If you are experiencing meditation sickness — that is, a mental or physical health crisis triggered by contemplative practice — you need capable, informed, professional help to put the pieces back together. If you are experiencing a medical or psychological emergency, please seek medical help immediately. For crises that are less urgent, the resources on this page might be useful….
Reframing
Research has shown that skillfully recontextualizing or reframing challenging contemplative experiences can sometimes be helpful. If you are feeling confused about what’s happening in your practice, a new map of the territory may help you to re-orient and make sense of your experiences. If you think you would benefit from this kind of approach, you might find one of these resources to be helpful:
An introduction to Asian styles of contemplative practice that pays particular attention to the range of experiences that can arise in meditation, yoga, self-inquiry, and other practices. This book is explicit about both the altered states of consciousness that can result from these practices as well as many of their potential pitfalls.
Amazon • Beacon Press
A map of advanced spiritual/contemplative development for people who are (1) experiencing mystical, spiritual, or awakening experiences as a result of contemplative practice, (2) not finding their current spiritual tradition or practice system satisfactory in making sense of these, and (3) seeking a fresh outside perspective.
Amazon • Aeon Press
MDh Members Circle is an online community of practitioners associated with Multidharma. Here you will find insightful re-orientation to the multifaceted nature of the awakening territory as well as an open-minded community that values the diversity of individual spiritual experience.
Supportive Organizations
There are other approaches beyond reframing. There are many people with expertise operating within traditional lineages of contemplative practice, but if you are not finding the support you need in your community, you might look into the services provided by these organizations:
- Cheetah House (www.cheetahhouse.org)
- Spiritual Emergence Network (www.spiritualemergence.org)
- Spiritual Crisis Network (www.spiritualcrisisnetwork.uk)
- Spiritual Emergence Anonymous (www.spiritualemergenceanonymous.org)
Note I do not have a formal connection with any of these organizations, and am recommending them solely on a word of mouth basis.