Pressure in head and chest from too much energy work that comes back despite daily grounding - how best to deal with this?

[cerananda]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm sure this topic has been addressed in other posts all over the place, but I just figured I'd reopen the question on this one problem, and hopefully have it serve as a resource for anybody that gets in trouble with over-zealous energy work.

 

I'd been doing 6 months of Mantak Chia's big draw (say 20 min a day), alongside 20+ minute headstand/shoulderstands daily. (Not prudent to say the least in retrospect.) I guess I didn't do enough MCO meditation (or just meditation in general, say following the breath) and a few months ago I noticed pressure building in my head (what I thought was a tension headache), as well as tension in the chest (which I thought were gastro intestinal problems). At this time, I stopped everything.

 

I panicked and saw many doctors, but now I believe this is all related to kundalini and badly grounded energy. The pressure in my head is the dead giveaway and it has intensified despite not doing energy work for almost 5 months since that time.

 

The question is, I've been doing 30-60 minutes of just grounding per day (imagining roots in the feet, and bringing the energy down the front and back channels, also focusing on the lower dantien at the end) for the past few days to get the pressure out of the head and chest, and for the most part, it works. But after waking up in the morning, the pressure generally comes back. It can also randomly come back during the day.

 

 

At this point, what is the best programme I'd need to follow to put the kundalini energy back in it's place (i.e. reclose it so it doesn't rise like this by itself and doesn't come back daily even after extensive grounding).

 

Or is the answer integration - doing long sessions of MCO meditation or- I'm not sure what else?

 

To be honest, the flow is very strong and I'd prefer to stop up the flow first (turn off the tap so to speak) if at all possible, and take this thing much slower.

 

I did find that extensive groundings do put me on an emotional rollercoaster, anxious when the energy is stuck in the head chest, dizzy and slow after grounding a lot, which is why I'm wondering if there is a more appropriate way to handle this.

 

 

I appreciate any help anybody can give. Thanks!

[markern]

You could contact one of the KAP instructors. THey are very good with that kind of stuff.

 

Long term I would do something to ensure the body is aligned in such a manner that it supports grounding and to learn to move from the dan tien. When movement is initiated from the dan tien like it is in a dancer or a martial artist energy naturally wants to be there. I have been doing pilates for months now to achieve precisely that and have gotten very good results now but it takes a long time to achieve a ubstantial grounding effect through it. ONce you have it though it is very solid because it comes from the way the body is aligned and conditioned to move which is way more solid than where you happened to place your energy last time you practiced. Tai chi is superb for teaching you this. A combination of tai chi and standing meditation (zhan zhuang) should help over the course of enough time.

 

Also rotating your ankles, rubbing the soles of the feet and doing squats help. On alhcemicaltaosim.com Trunk says lateral squats are particularly grounding.

[The Way Is Virtue]

I did find that extensive groundings do put me on an emotional rollercoaster, anxious when the energy is stuck in the head chest, dizzy and slow after grounding a lot, which is why I'm wondering if there is a more appropriate way to handle this.

I appreciate any help anybody can give. Thanks!

 

Best bet IMO if you are fairly concerned is to consult with an experienced qigong teacher, if possible. There are some qigong teachers on the net who can be contacted through their websites if you don't know of anyone. Some can be recommended if you want. You are right to have stopped the qigong practices for now. Also, use your best judgement in regards to any advice you receive here or elsewhere as although people like to try to help, sometimes the advice given may not be the best for your situation.

 

I personally am no expert (I am just another qigong practitioner) but I have had some similar experiences as yours occur spontaneously when I was younger. My question for you would be, aside from your concerns about the pressure sensation in your head and chest is this causing you any specific problems or is this mostly just uncomfortable? If possible for you, in my own personal experience it is better to try to stay calm and relaxed about such things and take an investigative approach to what you are experiencing. Also, in my own limited experience, if I were you I wouldn't be doing any qigong practices right now on your own that involve intense concentration or fairly intense or forced breathing or anything like that.

 

One practice that I have found to be balancing energy wise is to sit upright but relaxed in a chair with feet flat on the floor and place both palms facing inward and over top of each other over the navel area. Just breathe completely naturally and relaxed and very gently imagine excess energy returning to the lower dantian area. Do not practice if you feel it aggravates the situation. One thing to consider is that getting alarmed or very concerned about what you are experiencing can make things worse since it causes you to tense up and restrict energy flow, and what you are experiencing may not be too problematic to adjust with the assistance of an experienced qigong teacher. Such pressure sensations can be natural sensations of energy being activated in the body and one may just need to learn how to keep the energy more in balance.

Do you know of any good qigong teachers in your area? What area of the world are you in?

Edited November 14, 2010 by The Way Is Virtue

[Friend]

Edited November 16, 2011 by Friend

[Aetherous]

I think walking helps a lot. It's important to get into the body, and not use your mind so much for grounding. Plus, with walking, you get to be outside in nature. Ankle rolling, like markern suggested, is also good.

 

Very important: watch funny videos and laugh...this helps release the diaphragm so that the emotions can be released. A stuck diaphragm means that the rest of the body is stuck. The breath is related to the mind, and so the mind and its emotions will be stuck in repeating patterns (fight or flight syndrome/anxiety). Release the diaphragm and everything comes into balance.

 

If you're going to do breathing practice (which is tricky when you have chest blockages), start out breathing full and deep breaths to calm down...then gradually go into minimizing the sound of the breath while maintaining relaxation. You should never feel anxious when practicing breathing. If you do, go back to the deep and full breaths. Feel the drawing in and releasing of air come from within the lower dantien...if you feel it in other areas of the body, just forget about those places, and imagine that the dantien is like a vacuum, sucking all the air in and then releasing it out. Also, focus more on your exhales and let the inhale occur naturally, when the body is asking for more air. Keep your eyes at a 45 degree angle downwards, and this will also help the energy to descend. Keep your palms down on your knees.

 

However, if you're ever not getting good results from any practice, just discontinue it. Don't keep going at it! Find out what needs to be addressed in your body first. Of course, you know this now...

 

Good luck.

[cerananda]

Hi everybody,

 

I really appreciate all the responses and the excellent suggestions!

 

I am in Montreal, Canada, so I think it'd be pretty difficult to find qualified KAP or qigong instructors experienced in Kundalini "sickness" here. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

To flesh out some details, and I think some of you were hinting this, the issue for me right now is not just the head pressure/chest tension, but in fact, more the anxiety associated with whatever the energy is doing in my body. It seems that either, possibly, the energy gets stuck first (i.e. I start to feel the sensations) then I get anxious, and that feeds back on itself, or I get anxious, and start the cycle from that.

 

A second thing is that naturally, anxiety is really all about negative thoughts. At first, it was worry about what disease I had etc. (knock wood that this isn't actually a physiological thing). Then, as I left the energy unaddressed for months, the anxiety became stronger, lasted longer, the pressure in the head built to the point that at times, the muscles of the side of the head would swell somewhat, etc. My mind began racing all the time, and negative fearful thoughts dominated.

 

Basically, it is as if the kundalini somehow amplified what I used to think (i.e. being a moderately negative person) and brought all the negative thoughts to the forefront, and further elaborated them. Of course, this ran for 5 months before I actually started trying to do grounding or even breath meditation in earnest (it has been less than a week now).

 

I honestly thought it was physiological, but thinking back, a few clues led me to thinking that maybe this was kundalini. One, the pressure in the head could be lowered with grounding. Two, I had what seemed to be a heart opening moment a few days back where I felt immense love and compassion and even somehow felt more connected to everything, if you can call it that. That occured for about 30 minutes though, and dissipated. Finally, when I initially did the big draw routine, a month in, I had 2 or 3 spontaneous ecstatic feelings in the entire body that lasted 30 minutes to an hour.

 

 

In any case, getting back to my present situation- my plan was to ground extensively, but as I mentioned, the energy and negative thought amplification comes back. I'm basically looking to get the kundalini down to a point that I can somehow mentally recover, if that makes any sense, and be able to control the anxiety. I don't know if a guru or teacher can actually help with this, or if this is some kundalini karma I have to deal with myself.

 

Nobody has suggested MCO circulation. Is that bad in my case? Would that risk increasing the energy and thereby the friction on the negative blockages I assume I am having all this trouble with?

 

I will definitely try to ground without imagining roots if the imagining part is iffy. Just focus on the dantien.

 

As I have found that present moment awareness seems to be one of the things that allow me to stay more even keel (any other ideas to combat the negative blockages?) - is there any exercise that you can practice letting go of racing thoughts, or is dantien belly breathing the best?

 

 

Again, thank you to everybody that put in all that time to respond to my questions. I'm really really grateful for all the help you all have put in.

[Ramon25]

Massage and foam rolling. Get anatomy trains- the book and massage the fascia lines in the head and chest. Been there and this helps like nothing else. Oh also stretching my face jaw and neck helps. Do body work and take the mind out of it.

[Aetherous]

Nobody has suggested MCO circulation. Is that bad in my case?

 

Yes for the most part, although I think Spring Forest Qigong's version called "Small Universe" would be okay.

[The Way Is Virtue]

I am in Montreal, Canada, so I think it'd be pretty difficult to find qualified KAP or qigong instructors experienced in Kundalini "sickness" here. Maybe I'm wrong though.

You are thinking kundalini, but from what you described so far I have experienced similar things from taoist meditation. Placing the palms over the lower dantian and breathing relaxed and naturally while gently thinking of excess energy returning to lower dantian can accomplish two things: help balance out your energy more and also can naturally start to open the mco. Working towards opening the mco would be the taoist/qigong way to help bring the energy back into balance. Don't focus hard on lower dantian, just a light awareness and don't try to forcefully lead the energy back to lower dantian. Focusing intensely or forcefully trying to lead the energy can lead to imbalances. Just relax and keep a light awareness on lower dantian with natural relaxed breathing and palms over lower dantian and see if it starts helping. If it is aggravating anything then don't continue this practice. Most important of all, relax.

 

If you are still concerned and want to consult a qigong teacher (it would probably be a good idea to consult a qigong teacher anyway) and you don't know any good qigong teachers in your area, you can try emailing:

Ming-Kit (Klotz) Kwan (in BC, Canada)

http://www.kootenayqigong.com/contact.html

[email protected]

I haven't met him personally but he seems to be quite experienced in qigong and medical qigong healing.

 

[Edit:] BTW, keep us posted on how you are making out with this...

Edited November 15, 2010 by The Way Is Virtue

[de_paradise]

Well this doesnt sound like "stuck qi", more like the ethereal body growing and unblocking itself because, congrats, you certainly enlivened something we generally call kundalini. I dont think you should waste your time thinking about putting the genie back into the bottle or trying to find an ultrahigh master who possibly could. Though visits to qigong masters are recommeded just for some conversation, perhaps you can learn something. You dont sound like you are too mentally adjusted about the spiritual path yet, and that takes time and endurance to get through the panic, the dark nights etc, and to readjust to a new normal. You seem to be attempting the right things as far as grounding. You may find nothing works except surrender. There are lots of people here who know exactly what Im saying here, as in been there done that, have the memories logged in some journal that they no longer keep.

[manitou]

This is probably way too simple, but try laying face down on the grass for a while. Needless to say while you're there,try and eliminate all thought except for the sensation of the pent-up energy running down into the earth. Stay there for 5 or 10 minutes. This really works for me

[markern]

MOntreal is quite big. I am sure there are some good ones there. You don`t need an unusually powerfull master that can use his energy to put it back quickly just someone skilled in qigong and used to guiding students that can help you with practices and help you asses what is going on. And also go see a TCM doctor. Both herbs and acupuncture helps me with my grounding issues akthough both are slow. Acupuncture also has the benefit of helping to balance out any sort of odd imbalance you are not aware of and that can be part of the problem. Try to find someone that also practices qigong. It does not have to be a master or teacher of any kind just one that himself/herself knows how it feels when energy moves arround etc.

 

THe KAP teachers has guided people via skype and phone in these issues before. THey are wort a shot and can scan your energybody from a distance to see what`s up.

 

I recognize the anxiety you mention very well. For me it was one of the key reasons even grounding meditation ultimately didn`t work for me. I was soo scared of the energy and that created an upward movement of energy that aggravated the problem. When I relaxed energy flowed downwards but ultimately I couldn`t do it. I might have if I had continued I just didn`t have the stomach to risk getting in even worse trouble. So I took the long physical route instead and it is working well only slowly. THe gains are even more solid though so I recomend incorporating that as part of teh strategy lng term even if you find an energetic way to fix the problem. THat way you will be much safer in the future. The other benefits of doing physical practices that helps with this stuff are great to an in themselves worth the effort.

[Fire Dragon]

[suninmyeyes]

cerananada,

 

Always(daily) make sure to do something that makes you feel good and you like doing.

Go run very fast in the woods and climb the trees early in the morning .

Meet up with friends that you can have a good laugh with.

Dance to your favourite music.

Get out and scream out loud if you need to.

Give yourself time.

 

Personally I find just simple meditation and lots of healthy and honest introspection mixed with study of inspiring spiritual literature a very good tool.

[Guest sykkelpump]

I belive your problems is caused by unbalance in your energy channels.And I belive you have caused this by directing your energy in your body in patterns you thought was correct.so I think doing moore mco will make this problems bigger.the best thing you can do imo is to do some kind og qi gong where you dont direct your energy at all with your mind.I would say zhan zhuang or even better,falun gong.

[The Way Is Virtue]

cerananda, how are you making out?

Edited November 16, 2010 by The Way Is Virtue

[cerananda]

Hi everybody,

 

I have to tell you all that I am simply overwhelmed by all the encouragement and support that I've received on this forum. I never knew that there were so many people that were going through the same thing and I just wanted to say how much of a help you all have been.

 

 

To answer yuur question about how it's going, it's been a few days of grounding meditation now and it's maybe helped a bit with the physical tensions. I do feel some tension in the head but less. I do realize now the tension in the chest is a stuck diaphragm, very tricky to release I admit with breathing meditation alone.

 

What gets me now is the emotional ups and downs. As I mentioned before, this crushing anxiety comes down at random times when not doing anything in particular and/or triggered by stress. Then, it could just as easily abate or release after half and hour to a few hours. Unfortunately, the crushing anxiety feeling distorts your perception of reality - the intellectual part of me knows that I like this that and the other thing, and feels it when things are normal, but when the crushing feeling hits, you still can identify these things, but the positive feelings are no longer the same. It's very difficult because in this state it is hard to trust your thinking or decisions naturally, as your physiology seems down unreasonably.

 

This is why I am so eager to find some way to "exorcise" the energy if you will. Or integrate in a manner that I can find balance again.

 

I did zhan zhuang in the past actually, but it didn't seem to stop the cycle too much. I had a period of a month recovery and during that time I picked up ZZ to see if it would help but perhaps I did it wrong or something, at some point the head pressure just came back.

 

I'm looking into inner smiling to the brain/organs just in case this is a physiological thing as opposed to kundalini. Maybe I can heal my organs back to balance? I am finding it difficult to sleep at night now- it's as if my body vibrates just as I fall asleep and bounces me back into wakefulness.

 

In any case, scary stuff, I know. Don't want to burden anybody with these issues too much more. I am going to keep at it and keep fighting the good fight back to normalcy. I will likely do more tantien breathing, inner smile to the organs, and maybe 8 brocades? I heard 8 brocades was very normalizing.

 

I used to do a lot of ashtanga yoga, and I'm considering doing reduced primary series, or intermediate series to keep my health up, but don't know if this will impact anything energetic wise.

 

Thanks as always!

[The Way Is Virtue]

In any case, scary stuff, I know. Don't want to burden anybody with these issues too much more. I am going to keep at it and keep fighting the good fight back to normalcy. I will likely do more tantien breathing, inner smile to the organs, and maybe 8 brocades? I heard 8 brocades was very normalizing.

I wouldn't consider anything that you have described so far as being particularly scary stuff, but it is really all a matter of one's point of view and previous experience. It sounds like at present what you are experiencing is at least somewhat unfamiliar and new to you and you are experiencing anxiety and stress because of it. Consider that many people have experienced such things similar to what you have described and it really is just a matter of getting used to new experiences and learning new ways to deal with the new experiences. If you consider that many people have had such experiences and have got through them fine enough, then maybe you can start to relax more. Stress responses due to anxiety can certainly cause a tightness in the chest and in the diaphram area, agitation, etc.

 

One of my former teacher's favorite sayings to people to most anything was "relax more". Making assumptions about what you think might be the problem is probably not overly constructive. If we allow that there is one 'energetic system' within us then it doesn't matter whether we think in terms of energy imbalance or

energy restriction or kundalini energy or chakra opening or chakra imbalance, etc., as it is all one system overall. Take an investigative approach. Pay attention to what seems to be helping, and what seems to be not be doing much at all, and what seems to aggravate the situation. Balancing practices like tai chi, 6 healing sounds, 8 brocaades, five animal frolics, or types of yoga exercise that don't involve focusing with the mind or special breathing practices, etc. are definitely worth trying, but you should consider using caution with practices like 'tantian breathing' or other deliberate 'energy focusing' and such if you are practicing without the guidance of a teacher, IMO. It wouldn't hurt to check out various teachers in your area, as it sounds like you are still quite concerned. However, not all teachers are created equal. If a teacher does not appear to be truly helpful or understanding, then move on. Have you considered contacting Mantak Chia's organization to ask for some advice? It seems with all that they teach via books and DVD's etc. that they would have some sort of assistance system in place as well? Anyway, try to relax cerananda and rest assured that you are not to first to experience such things. If you have had things checked out physically by doctors and they say all appears to be fine then that should be at least somewhat reassuring, no?

[suninmyeyes]

Hi everybody,

 

I have to tell you all that I am simply overwhelmed by all the encouragement and support that I've received on this forum. I never knew that there were so many people that were going through the same thing and I just wanted to say how much of a help you all have been.

 

 

To answer yuur question about how it's going, it's been a few days of grounding meditation now and it's maybe helped a bit with the physical tensions. I do feel some tension in the head but less. I do realize now the tension in the chest is a stuck diaphragm, very tricky to release I admit with breathing meditation alone.

 

What gets me now is the emotional ups and downs. As I mentioned before, this crushing anxiety comes down at random times when not doing anything in particular and/or triggered by stress. Then, it could just as easily abate or release after half and hour to a few hours. Unfortunately, the crushing anxiety feeling distorts your perception of reality - the intellectual part of me knows that I like this that and the other thing, and feels it when things are normal, but when the crushing feeling hits, you still can identify these things, but the positive feelings are no longer the same. It's very difficult because in this state it is hard to trust your thinking or decisions naturally, as your physiology seems down unreasonably.

 

This is why I am so eager to find some way to "exorcise" the energy if you will. Or integrate in a manner that I can find balance again.

 

I did zhan zhuang in the past actually, but it didn't seem to stop the cycle too much. I had a period of a month recovery and during that time I picked up ZZ to see if it would help but perhaps I did it wrong or something, at some point the head pressure just came back.

 

I'm looking into inner smiling to the brain/organs just in case this is a physiological thing as opposed to kundalini. Maybe I can heal my organs back to balance? I am finding it difficult to sleep at night now- it's as if my body vibrates just as I fall asleep and bounces me back into wakefulness.

 

In any case, scary stuff, I know. Don't want to burden anybody with these issues too much more. I am going to keep at it and keep fighting the good fight back to normalcy. I will likely do more tantien breathing, inner smile to the organs, and maybe 8 brocades? I heard 8 brocades was very normalizing.

 

I used to do a lot of ashtanga yoga, and I'm considering doing reduced primary series, or intermediate series to keep my health up, but don't know if this will impact anything energetic wise.

 

Thanks as always!

Try not to worry yourself too much ,just live normal life and do some spiritual practise.It is like having a mental shower every day.

Good for the higyene.

 

This "energy"you are talking about is you really,deep introspection and acceptance is needed.Very deep,more you cooperate and more understanding you become ,easier it gets.

Let go,let go even if you cant let go of this let go anyway,more letting go,

and some more letting go..Dont carry this fear with you.Why?Its too heavy .

Let it go,find a way of letting it go,the fear is not yours anyway and it doesent belong to you.

You picked it up somwhere.

Let it go.

Look deep into who you are.

 

I am saying this becouse I am trying to communicate to you that this is just a phase you are going through and dont worry yourself .As many of us here have been through it and came out ok.

It will make you even more beutiful at the end.:)Lighter and brighter .

Very best luck .

[Guest tao4joe]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm sure this topic has been addressed in other posts all over the place, but I just figured I'd reopen the question on this one problem, and hopefully have it serve as a resource for anybody that gets in trouble with over-zealous energy work.

 

I'd been doing 6 months of Mantak Chia's big draw (say 20 min a day), alongside 20+ minute headstand/shoulderstands daily. (Not prudent to say the least in retrospect.) I guess I didn't do enough MCO meditation (or just meditation in general, say following the breath) and a few months ago I noticed pressure building in my head (what I thought was a tension headache), as well as tension in the chest (which I thought were gastro intestinal problems). At this time, I stopped everything.

 

I panicked and saw many doctors, but now I believe this is all related to kundalini and badly grounded energy. The pressure in my head is the dead giveaway and it has intensified despite not doing energy work for almost 5 months since that time.

 

The question is, I've been doing 30-60 minutes of just grounding per day (imagining roots in the feet, and bringing the energy down the front and back channels, also focusing on the lower dantien at the end) for the past few days to get the pressure out of the head and chest, and for the most part, it works. But after waking up in the morning, the pressure generally comes back. It can also randomly come back during the day.

 

 

At this point, what is the best programme I'd need to follow to put the kundalini energy back in it's place (i.e. reclose it so it doesn't rise like this by itself and doesn't come back daily even after extensive grounding).

 

Or is the answer integration - doing long sessions of MCO meditation or- I'm not sure what else?

 

To be honest, the flow is very strong and I'd prefer to stop up the flow first (turn off the tap so to speak) if at all possible, and take this thing much slower.

 

I did find that extensive groundings do put me on an emotional rollercoaster, anxious when the energy is stuck in the head chest, dizzy and slow after grounding a lot, which is why I'm wondering if there is a more appropriate way to handle this.

 

 

I appreciate any help anybody can give. Thanks!

 

Hi, this is a common thing when doing Chia's exercises and meditation, its alot of energy so only bring up what you can actually use. You def need to lighten up on the power locks and just use after sex with or without ejaculation, ejaculation is also a good way to calm it down in a hurry, remember Taoist masters say age divided by five will give the days to withhold ejaculation and lose no energy if you stop after that. So get some more female energy and it will help almost immediately, your body is meant to be shared. If you can send me a message as to how you feel later and what you did. Good luck friend

[cerananda]

Hi everybody,

 

Great suggestions as always.

 

I am trying a bunch of stuff now, and I realize that the mental game sometimes isn't as immediately effective as simply physically relaxing the affected areas and doing deep breathing (inhale and twice duration exhale). I've tried a lot of thinking of things you love, compassion, even intellectually trying to let go of fear, but I guess it is inconsistently effective because the mind is a tricky thing and once the tension hits, the mind races.

 

Besides, how do you let go of the fear of mortality? Or the fear of loss of control of yourself and doing something harmful? I am certainly not ready to go so to speak. How does one let go of that fear?

 

The chest tension actually impacts my sleep often, by constricting my breath. I often get night sweats, and feeling like the breath shuts off just as I doze, thereby waking me. Any tips on how to deal with that? I am getting little sleep as it is because of it.

 

Finally, what is everybody's opinion on medication? Light tranquilizers, or seeking professional help? I personally am averse to these things, but I don't know how you all see it as regards to the spiritual path, or simply to help in a practical sense to get through too much energy blockage.

 

Thanks again all of you, you're all an invaluable support.

[The Way Is Virtue]

Letting go is letting go. Sometimes it takes time. It can relate to one's view of things overall and that can take time to change. There are relaxation CD's and 'guided meditations' and such. There are also various herbs recommended for helping to ease anxiety and stress. There are also chinese TCM doctors that might help, but TCM herbalists traditionally require one to boil the herbs at home which can be quite smelly. There are both Western and Chinese herbs available in capsule and tablet form these days. If you have any trust in TCM medicine, TCM doctors should be able to suggest herbs that they think would be the most helpful for your situation. You may be able to get the herbs in pill form from them as well. You can also go with medications, but side effects are of course always a factor that one should look into. You have to go with what feels best for you though.