Over-sensitive to noice, it's driving me insane!

[edward]

Hi people!

For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

But the last days have been...it's killing me. I could get no sleep last night, I was sure I was going insane.

I do the grounding, but even that is hard to do now. I feel like a nevrotic wreck.

Any suggestions, help and insights is greatly appreciated.

Edward

[Vyana]

I can%rsquot tell anything about your case, but such oversensitivity is well-known as a sign of kundalini activity. I believe it then normally passes away in a few days or weeks. There is also a yogic technique where you just listen to the noises around you, become aware of them and observe them, so that you kind of accept their presence. This technique is known to be helpful in cases of over sensibility to noises. Maybe it can help you.

: For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

: It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

[Gustaf]

Dear Edvard!  I have been through the exact same thing! I will share what happened to me, and how things are now.

A few years ago we moved into a house that was rather close to a road. We didn't realize that the road was going to be as busy as it was, the cars passed very close to the house and the trucks that were not supposed to drive there (according to law) did so anyway.

I was in a period of intense transition at the time, and in the beginning when we lived in the house, just like you, I didn't pay much attention to the noises.  But gradually they started to become very irritating.. They were a total hindrance to my meditation and I felt stuck.. I could of course use earplugs, but at the time I felt this would be a "defeat", not being able to handle it.  I went into a very tough period where I felt just like you do now, a neurotic wreck due to the noises. Eventually it subsided however, and some time after that, we moved to a new house.

I've realized now that it was a combination of two things. The first aspect of the issue was a definite increased sensitivity. I simply heard more, and I heard it more clearly, with less filtering. This in turn touched upon the real source of the problem.. Not the traffic. Me.. The traffic was not really the problem. I was.  I had created a condition that if there was traffic noise, I could not meditate/relax or anything else I wanted to do at the time.

In retrospective, how would I handle it now?  I would probably have decided to move earlier. It was a noisy environment.. Secondly I would have gone and spent more time in quiet environments.. It makes it easier to manage when coming back.
Then there was of course the ego issue that was the source of the real suffering. I had decided to be against the noise.  The noise was an enemy.. The condition was there.. And for as long as it was, it would bring suffering and tension, 100% of the time, like clockwork. I am not sure if I was over it completely by the time we moved..

There is no street right outside here, but other noises were there instead... Our dog running around in the house, people talking out on the street, etc. This brought me tension as well, even if it was a bit less.. But I discovered that the same root issue was there. Having made the noises an enemy.

The final realization of the whole thing came to me in a most unexpected way.. I often use earplugs while sleeping, and my wife was snoring. I could hear it despite the earplugs and the only options were to sleep in another room.. We have a few arguments and problems with it. I didnt want to have to separate rooms just because of this, and neither did she.  Somehow, spontaneously, the snoring became a meditation.  Instead of making it an enemy, I listened to it intently, deeply.. After doing that a few times, it doesn't bother me much any more.

Now I do the same thing in for example trains.  There's noise, people babbling away, the train rattles, kids scream in the background etc, I apply something similar to antar mouna.  In retrospective to the whole traffic situation, this is really the one meditation that worked at the time.. Yet my stubborn ego insisted on "sticking" to the other meditation, because this is what gurus tell you to do....

Antar mouna is wonderful.  Mystress suggested a variant of it to me which I applied for some time. Listening to sounds is the first stage. What you do is that you sit in a meditation posture, comfortably in a chair, or lay on your back, whatever feels most comfortable for you.  First you relax your body, watch your breath for a little bit, so you become still.  Then with your eyes closed, start to follow the sounds around you. Find a sound, keep your attention on it, then move to another.  If some other sound comes and steals your attention, let it. Follow it as long as you can.  For example, a passing car. You hear it coming, be focused on it, hear it, hear it disappear in the distance.. Then the next.. It's great, it takes you out of thinking.

I discovered "my own" meditation through this, especially applied when I wait for trains and buses, or travel. I become the space. I sit or stand somewhere, and then just let all the sounds happen in me. They move, come and disappear..  You can do it with your eyes open to. Visual things happen in the space too. They come and go.  Quite remarkable.

I practiced some antar mouna in the house with the traffic. It worked particularily well with a guiding voice, but can be done without one too. Don't feel discouraged if you still feel irritation about the sounds, be aware of that too, it will pass.  

I think that the sensitivity that comes can take some time to get used to, and the other side of the coin is that the ego's enmity with the world is exposed through it.  At least mine has been.  I experience it now through other mediums instead, that require other types of surrender.

Namaste!
Gustaf

:
: Hi people!

: For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

: It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

: But the last days have been...it's killing me. I could get no sleep last night, I was sure I was going insane.

: I do the grounding, but even that is hard to do now. I feel like a nevrotic wreck.

:
: Any suggestions, help and insights is greatly appreciated.

:
: Edward

[Scott E]

A monk asked Tozan, "How can we escape the cold and heat?" Tozan replied, "Why not go where there is no cold and heat?" "Is there such a place?" the monk asked. Tozan commented, "When cold, be thoroughly cold; when hot, be hot through and through.

Cheers,

Scott

:
: Hi people!

: For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

: It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

: But the last days have been...it's killing me. I could get no sleep last night, I was sure I was going insane.

: I do the grounding, but even that is hard to do now. I feel like a nevrotic wreck.

:
: Any suggestions, help and insights is greatly appreciated.

:
: Edward

[Tommy]

I was thinking something similar to Scott. How to know when one has to endure the circumstances in order to grow beyond them, and when to take it as a hint of making a change in life.

A wise man once said to use common sense over divine sense.

: Hi people!

: For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

: It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

: But the last days have been...it's killing me. I could get no sleep last night, I was sure I was going insane.

: I do the grounding, but even that is hard to do now. I feel like a nevrotic wreck.

:
: Any suggestions, help and insights is greatly appreciated.

:
: Edward

[edward]

I have practised Antar Mouna the last two days now, and just observe and accept the sounds without identifying them. The sounds have faded know, and yesterday evening I didn't take any special notice of them.

It feels like that something have been removed from my ears. They feel more "naked" now. I guess it is some sort of an increased awareness. And when something is new, it can be shocking and unpleasant in the beginning.

I also understand why I felt like going insane the night before my first posting. A good friend of mine commited suicide the same night with alcohol and sleeping pills. I got that messsage yesterday.

It is strange, all the different ways people choose to manage their lives.

I have never experienced someone I knew so well die (except from my parrots and fishes).

When I cried, I had a more joyous feeling. I think that he has finally found peace now, and now he is a part of the peace and love that surrounds us.

Thanks Vyana, Gustaf, Scott E and Tommy for your wise words and help!

I feel better now

Edward

[Mystress]

 Hi Ed:
 I went through the same thing, as a teenager. Mom took me to a specialist who could find nothing wrong, but that my ears were irritated. He prescribed some soothing warm oil drops, the condition went away in about a week, I don't know if the drops helped or if it went on its own.
 The advice you have been given, to meditate on the sounds and open to them is good.

Blessings...

:
: Hi people!

: For the last days I have been over-sensitive to sounds and noises. The noice from the passing trains and cars outside my appartment are unbearable.

: It's strange, I have not taken any special notice of them the 6 months I have been living in this appartment.

: But the last days have been...it's killing me. I could get no sleep last night, I was sure I was going insane.

: I do the grounding, but even that is hard to do now. I feel like a nevrotic wreck.

:
: Any suggestions, help and insights is greatly appreciated.

:
: Edward