Overcoming Disturbance of the Nerves

When an individual takes up the inner observation process and begins to look carefully at the motives, actions, feelings, emotions and ideas that dominate the being, there is frequently a stage where the witness consciousness becomes ‘self-critical’ and worries about every misstep, every wrong feeling or emotion, and every impulse. This self-critical phase can occupy the focus and lead to nervous imbalances, and various manifestations in the body and the nervous system, frequently showing up as digestive upsets or headaches or various forms of irritation, sleeplessness, or feelings of depression, and fear of failure.

These things arise through an incorrect understanding of the witness-consciousness, replacing the true disinterested witness with a mental formation associated with the process of introspection. Specific ideal thoughts, emotions, actions and relations are held and one’s inner being is compared to these formations. When the inner being continues to harbor thoughts or feelings that do not match the ideal, the seeker may then conclude that it is hopeless, that change will never result, and that the effort is doomed to failure.

The poise of the witness, separate from the nature, does not associate itself with these feelings, and if the seeker can adopt this poise, he can observe the workings of the nature, understand the complexity and the pressures of habit, tradition, and education that have led to the current status, and then begin the process of slowly disentangling the knots of consciousness that prevent change from occurring. During this period, there must be a quiet, confident aspiration and faith to sustain the process.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “There is no real reason for discontent or dissatisfaction with yourself — since progress is being made in spite of the resistance of the lower forces. The pressure which is translated by the heaviness in the stomach has to be got rid of — it is there that there is the chief resistance still. Peace within and a cheerful confidence and gladness without is what is wanted — then this kind of nervous pressure and disorder would cease.”

“The main difficulty seems to be that you are too subject to an excitement of the nerves — it is only by bringing quietude and calm into the whole being that a steady progress in the sadhana can be assured. … The first thing to be done in order to recover is to stop yielding to the attack of the nerves — the more you yield and identify yourself with these ideas and feelings, the more they increase. You have to draw back and find back something in you that is not affected by pains and depressions, then from there you can get rid of the pains and depressions.”

Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Living Within: The Yoga Approach to Psychological Health and Growth, Disturbances of the Body and Physical Consciousness, Healing the Nerves, pp. 101-107