Developed som kind of twitch... and severe mental chatter

[johnnytheswede]

Hi Forum,

I have been reading a lot of success stories to keep my spirits high. Thank you for all these. I hope to submit one myself in a near future too.

I hope someone has experiences of this. I have started doing NEW, pretty intensely, as part of the MAP-programme. I just recently developed some kind of twitch beneath my left eye... I am thinking that this might make OBE-exit difficult, but I'm not sure. Anyway I'd like to, if possible curb it before it gets very ingrained in my system. Here's a theory of how could have developed: when I've been doing sponging througout the body I have often noticed that my eyes seem to tense up and somehow follow the movement of energy, I've formed some kind of habit of shoving/pushing energy with my eyes, it sometimes translate to physical effort around my eyes. I can also feel energy moving throughout my body as consequence of practicing NEW so might there have been formed some kind of link between my left eye and other parts of my energetic body, and when energy moves (as it always does, and more so now) my eyes gets contacted too? I woke up this morning with twitching/shivering underneath my left eye and it's been going for a couple of days.

My second issue is with strong internal dialogue. It's like a strong river that generally sweeps away my focus of concentration. I really feel the need for some encouragement here. Is there anyone out there who has now achieved a conscious OBE with a history of strong mental chatter? What did you do to overcome the inner chatter? I have several ideas, and I will share them in good time too, but I would like to focus on experiences rather than ideas so if anyone could relate a personal experience on the matter I would be very much encouraged.

Best regards
Johnny

[SoulSail]

Hi Johnny,

You're in good company. After doing energy work sessions I have the exact same twitch below my left eye. I think it's probably related to the energy work since that's when it always manifests, but I'm not sure if it's a blockage or something else one should worry about. In any case, relax. As I just stated in another post, this is a process and not an event. It's evolution and you're on the road, so let go to that and have faith that you're moving in the right direction. The twitch will work itself out if you're intent is in that direction.

As for the mental chatter...welcome to the world of taming the mind. It's totally normal to go through periods of relative calm mind only to fine yourself immersed in constant inner-dialogue that totally disrupts all your attempts. Don't fight it. Fighting it will only make it worse. I find that the mental chatter I suffer from is usually at its highest when I am tired, and at the end of the day. I must meditate from a sitting position, back unsupported. I can't be too tired or the thoughts just pour in and take over as my conscious mind begins to "slip." This is normal. My best advice is to make sure you're meditating without thinking ahead to any astral attempts. Just carve your meditation time out and make it that alone. Then move on to energy work or anything else.

When you meditate, that is all there is.

Also, many meditation traditions practice with eyes slightly open, pointed down to keep mental chatter to a minimum. I find this helps though I usually practice with eyes closed. We are naturally conditioned to let our egoic minds go wild when we close our eyes and rest. So come at it in the opposite spirit: open a little, and when you catch yourself thinking simply say "thinking" and then return your attention back to your breath. In time this will develop the silent mind no matter how far you've strayed from what you thought you possessed. Meditation must be done regularly enough to keep the mind from reclaiming too much ground with the chatter.

And once more, there are no failures. No real problems as long as you're on the path. Keep faith that your higher-self and God know what's best and will work diligently with you on this.

As a final note, what meditation books are you reading? If you're sticking to MAP alone, I HIGHLY recommend you take it one step farther and get Mindfulness in Plain English. It's short and worth every word.

You're not alone my friend. Mental chatter will block you, but that's only a sign that you must develop a muscle necessary for the Astral realms in advance. You don't want to go out with an unquiet mind.

Soul

[CFTraveler]

Hi guys.
Have you noticed the common denominator in both situations? Awareness. Your awareness has been kicked up a notch, and you are now noticing things that have always gone on.
The twitches happen- if you put your mind to it you can remember other times you've had it. Putting your attention to it makes it more noticeable and annoying, and the annoyance will tense you up, and the tension will prolong the problem- stress augments these types of things.
The mental chatter always happens, but usually below your level of awareness. Just now before coming on the forum I was having a debate with myself on whether I should come on the computer or have my cup of coffee- and as the computer won I then wondered why my subconscious mind and conscious mind were at odds about what I wanted to do. So here I am, but I still want my coffee. And no, I'm not sure which one of me wanted the coffee- I think it was my conscious mind, because the subconscious usually wins one way or another.
Anyway, when you enter into practices which put your awareness on high gear- such as meditation, mindfulness or energy work, this type of stuff will happen.
Some people recommend magnesium for the twitches, but not on the eyes, obviously.
Cheers.

[johnnytheswede]

Warm thanks to you both!

/Johnny

[Beekeeper]

Guys, twitching under the eye usually alerts me to the need to take a complete Magnesium supplement or get more sleep.

I also find for me internal chatter is quickly overcome with an external source of sound such as a yoga nidra CD, binaural beats, etc. Soon I tune that out and then I'm in the happy place.:thumbsup:

[CFTraveler]

Focusing on any sound at all in the background helps me with chatter-For example, the sound of a train far away or crickets; or paying attention to the chatter as if it were someone else gossiping also disconnects my enmeshment from it.

[johnnytheswede]

Thank you very much everyone, I'll keep all of this in mind, in particular, I'll get som Mg-supplement, I guess that the twitch is a superficial thing, there might be more stuff happening with my nervous system at other levels that I'm not superficially aware of.

Best regards
Johnny

[johnnytheswede]

Just a short follow-up: twitch very diminished now after a couple of weeks of magnesium supplement and more energy work. Mental chatter is another business though... wish there was a put-monkey-mind-to-rest supplement too.

[CFTraveler]

Mind chatter seems to be the biggest 'problem' for most people (except one I know, but that's another post). What I do is not to try to suppress it, just observe it, as if I were eavesdropping on someone else's conversation, and at some point, lose interest.
It works for me, because I don't consider it a big deal.

[johnnytheswede]

Thank you, I will try that.

[johnnytheswede]

Dear Forum,

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up, I am making progress, firstly I do not become agitated when I loose focus during the practice, and it seems to become not easier to maintain focus but I seem to become more aware about how to make the effort. It seems to be a long way to reach the 3-minute goal though, but I'll let it be happening at it's own pace. I've been with the Mind Taming chapter now for 6 weeks I think.

I think I need to get more into your tip CFTraveler, about being detached from the chatter... I want to believe that loosing the agitation is one step in that direction.

[CFTraveler]

A word about Mind Taming: When I was doing this section I had a very hard time with it, (one specific exercise really messed me up- the one about the clock.) At some point I decided to give up on it and jump to the next if I didn't get it in another week. I didn't get it (or I told myself I got it) and continued on to the next exercise, which was far easier (for me, obviously it's a very subjective thing) and I continued on through all the exercises in the chapter. I decided it was either this or getting frustrated and giving up- and I'm glad I did, because I had my first conscious projection on day 30. After I was completely done with the program and projecting in a controlled manner, I went back to the difficult exercise and did it-no problem. Then later on learned other things that pertained to this type of application, and did them too- because, no matter how much you think you know, you never stop learning.
My point about this, is that everyone has their strong points, and their weak points, and sometimes you have to choose 'continue' even if you don't feel you've mastered a specific exercise, because it's better than getting frustrated, assigning bad energy to it, and stopping altogether. This was my weakness, and that's how I handled it.
The reason I bring this up is because I think (and others may disagree) that 6 weeks on one chapter is a long time.

[CFTraveler]

I think I need to get more into your tip CFTraveler, about being detached from the chatter... I want to believe that loosing the agitation is one step in that direction. When you encounter it (that is, find yourself chattering), go from doing it automatically to doing it on purpose- discuss whatever you're discussing with yourself, analyze it as if someone was talking to you about it, and then just stop, as if you were not talking anymore. When it starts, just listen as if someone were talking to you, but don't answer, because you're done. Keep having this 'witnessing' attitude, and it goes away on it's own (for a time, it's not normal to be quiet minded all the time)- but the goal is for a certain maximum of time anyway.
Another trick is to listen to the silence in between the chatter.

[SoulSail]

Hey Johnny,

Glad to hear that you're coming along. And while it's totally normal to feel frustrated or agitated during mind taming exercises, or any other form of prolonged concentration exercises, there is a reason for that particular experience. I went to my journal and cut some notes for you. I think most of this comes from Bhante Gunuratana, but I added text here and there to make it clearer in my journal.

Here's what's going on:

· Conscious thought sets up corresponding tensions in the body, but you normally won’t/don't feel them until they grow into physical pains. But yes, thought produces a pressure of its own that most people are totally unaware of because the current of thought has been going on for so long. Thought feels natural unless we're troubled by something or mentally ill.

· Because normal (and abnormal) conscious thought is used to having full control, it grabs all your attention and leaves little left over for you to notice it's own effect.

· Your mind can be concentrated only on the current moment. As moments are constantly passing away one after another, the mind keeps pace with them, changing with them without clinging to any of them long unless it becomes diseased and is obsessing.

· If we try to stop the mind at one moment, we end up frustrated or agitated because the mind cannot be held fast. It's like stomping on the breaks when you're doing 100mph. The mind must keep up with what is happening in the new moment. As the present moment can be found any moment, every waking moment can be made a concentrated moment. To unite the mind with the present moment, we will find something happening in that moment: either distracting thoughts about where we'd rather be, the past, bills...OR, we can direct our awareness to some object of focus during our mind taming: our breath, a mental image, a word, etc.

In short, agitation is the mind's way of telling you it would rather be entertained AND, at the same time, you've given it nothing to play with. So give it something like the awareness of your breath or any of the other examples I listed. What happens after some practice is totally liberating.

Of course, others here have some great insight as well. This is my two cents, what works for me.

Soul

[johnnytheswede]

Hello my friends,

And thank you very much for your comprehensive replies, I will certainly have very much use for them (worth much more than 2c!). I also think it is time to move on, like you suggest, but will incorporate Mind Taming just as Energy Work and keep it running all the time. This will be the last week I'm on the third chapter. I plan to spend considerably less time on week 4 because I have a pretty good grip on my energy body. (Mind Taming is my weak spot.)

My very best regards
Johnny