t seem to me like something too problematic.

#16

Thanks Babananda for your interest to help and Sorry i was not able to check and respond.

Currently i am located at Bikaner, Rajasthan India. Earlier i was at Delhi and doing job and thats where i did the IE course. I don’t have access to any trained teacher it would be very helpful if you can guide me.

Yes now the problem with my legs is not much serious after doing physiotherapy and acupressure since last couple of months now its almost gone.

#17

My pleasure.

#18

Please reach me as I have overcome my own slipped disc issue and have helped many others come out of neck and back pain.

#19

Hi msankhala,
Did your problem get solved? I may have a possible solution.

1 Like
#20

I did Isha and Sambhavi few years back and Ive been facing some mental problems. I don’t know exactly if the problem has been caused by this yoga.