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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 07:27:36 AM
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I have been practicing DM for about 10 weeks and although results have been slow I have noticed a few changes. In the last 3 weeks or so I have suffered a bit from irritability and excitability in activity and also some restlessness in the sessions.
The main thing I have noticed though is tinnitus at all times. It is quite annoying though I'm trying to just let it be there. After reading a few references to “divine ear” online, I contacted an ENT surgeon in London and he tells me that quite a few of his patients have developed tinnitus when meditating.
I know this has been mentioned in these forums before but I wondered if anyone else had found the tinnitus distracting during the sessions as I do and if they had any tips for dealing with it. I am considering using white noise while meditating because it masks the tinnitus and I find it easier to ignore the white noise than the tinnitus.
I will stick to the IAM mantra while the white noise masks the tinnitus, although I do know some have suggested using the tinnitus noise itself as a mantra or even using white noise or ocean waves etc to meditate to instead.
Anyway, I am hoping this tinnitus will stop annoying me in the fullness of time. Again I'd be grateful for anyone else's experiences with this.
Thanks
Willie |
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kaserdar
91 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 09:21:49 AM
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| I have it too. You might have become aware of it after you started meditating so not necessarily meditation caused it. It doesn't matter anyway. For me it is always there if I give it attention like any other noise you can hear while meditating. So don't worry about it. You may hear it while you are on the surface but when you go deep with mantra you will not notice it and with the time you will not hear it at all. |
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AumNaturel
Canada
687 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 09:29:17 AM
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Is the doctor sure they really developed it during meditation? To me that conclusion seems highly unlikely. In a quiet room, you can perceive the tinnitus much better, and so his patients could possibly falsely place the blame on the meditation as opposed to their attention reinforcing the tinnitus by paying attention to it. Nowhere in the lessons does it say "pay attention to your tinnitus," only to gently be with any symptoms that may come up that temporarily distract attention from the practice, and if tinnitus isn't such a distraction in everyday life, it would not be during mediation either to such an extent. Through all my years meditating, I have only found it to heighten my senses, especially my ability to hear, and others report it as well such as author Tsung Hwa Jou who has a book on meditation. What does aggravate tinnitus is sudden or persistent loud noises, like going to the movies (which now rivals nightclubs). The simple solution to that is to invest in some high quality earplugs. I'm using hearos and they truly work as advertised, dampening all harmful frequencies but without blocking our ability to still hear them clearly, even very quiet sounds. I use them while meditating whenever someone's talking or watching TV next door and I can sometimes still hear it depending on how far out the ear I leave them, but my breathing adds just enough 'white noise' to dampen that too. I found them much better than industrial ones that are not as comfortable and that magnify the sound of breathing way too much.
Saying meditation causes tinnitus to me is the equivalent of saying sitting in a quiet room gives tinnitus. Using tinnitus as the mantra is about as bad an advise as anyone can suggest since that can only reinforce the connections on those neural pathways, and has no place in AYP anyways, and neither does ocean waves. Even earplugs are not suggested for every bit of distracting sound. Over time, it is said we will learn to naturally favor the mantra and silence of meditation over external noises as these aspects become increasingly pleasurable for the mind.
I don't know about the divine ear, but in the milestones, it says AYP can lead to hearing the divine Aum, which I imagine would be incredible, contrary to tinnitus.
good luck with it |
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karl
United Kingdom
1812 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 09:46:38 AM
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Allow it, listen to it, be with it and then gently favour the Mantra. Even when there are constant distractions it does no matter. Each has their own set of difficulties. It is the willingness to try and the earnestness with which you do so that is all that is necessary.
Tell a Doctor that you noticed Tinnitus after meditating and the Doctor will tell you that it is the cause  Accept it as part of your personal journey, an additional practice that makes your meditation even more effective. |
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woosa
United Kingdom
382 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 11:02:05 AM
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I have had tinnitus for a while now, and I would certainly say meditation caused it.
Best thing to do is continue with your practice and let it go on in the background. I have come to realise that don't let it annoy you. It will die down and pass with time. Mine did.
Meditation is a bit like a politician: They create a problem, but they also have the solution. Although meditation is about uncovering the truth, politicians seem to be the opposite. |
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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2011 : 8:17:04 PM
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Thanks to all for your advice. I will certainly take this on board.
AmNaturel I have to say that the advice you give is in direct opposition to every piece of medical advice I have read or been given so far about tinnitus. If anyone is interested in finding out how tinnitus works and the proper treatment I suggest a first port of call should be this site:
www.tinnitus.org
It would seem to me to be a good idea to read all of the articles before getting deeper into discussion. This is quite an important subject for some people and I would say that to suggest practices which contradict medical opinion is really something which needs a fair bit of understanding and experience. I want to make sure people really do understand the issue.
I hope that others suffering from this problem will be helped by this discussion but will also take on board medical facts when deciding the best course of action
Willie
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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 09:41:09 AM
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I did have some correspondence with the ENT fellow re this and he recommended using white noise in the background as silence is not very good for tinnitus. However, I am encouraged to hear that woosa's was helped by perseverance with the practice. Are you able to elaborate some more woosa? Do you still get it or do you just not bother about it now?
Apparently most people with tinnitus don't recognise it much and just get on with their lives. A small number do get driven crazy with tit though 
I suspect the reason DM will cause it is because it makes us more aware. In a way, I'm sort of encouraged to have it because it does show me that DM is making changes to me (and I have been doubtful recently) which is a good thing.
Willie |
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woosa
United Kingdom
382 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 10:14:38 AM
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Hi Willie
Well I have the ringing constantly, mostly as a low background noise. Everyday things sort of drown it out. When all is quiet, like going to sleep I notice it more. Before it was constant, and much louder, like you describe. I guess it will pass with more time and practice.
During meditation it can get very loud, but my attention always goes back to the mantra.... (getting sick of saying that).
Don't know what it is. I would guess it's your brain re-wiring itself! Like for the past month I have 'earworm' or 'melodymania' which is pretty annoying - when you think about it! But what can you do? It's a good focal point for self enquiry. |
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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 1:11:59 PM
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Hi Woosa. Well I have just had my meditation and the tinnitus was really really loud; quite unpleasant. I did try to go back to the mantra but it was really not very easy. I stopped for long enough to stick a white noise sound on my iPod into my ears and continued with that in the background. By doing this I was able to easily favour the mantra again. Not sure if this would be a good long term idea though. The last couple of days the tinnitus has been much worse and always there even in everyday activity.
I am encouraged by your experience mind you so maybe I should just forget about the white noise, though the doc advised leaving it on.
Ah well just hoping it will pass
Thanks again
Willie |
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AumNaturel
Canada
687 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 2:11:01 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by willie
AmNaturel I have to say that the advice you give is in direct opposition to every piece of medical advice I have read or been given so far about tinnitus.
Please quote my last post to you so I know where I gave you any direct advice.
The only bit I suggested actually comes from the AYP writings, including the support forum postings. You wanted tips from that perspective, and that is what I have tried to provide.
The rest has been from my personal experience with tinnitus, meditation, and exposure to loud noises, as well as my unqualified opinions about tinnitus. That is what you've asked.
Respectfully. |
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woosa
United Kingdom
382 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 2:46:36 PM
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Hi Willie
From experience tinnitus and the dreaded earworm could be caused by too much energy.
So, only thing I can suggest is try using the second mantra enhancement, or breath meditation, as you could be an over sensitive meditator.
Maybe 5-10 mins of spinal breathing might balance you.
Suggestions for over-sensitive meditators lesson will give you more info.
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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2011 : 6:28:46 PM
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Hi woosa. TBH I had been worrying about being an under sensitive meditator. I haven't really noticed an awful lot of inner peace or enlightenment in my life and was getting quite despondent. I contacted yogani and he suggested I might be taking it too quickly too and that "less might be more" sort of thing and to cut down on my meditation for a while.
I have been only doing it 15 mins once a day for a few days now. I hadn't thought of the spinal breathing because I thought that might make things worse.
It is true that I have been quite restless and irritable for a few weeks now and maybe this is an other indication?
Thanks for the suggestions you highlighted. I'm off to read them now
Willie
EDIT. Had a quick read of the lesson and some of it made sense to me. If I have understood it correctly there are two possibilities one a premature kundalini awakening or an oversensitivity to DM. If the latter it should really only be a problem in the sessions but if the former, would be persistent. In that case if one of these is causing my symptoms, it must be the former. I assume this is why you suggested adding some pranayama.
I'm still a bit puzzled though because I haven't engaged in any other practices outside of the AYP system, so I'm not sure how it could be that either. Doh I'm getting a bit confused 
Anway I will sleep on it and give it some more thought tomorrow.
I appreciate your help very much
Willie |
Edited by - willie on Sep 08 2011 6:43:04 PM |
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willie
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2011 : 1:00:49 PM
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AumNaturel. Sorry I didn't spot you had posted again hence my late reply.
I meant no offence to you and was only trying to say that the advice I had had medically was that sitting in a quiet room actually does, aggravate tinnitus and that low monotonous background noise was very beneficial. The doc I consulted said silence was actually the worse thing for it. Also that 50% of tinnitus has nothing to do with hearing loss or ear damage or noise and that many suffered actually had very acute hearing.
I do appreciate your help in the matter of DM and take on board the points you made regarding the practice and I completely agree that to focus on the tnnitus sounds to me like a bad idea. The whole tinnitus thing is pretty complex and if you read some of the documents I've linked to above it will explain better than I can.
Anwyay, thanks for your reply which I appreciated and please excuse me if I expressed myself badly.
Willie |
Edited by - willie on Sep 10 2011 1:07:18 PM |
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AumNaturel
Canada
687 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2011 : 7:49:05 PM
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| No worries, but thank you for clarifying. Likewise over here if I came across that way :) My tinnitus might not be all that bad, which is why I haven't read up on it much besides using hearing protection whenever the situation calls for it. Before meditating regularly, it used to be more noticeable, and I recognized how focusing on it made it worse and vice versa. |
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