{"id":7813,"date":"2014-12-02T12:25:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T20:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mixhart.ca\/blog\/?p=7813"},"modified":"2014-12-02T15:07:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T23:07:11","slug":"warning-meditation-can-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mixhart.ca\/index.php\/warning-meditation-can-dangerous\/","title":{"rendered":"WARNING: Meditation Can Be Dangerous"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pip<\/a>
Pip and Mom demonstrating our Zen vibe, 2011.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Meditation: how can an activity so perfectly calm bring on a head injury?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

My story is so freakish that it’s embarrassing. But still, I will tell it only because I have a little extra time on my hands as I cannot work out for a few days<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunday night, as usual, I retreated to the living room after my youngest daughter (Pip) was finally tucked into bed. On all evenings that I am home, meditating before bed is my normal routine. I turn off the lights and sit on my meditation cushion and turn on some meditation music (sounds of nature). Because of the cold snap (-10 C at night), I decided to sit with my back towards the warm fire place.<\/p>\n

I closed my eyes and meditated for about 15 minutes before I decided to stretch my back (up and then forward), bringing my head to the floor momentarily (eyes still closed). I never made it to the floor. CRACK! My forehead came down hard on the sharp corner of my very solid, heavy wooden coffee table. I had forgotten how close I was sitting to the coffee table and had no idea how fast I move when I’m attempting to stretch. My eyes shot open in pain and shock. I stumbled to the mirror to check out what was going on with my head. I had a small, bloody, triangle shaped indentation on my forehead which, swelled into a blue, toonie-sized lump. I iced it for about fifteen minutes as I cried in pain and shock. There is something about a head injury that makes one cry.<\/em><\/strong> Unfortunately, I hit my head on a small point which caused considerable pressure in one small area. The night was rough, instead of feeling peaceful after the meditation, I felt nauseous, faint and had (still have, after 36 h) a splitting head ache at the top of my head, all night long.<\/p>\n

I have a mild concussion and still, on day 2 post trauma, the top of my head pounds in pain off and on all day. I’ve only had one other concussion in my life. About 5 years ago, I hit the back of my head on ice while snowboarding. Sadly, this meditation head injury feels worse. I am a person who never gets headaches unless I have a nasty virus so the head pain is new. Peter is in Vancouver so I had Pip sleep with me for comfort. I panic a bit when the headache wakes me and it is a relief to have little Pip and her calm Buddhaness beside me in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

Take care all meditators out there. Remember, that when your eyes are closed, the room is dark and you’ve been clearing your mind for a while, you can lose awareness\u00a0of your body in the room space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meditation: how can an activity so perfectly calm bring on a head injury? My story is so freakish that it’s embarrassing. But still, I will tell it only because I have a little extra time on my hands as I … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[2679,2677,52,2678],"class_list":["post-7813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mindfulness","tag-dangers-of-meditating","tag-head-injury","tag-meditation","tag-mild-concussion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t