Yoga, Meditation and Nervous Stress

Mindfulness Meditation
#1

Namaste to all the forum

Unfortunately since my prevous message, nothing has really changed and I am still strugling with mind strugles and body stifness.

The only difference is I cleared the table by exploring all the possible causes for my body and muscle extreme stiffness. After several visit with an Osteopath, with pain doctors and several exams at a Neuro Muscular Center in one of the best hospital in France, it seems like “everything is normal”. Blood tests, neuro muscular effort test, MRI, electro-myogram etc… all is normal and doesn’t show any form of bad health; actually it’s quite the opposite, everything is normal as in “i’m in good health” and don’t lack any mineral or vitamin .

I even have to wear a jaw brace at night and when at rest to avoid clenching my teeth , which the osteopath said could be the reason I have muscle stress and stiffness all over my body.

It’s been 3 weeks now and it doesn’t help!

I stay positive and focused, I swim, do light work out to make sure my muscles pump blood, I have the healthiest diet any individual could have; complemented with the right and 100% natural supplement. I practice Yoga; I stretch; I meditate, do a pranayama session every other day for 30mn !!

But it is becoming worse, after meditation sometimes I find myself being more stressed and feeling angry for no reason. I keep fighting and strugling in my mind with imaginary problems. I can’t focus about anything at work and I can’t accomplish any task fully before I need to stand, walk, do something else. I am restless and very stressed. My shoulders and chest are completely locked, I tried so many different yoga and stretch poses but none helped, it relaxes for few mn then go back to its previous state of tension and stress…

My social life, my professional life are suffering from this, I have no family life as I don’t even have a girlfriend, I can’t go out and meet people so I moved to my parents place , at 38 years old!!

sorry if my message is so long and if my english is hard to understand for you, but I am hopeless at this stage. I would like to be able to live a normal life , even though I already do; I am blessed to be born in a good family and I don’t need anything material really, I have my both legs and I can consider myself as being “in good health” but this physical ailment makes my life miserable and really sad at this moment…

Thanks for your time and your advices if some of you feel they can help

Peace
Jo

#2

When you meditate you release supressed feelings, so it could be negative emotions surfacing and let go. I suggest you do pranayama for 5 minutes only as 30 min is too much if you just started or if you have done pranayama for a long time before and this happens maybe 30 is to much for you now. pranayama makes heat and heat is fire = angry easier as the fire needs to go somewhere. It is also possible one gets more horny.

So make it 5 min of pranayama and see if it works better. If not then you can try something else.
I clenched my teeth for a while and spinal twists got rid of it for me. S you could always try that.

Do you take any supplements?

#3

Thank you fakeyogis for your comprehensive reply.

To reply you first, I do take some supplements, magnesium with Vit B6, which is a classic supplement prescribed in France. I do take a multi vitamine with mostly everything in it including minerals like zinc and iron + urtica doita as the herbal twist (which was prescribed for stomach spasms in the stress relieving issue)

Now, you say you practice spinal twist to get rid of clenching teeth, like you integrate more twisting asanas in your routine or you put your focus on only spinal twists?

I will definitely try a shorter pranayama session before meditating and see if it changes something

Thanks again, I always find great help on Yogaforums.

Namaste

#4

Now i want to tell you about magnesium from my experience, when i take it i notice i clench my teeth i bite very hard and then wake up as teeth slips if you know what i mean. Everytime i take it same story. So i quit it , also i get it from natural sources now instead and didnt notice any clenching from that, possible because i eat it in the morning and before i used to take the magnesium pills before sleep.
Also i noticed after i took it my neck cramped if i didnt go to bed quick enough , i guess its too relaxing and i only take a quarter of a capsule before i totally stopped it. So it made more harm than good in long term. If i would not have slipped with the jaw i would probably never have noticed it so fast.
Try to stop the magnesium for some days or 2 weeks and see if you notice any different. Its not like you wont survive without it.

At the first time i was clenching and did spinaltwists i didnt take supplements, i was waking up and noticed i bite my teeth together ,very different but similar reaction from when taking magnesium.
But the spinal twists worked for both occasions. i only did the spinal twists before bed and it worked for me, as it stretches the neck very well.

#5

Trikoasana is also good. As well as laying flat and put your hands around jaw, press jaws against base of hands hands and vice versa. As you try to look up.

If backside is also stiff the plough works for that.

#6

It sounds as though your current experience will warrant more than an “asana prescription” and so I sent you a PM (personal message) five days ago requesting additional information.

#7

Ciao :slight_smile: food matters in this kind o situations
consider avoidin sugar, acid foods and also onions and garlik

i had an extreme improvement in my fisical and psichic state as i become vegetarian and started regular fastigns with a moon calendar

:slight_smile:

#8

I also have distress of the body (sleep and teeth clenching, unstoppable mood swings) and find that balance and the middle path bring me great relief. I can practice yoga too much and spend too much time self absorbed with questions of my health-which never helps:mad:

If you haven’t already, try looking at fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Bonne chance!:grin:

YG

#9

I did think about fibromyalgia few months ago when pain was it its peak but all the blood test and neuro muscular examinations under doctor supervision showed it couldn’t be that. There is no such thing as chronic fatigue syndrom in france’s medical system so i never really looked into that but i am 99% convinced that it’s not that.

Im off the magnesium now and will practice some spinal twist right before bed, i never thought about this, but it makes sense.

Thank you all

#10

Good luck and post the upcoming after a week and tell us if there was any improvements.

If you want magnesium naturally you can buy raw cacao powder or hemp protein powder. OR get the hemp seeds or cacao beans.

The problem with pure magnesium is that the body takes up all straight away. When we take food its the natural way and seldom there is overdosage. But i noticed when i take food containing it i get very sensitive to the pure stuff, hence only took a quarter and almost got knocked out if i took half capsule (40mg.)

But if you feel very very stiff that stretching wont take it away, i guess you can take magnesium first thing in the morning BUT DO wait 1-2 weeks first as your having side effects to see if it gets better then occasionally you can take a pill now and then. ive done so when its too much but not every day just one day or two.

I use meriva curcumin at the moment which for me releases most of the stiffness. So i dont need to take magnesium pills at all now. Curcumin is anti inflammatory what i like with the meriva i have is that it is sustained released (time released) So i can take two pills without smelling indian spice under my arms. Plus it works way better as it has better absorption than the normal stuff with piperine. The powder i dont touch as it stains the teeth very yellow.

#11

Hi Fakeyogis,

It’s interesting to know about meriva curcumin. I knew turmeric was a great anti inflammatory but never found it in a pill format. I will research that here in france.

The strange thing about magnesium and what you’re saying is that it is always prescribed to treat stress, nervousness, stiffnes and muscle spasm. So you’re saying that it’s will trigger the opposite effect for someone taking it as a medication, which i’ve been doing for 3 months now.

I have stopped taking it a week ago so let’see what’s the result of all that.

In the meantime i also start an elimination diet based on Gordon’s recommendations.

Thanks all for your precious advises.

[QUOTE=fakeyogis;82356]Good luck and post the upcoming after a week and tell us if there was any improvements.

If you want magnesium naturally you can buy raw cacao powder or hemp protein powder. OR get the hemp seeds or cacao beans.

The problem with pure magnesium is that the body takes up all straight away. When we take food its the natural way and seldom there is overdosage. But i noticed when i take food containing it i get very sensitive to the pure stuff, hence only took a quarter and almost got knocked out if i took half capsule (40mg.)

But if you feel very very stiff that stretching wont take it away, i guess you can take magnesium first thing in the morning BUT DO wait 1-2 weeks first as your having side effects to see if it gets better then occasionally you can take a pill now and then. ive done so when its too much but not every day just one day or two.

I use meriva curcumin at the moment which for me releases most of the stiffness. So i dont need to take magnesium pills at all now. Curcumin is anti inflammatory what i like with the meriva i have is that it is sustained released (time released) So i can take two pills without smelling indian spice under my arms. Plus it works way better as it has better absorption than the normal stuff with piperine. The powder i dont touch as it stains the teeth very yellow.[/QUOTE]

#12

Well you have ibumetin or other aspirin for headache and if you read side effects it says headache.

What ive told you about mag. Comes from my own experience after i used it for a while. The people recommending it probably have never taken it them self, so how would they know side effects then?

Everything is good to a point then it can be totally opposite of what it was supposed to alleviate, like headache pills.

But magnesium will always be very muscle relaxant, if the muscles relax to much there will be cramp in some muscles to protect your joints etc. Also i noiced some sort was better than others, some sort made me feel i was still stiff in the morning. Magnesium oxide for example has the lowest absorption.

That is why its best to eat food containing it and if you have severe stiffness a pill once a while is better, than eating pills every day.

#13

Hi Jo_nino

Why do you not try [I]Yoga Nidra[/I] ?

It’s a transforming technique originating from the tantric tradition.

This techniquie is when combined with the rest of the yogic techniques, like asanas and pranayama, able to release some of the deep stemming patterns/samskaras in the body/mind.

Yoga nidra is excellent when the mind is too tense to be able to meditate.

I would try the excellent yoga nidra from swami Janakananda.
Also Richard Miller have one that is considered good. I have it but have more experience with
Janakananda’s. (He is a disciple of Swami Satyananda from the Bihar tradition).

Best regards

Deva

#14

Here is some info about yoga nidra. As complement to above post
where I did not explain more.

I have myself have manifold gains by learning this technique.
To compensate for lack of sleep et.c

“[I]Yoga nidra was experienced by Swami Satyananda Saraswati[citation needed] when he was living with his guru Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh. He began studying the tantric scriptures and, after practice, constructed a system of relaxation, which he began popularizing in the mid 20th century.[3] He explained yoga nidra as a state of mind between wakefulness and sleep that opened deep phases of the mind, suggesting a connection with the ancient tantric practice called nyasa, whereby Sanskrit mantras are mentally placed within specific body parts, while meditating on each part (of the bodymind). [B]The form of practice taught by Swami Satyananda includes eight stages (Internalisation, Sankalpa, Rotation of Consciousness, Breath Awareness, Manifestation of Opposites, Creative Visualization, Sankalpa and Externalisation[/I]).[/B]”

This practice is transformative as one is able to go into deep relaxation in the state bordering between sleep and waking consiousness which is very good for the body/mind.
One feature of this is the sequence:

(In Shavasana)

  • [B]Internalisation[/B],
    Gradually turning inwards.

*[B]Sankalpa[/B]
A descision, affirmation that are affirmed two times during the practice. Once in the beginning, and once at the end when one is in the deep state of yoga nidra. This decision sankalpa works as a seed that take root in the subconsious which can have a strong effect as time goes by.

*[B]Rotation of consiousness [/B] ( moving consiousness between different parts of the body in a given sequence),
This sequence of moving awareness to different bodyparts (nyasa) is the same sequence as the bodyparts are located in the brain cortex.

*[B] Breath awareness [/B]
(counting breath backwards from 27-1),
This also assists the consiousness to go deeper into relaxation.

*[B]Manifestation of opposities[/B]
Heaviness and lightness, warmness and coolness, pain and comfort),

*[B] Creative visualisation,[/B]
In that deep state the visualisation of cosmic symbols and archetypes is transformative for the psyche

*[B][I] Sankalpa[/I][/B]
Again the descision, affirmation is repeated several times, like a seed planted deep in
oneself for future manifestation.

*,[B] Exteriorisation.[/B]

“Yoga nidra is now prescribed by doctors in many countries both as a preventive and curative therapy in the first three stages of stress-related diseases. To doctors who are seeking an efficient, scientific way of attaining deep, systematic relaxation, yoga nidra provides both a calming retreat and an effective coping device. Many people who were tense, alienated and frustrated, have totally transformed their outlook and have greatly enhanced their appreciation and experience of life after practising yoga nidra”.
Swami Satyananda

Just to give some info about this technique. As a complement to last post.

Best regards

#15

Thank you very much Deva for all the detailed explanation. I did try Yoga Nidra in India at Sivananda ashram in Kerala actually :wink: But I haven’t followed with the practice here.

Where can I get recordings of swami Janakananda and Richard Miller? I would like to try, it seems interesting and quite logic that Yoga Nidra could relieve mental tensions unable to unblock during meditation.

Look forward to reading more
Best

#16

Yes sivananda centre is founded by swami Vishnudevananda which was a guru brother with Swami Satyananda as both were disciples to Swami Shivanda of Rishikesh.

I think you can order these CD’s from amazon.

I have only done yoga nidra myself from memory past years as I am an ex. yogateacher and have them in my head.
I recently listened to Janakananda’s cd and found it very good, as I remembered it.
In this he have more attention of chakra awareness with mantras for the chakras et.c It’s quite deep stuff. I always feel good afterwards.
There is also some vedantic stuff in the end of the practice, for experiencing one’s own true nature.

There is some other downwatered versions on youtube if you want to try. I tried one which was not especially good when compared to janankananda’s.