Energy overload - discussion forums,, support groups

Here a typical discussion on a forum about energy problems and possible solutions from someone with lots of experience. The comments are from people engaged in tummo, qi gong, yoga, shamanism. I recently have had very strong core chakra energies. Today they were draining over legs and arms instead of becoming focused on heart, 3rd eye, sexual chakra. So legs, arms, body in general warms up instead of having a specific emotional experence(bliss at ajna, love at heart, arousal at sexual chakra). We generally don't consider our standard emotions, some of our most intense and dear experiences as overload or blockage but at a very high energy level it becomes difficult to deal with and becomes traumatic or excessive. I bold lettered his basic advice below on taking walks and interacting to ground energy to legs, good advice! It is nice to know you are not the only one who has symptoms after delving into spiritual fields.

Energy blockages in front channel


Many, if not most, kundalini awakening problems stem from a block in the front channel. The front channel is the pathway by which energy drains from the head down the front of the body to the root/perineum. If this channel is blocked when kundalini shoots up the back, the result will be an uncomfortable pooling of energy in the head (at ajna, crown, and/or top of the neck), which is unable to drain down.

Note that there is no practical difference between "opening the front channel" and "grounding one's energy". Energy grounds down the front channel. A block in front channel is a block to grounding.

It is possible to notice and deal with a front channel block before kundalini awakens, but, naturally, the problem becomes a lot more evident when energy really ramps up (i.e. kundalini awakening). 

The following information is the result of 25 years of very hard work, including full-time attention for the past five years. I won't bore you with the details of my quest, but believe me when I say that I've tried every possible resource for opening a front channel. I'm not sure there's anyone alive who's worked harder on this issue, and I've found some solutions, which I'd like to share.

If you don't have a serious grounding issue, please ignore this (though you might want to bookmark it to point people to if they report these sorts of problems). One should go "under the hood" on this only if symptoms are serious. If your kundalini is awake and you have a front channel block, you will immediately recognize many/most of the symptoms below.


HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE A FRONT CHANNEL BLOCK

You'll experience several of these symptoms

** feeling of trapped energy in head, headache, pressure between the brows or at crown

** weakened appetite and longer time required to digest (i.e. general cooling of the digestive fires)

** "upward" spinal breathing/pranayama is much easier than "downward"

** TMJ (pain in the jaw socket, sometimes radiating elsewhere in the head...this is from energy pooled in the jaw, unable to descend)

** feeling spacey and ungrounded

** water retention

** high blood pressure hard to explain by genetics, diet, and lifestyle

** sleep apnea

** difficulty (or, at least, mild aversion) with forward-bending asanas (which you perhaps have always chalked up to tight hamstrings)

** general kundalini overload symptoms (NOT symptoms of "wayward" kundalini, with very asymmetrical energy movements...for that, see my posting in this discussion: http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=3236 )


The first and best solution to front channel block and kundalini overload is the time-tested yogic solution: walking. Lots of walking, even miles per day. This gently grounds the energy down the front of the body and through the feet. Try this. It works well in light cases, and is really really good for you, and makes a fine counterbalance to meditation. Try to fix your attention, as you walk, onto the point of your heel the between the balls of your big and little toes. Press that point firmly into the ground as you walk. Another important element: engagement. Interacting with people is grounding.

If walking and interacting doesn't relieve the problem sufficiently for symptoms to be resolved (or you have medical issues preventing walking), there are some stronger measures to try, e.g. Tai chi and standing asanas. Anything grounding! But do try the following exercise (which I stole from Tai Chi):

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Stand with feet separated, knees comfortably bent into a slight crouch, pressing your feet firmly and evenly into the floor (advanced move: press down with the point in the lateral center of your foot, between the balls of your big and little toes, down right at the point where the arch starts to form). Keep your back more or less straight but tilt it forward, as if you were ready to pounce. Go for a low, stable, center of gravity, like it would be hard for someone to knock you over. But relax.

Bend elbows 90 degrees and extend forearms directly in front of you, parallel to each other and with palms facing, at navel level. Keep shoulders relaxed. Visualize a ball between your hands. Concentrate on that ball, and fill it with energy.
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The visualization is a fairly speedy solution, insofar as it works for you (the worse the block, the less fully helpful it'll be). Tai chi and standing asanas, of course, take longer to learn and implement. My advice would be not to invest TOO much hope on the intermediate solutions. If something seems to be helping a lot, great. But if not, keep reading.


NOTE ON PLACEMENT OF ATTENTION IN MEDITATION

It's important to bear in mind that AYP does not advocate placing attention on a specific chakra during meditation. But if you find that you can't resist focusing on ajna (between brows), then you may need to intervene (energy follows attention, and focusing on ajna, particularly during meditation, brings vastly more energy into the head, worsening symptoms). So, for a while, gently direct attention to the navel or the heart (i.e. "inhabit" the navel or heart). Make it a gentle change (no forcing!), and be ready to let go of this entirely once the habit of focusing at ajna is broken. In the end, meditation works best if attention isn't directed at all. It's better not to fool around with meditative attention (unless there's a serious health problem, per these instructions).