MBSR & Yoga downsides

[Ibrahim]

Hi guys,
I recently started mindfulness meditation with focus on breathing (about a month or so) as well as Hatha Yoga Classes.. The thing is, I noticed I would sometimes get a large feeling of euphoria and a great head buzz while meditating + some migraine like headaches (seems to me like hyperventilation caused by a tendency to control the breath while meditating but idk)...
Interestingly enough, I read about meditation practitioners who started to experience visual hallucinations, halos, & shapes after meditating for a while...
Accordingly, some theories online suggests that meditation by itself can induce epileptic seizures due to the
"hyper-synchrony" achieved during meditation & brain states changes (altered consciousness) associated with these experiences....

You may wonder why I'm concerned with the cons more than the pros... well, the thing is I suffer from a condition called "visual snow" where you basically see tv static across your visual field constantly, as well as some other symptoms (like fatigue, tinnitus, after images...)
I also had a symptomatic seizure before, probably caused by a previous surgery I had in the past in my brain to treat hydrocephalus, almost 10 years ago...

All of this makes me wonder if meditation can really help me, not necessarily with my visual snow, but rather with my overall well being... I'm worried that paradoxically, it can make things worse instead of better based on medical & what I read online ?

Meditation practitioners, what is your experience with meditation (TM, mindfulness...)
Did it help you improve at all ?
Did you experience the same uneasy feelings I'm having upon starting ?
Did these sensations lessen for you over time?

Hope you all have a nice
weekend, Ibrahim

[JonW]

Hi Ibrahim,
Welcome to the forum.
How are you going about learning mindfulness? Via a book? A teacher?
Also, what kind of meditations are you practising?
It can be difficult to ground yourself in the practice without some kind of structured approach.
All best,
Jon

[Peter]

Meditation practitioners, what is your experience with meditation (TM, mindfulness...)
1) Did it help you improve at all ?
2) Did you experience the same uneasy feelings I'm having upon starting ?
3) Did these sensations lessen for you over time?

Hi Ibrahim, welcome to the site. Very relevant questions from Jon, there.

Regarding your questions:
1) Most people gradually feel many benefits, when practicing consistently. For me it was instantly. It's different for everyone.
2) It's pretty common for people to experience some intense emotions and sensations, especially when they are new to the practice. But this is a good thing. These are bottled up emotions that need to be released. Personally, I've never experienced it.
3) Normally these emotions and sensations lessen over time.

However, since you have a pretty unique condition (I've never heard of it before), you'd better be careful. I'd recommend that you try it with other(s) at first, and build it up gradually.

Peter

[JonW]

'It's pretty common for people to experience some intense emotions and sensations, especially when they are new to the practice. But this is a good thing. These are bottled up emotions that need to be released. Personally, I've never experienced it.'

Excellent points.
Also it's important to bear in mind that, when we start meditating, we are attending to our own experience of internal and external stimuli very closely, possibly for the first time in our lives. So, naturally, we start noticing things that, until now, have been under the radar of our moment to moment awareness.
Mindfulness requires a huge amount of patience and self-compassion. The practice also requires a structure, particularly if you have any underlying health conditions.
Cheers,
Jon

[Peter]

Also it's important to bear in mind that, when we start meditating, we are attending to our own experience of internal and external stimuli very closely, possibly for the first time in our lives. So, naturally, we start noticing things that, until now, have been under the radar of our moment to moment awareness.

Beautifully put!

Thinking back some more, I did feel something special in the beginning. I felt euphoric.

Peter

[JonW]

One thing I noticed at the start of my practice was the sense of peacefulness that descended between thoughts. I realised I'd been looking for that peace of my mind for as long as I could remember and I'd been looking for it in some pretty unlikely places (include the refuge of alcohol for many years).
Meditation made me realise that the present moment was absolutely fine so long as I wasn't spinning a narrative around it.
These days it's mostly quiet joy. But I'm careful not to get complacent about that. I remind myself that it's important to let go of that too.
Cheers,
Jon

[Ibrahim]

Hi Ibrahim,
Welcome to the forum.
How are you going about learning mindfulness? Via a book? A teacher?
Also, what kind of meditations are you practising?
It can be difficult to ground yourself in the practice without some kind of structured approach.
All best,
Jon

Hi Jon, I'm actually following Jon Kabat-Zinn 8 weeks MBSR program..
I think the meditation being taught in that program is simply called "Mindfulness Meditation"
Jon, as I mentioned before, I read that meditation can actually predispose to epilepsy, do you know if there's any truth to this theory ?

[Ibrahim]

Thank you guys for taking the time to respond, does anyone happen to practice Yoga for instance ? Did you experience any side effects ?

[JonW]

'Jon, as I mentioned before, I read that meditation can actually predispose to epilepsy, do you know if there's any truth to this theory ?'

I've never heard of that.
I find it difficult to believe that mindfulness or yoga could actually create new conditions if practiced properly.
Mindfulness is simply awareness. How could the simple act of being present in the moment create something like epilepsy?
Cheers,
Jon

[Ibrahim]

'Jon, as I mentioned before, I read that meditation can actually predispose to epilepsy, do you know if there's any truth to this theory ?'

I've never heard of that.
I find it difficult to believe that mindfulness or yoga could actually create new conditions if practiced properly.
Mindfulness is simply awareness. How could the simple act of being present in the moment create something like epilepsy?
Cheers,
Jon

Jon I cannot post links here. However, if interested, a simple google search of "meditation & epilepsy" will give you tons if hypotheses and researches regarding this subject...
This is actually one major thing that's keeping me from going "fully" to this new world of meditation, as I did have a symptomatic seizure in the past due to other reasons, and I don't wanna make things worse, dk if that makes sence to you....
Thank you for your time & patience, Ibrahim