Kirtan Kriya timing/Painful hips and knees

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam all,

I have two things to share today. Last time we did Kirtan Kriya in

class I mentioned to my teacher how much nicer, deeper and more

relaxing the meditation seemed when being guided, rather than having

the distraction of having to either set and reset a timer or keep an

eye on the clock. She suggested that I make an audio tape and guide

myself through the timings, that way I would hear my own voice

telling me when to whisper, when to be silent and when to chant out

loud. I haven't tried this yet, but plan to as soon as I locate my

little tape recorder. I thought this was a wonderful suggestion.

 

The other thing is I have developed some inflammation in my left

sacro iliac joint which makes it really hard to spend more than 5 or

10 minutes in easy pose. My hip starts to throb and pain goes down

the outside of my thigh and into my knee and I find myself constatnly

squirming while trying to get comfortable. I have tried sitting on a

bolster and propping myself with blankets, which does help, but I

find if I am doing a 31 minute meditation, towards the end, rather

than going deeper into the meditation, I find myself wondering when

it is going to be over...not the experience I want. I have also

tried sitting in rock pose, which is a little better, but not much.

Anyway, this moring I decided to try something different. I got out

my exercise ball and sat on it for an 11 minute meditation. I was

comfortable the whole time, I felt really stable and secure, my back

remained nice and straight(if you let your posture slip you will roll

back off the ball). My feet did get cold though, since I wasn't

sitting on them...next time I will cover them with a blanket or leave

my socks on. Anyway, I was very happy to find a way that I could do

my meditation without being in pain. If anyone knows of any reason

why I shouldn't meditate in this position I would appreciate some

feedback. Thanks for all the wonderful and helpful posts....Karin