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Summary of Question:	Energy From Simran
Category:	Meditation
Date Posted:	Tuesday, 7/19/2005 1:17 PM MDT

I have been doing more simran lately and am wondering how to deal with the energy generated during the simran. There is so much energy that the muscles of my leg and feet sometimes reflexively contract by themselves. It's distracting. The mantr that I am using is 'Gobinday mukanday odharay....' you probably know the rest.

I don't feel that this is dangerous and am experienced enough to know when to back off. However, I have made a commitment to do a certain amount of simran in a certain amount of time and for that reason I have to finish this.
Could you please give me some techniques to deal with the excess energy so I can continue japping?

Thank you.

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reply
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Sat Nam. This mantra is very powerful. If you check yourself against the following and still have these distractions, as you said, then limit your time on THIS mantra to 11 minutes and practice jaap of another mantra for the rest of your practice. It could be that Guru is suggesting 'enough' when your body starts bouncing! :)
1. Make sure you are sitting with a straight spine. If you are on the floor, cross-legged, and you are unable to keep a straight spine in this pose, (a) make sure your clothing isn't binding you and (b) sit on padding to keep from irritating nerves in the feet/legs and (c) a small pillow can sometimes make a huge difference by elevating the hips/spine and making straight spine easier. This can relieve the jumpiness in the legs.
2. Make sure your head is 'looking' straight ahead, meaning not bowed or with chin up. Keep your neck straight but relaxedly, not in a stiff manner. Your eyes should be closed 9/10ths, and try to focus (gently) on the tip of the nose. Don't fret over this last part, by the way, just do your best.
3. I don't think I need to remind you that your head be covered (for those reading this it's important).
4. If you cannot sit on the floor for any reason as above (for example, a disabily), then sit in a chair where your feet can be flat on the floor, no cross legs or splay-feet. Back straight, as above.
5. Make sure you are taking full, deep breaths between mantra repetitions, through the nose.
6. When you are finished, sit quietly or lay out on your back for a while, breathing deeply.
7. Meditation by its nature is to raise the consciousness by raising the energy out of the lower body energy centers (chakras) into the higher centers of the head. Having one's legs/feet 'fall asleep' (tingling, numbness) is normal, but the steps above help delay or abate this.
These steps apply to all japa and simran, although some practices have hand postures (mudras) as well.
Guru ang sang,
-DKK