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An Experience After Meditation

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
Some background: I have regularly practiced meditation for a few years, and over the last few months, I have considerably expanded my practice by learning new techniques and meditating more frequently. The last month in particular has been the biggest step up, as my psychiatrist has decided to take me off medication and instead intensify other forms of therapy.

This has had a significantly noticeable and positive effect so far, but one thing happened earlier today after a meditation session that was about an hour long: when I opened my eyes at the end, I felt a tingling sensation concentrated in the middle of my head and lower back and then reaching my limbs, like a cold wave radiating outward. That was the first time I had ever experienced such a sensation after meditating, but it was so calming that I just paused for a minute or so to take it all in before going about my day.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, how often has it happened to you?
 

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
I don't know anything about meditation but would like to try it. Are there any youtube videos you think would be good for a newbie?
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
Some background: I have regularly practiced meditation for a few years, and over the last few months, I have considerably expanded my practice by learning new techniques and meditating more frequently. The last month in particular has been the biggest step up, as my psychiatrist has decided to take me off medication and instead intensify other forms of therapy.

This has had a significantly noticeable and positive effect so far, but one thing happened earlier today after a meditation session that was about an hour long: when I opened my eyes at the end, I felt a tingling sensation concentrated in the middle of my head and lower back and then reaching my limbs, like a cold wave radiating outward. That was the first time I had ever experienced such a sensation after meditating, but it was so calming that I just paused for a minute or so to take it all in before going about my day.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, how often has it happened to you?
Never had it in my head, only the extremities or rarely in the spine radiating outwards. I attribute it to starting to feel the body again and first movement after laying perfectly still.
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
Oh yeah. One time my whole body went so cold I started shivering so bad that even a hot shower wouldn't warm me up.
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't know anything about meditation but would like to try it. Are there any youtube videos you think would be good for a newbie?

I haven't watched any YouTube videos about it, since I first learned it from a yoga and meditation instructor in person. He laid down the basics for our class and was quite clear that a key aspect of meditation was how much its practice could be tailored to one's worldview and beliefs.

I practice it from a secular perspective, so I have found this link pretty helpful at a few points:

A beginner's guide to meditation

Good luck! I hope it proves immensely helpful to you if you pick it up. It has been a literal life-saver for me multiple times (especially during conscription) ever since I started practicing it.
 
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Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
May I ask whether it was Shamata, Zazen or Vipassana? Or something else entirely?

I'm not familiar enough with the nuances of each of those to give a definite answer, but I do know that at least a few elements of it are present in them (e.g., mindfulness and anchoring thought using breathing).

I don't follow Buddhism, although I see immense value in how some of its teachings have influenced modern psychology and therapy.

My own practice mostly consists of mindfulness, loving-kindness meditation, observing thoughts and letting them pass without judgment, visualization, and a strong focus on lack of free will. I have changed some aspects of it as well as expanded it a lot over time, and I'm always open to learning more and tuning it further.
 

John53

I go leaps and bounds
Premium Member
I haven't watched any YouTube videos about it, since I first learned it from a yoga and meditation instructor in person. He laid down the basics for our class and was quite clear that a key aspect of meditation is how much its practice can be tailored to one's worldview and beliefs.

I practice it from a secular perspective, so I have found this link pretty helpful at a few points:

A beginner's guide to meditation

Good luck! I hope it proves immensely helpful to you if you pick it up. It has been a literal life-saver for me multiple times (especially during conscription) ever since I started practicing it.

I'm a terrible insomniac, usually get to sleep about midnight then awake again at 3 or 4am, I'm hoping it will help with that. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
 
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LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
I'm not familiar enough with the nuances of each of those to give a definite answer, but I do know that at least a few elements of it are present in them (e.g., mindfulness and anchoring thought using breathing).

I don't follow Buddhism, although I see immense value in how some of its teachings have influenced modern psychology and therapy.

My own practice mostly consists of mindfulness, loving-kindness meditation, observing thoughts and letting them pass without judgment, visualization, and a strong focus on lack of free will. I have changed some aspects of it as well as expanded it a lot over time, and I'm always open to learning more and tuning it further.
Shamata/Vipassana/Zazen are aimed at developing serene coexistence of focused attention with the realization that our passions and attachments arise and dissolve as a matter of course and we should not allow ourselves to be enslaved by them.

A very useful thing to learn and practice, and it looks like you have that well covered.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Yes - it sounds like what some religious communities would place under the auspices of energy work. Meditation is a foundational skill that assists in learning to guide the flow of energy (ki, the force, auras, whatever you want to call it), so it can happen spontaneously during meditations. Usually in traditions like my own the evocation of these flows is more deliberate and mindful.

Might not be that precisely, though. I wasn't the one doing the experiencing so it's hard to say, but what you describe reminds me a lot of how energy work operates for me (that is, very tactile as opposed to "seeing" with inner sight).
 

Alien826

No religious beliefs
I don't know anything about meditation but would like to try it. Are there any youtube videos you think would be good for a newbie?

Just from my own experience, I'll add to what others have said. If there is a Buddhist group (of "western" people, not from a Buddhist culture) near you it might help to join it. My own experience was with Tibetan Buddhism, which has pretty basic practices (at first).

- You will get instruction, free.
- You will progress in the company of others.
- There will be regular gatherings (like church services) which will give you a structure to stop you backsliding.
- You can ignore the religious side of it, and they won't mind.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
This has had a significantly noticeable and positive effect so far, but one thing happened earlier today after a meditation session that was about an hour long: when I opened my eyes at the end, I felt a tingling sensation concentrated in the middle of my head and lower back and then reaching my limbs, like a cold wave radiating outward. That was the first time I had ever experienced such a sensation after meditating, but it was so calming that I just paused for a minute or so to take it all in before going about my day.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, how often has it happened to you?
Having sensations in meditation is commonplace for me. Another posted mentioned energy work, and that is very accurate here. This type of sensation is what I regularly experience, or rather to say cultivate this through qigong and tai chi practice. In fact T'ai Chi is built upon cultivating and directing such energy. You do standing meditations, feel the energy ball between your hands, radiating from your palms, directed from your spine, and various energy centers. All of this requires being relaxed, both physically and mentally.

What you describe as just observing your thoughts, like them rise and float by without being captured by them and getting caught into the stream of discursive thought, is from the Buddhist practice known as Vipassana.

There are two basic types of meditation, concentrative and awareness or insight meditation. In concentrative meditation you focus on a single point to the exclusion of all other thoughts, through a type of intentional brute force as it were. In awareness, or insight meditation, it is more a "defocal" meditation, where you allow everything to arise without resistance, but disallowing becoming engaged in those thoughts. You let them drift by like the clouds in the sky instead. Doing that makes you the "witness" of your thoughts and sensations. You see them more as an observer, rather than a participant.

This has the effect of making you more relaxed and aware of everything going on in you. And when you reach those states, that's when you may experience these energies can begin to flow more freely. You've removed the blockages, the areas where you are holding stress and tension that block these, both mentally and physically. Think of it it like gripping a bird tightly in your first, and then releasing it. Once you've relaxed your grip, the bird can take flight.

Here is a great question and answer discussion with Ken Wilber about the types and stages of meditation. He covers the different types of sensations and experiences that occur at the different levels. I recognize these from my own experiences. I hope you find some of this helpful. STAGES OF MEDITATION
 

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, how often has it happened to you?

Ah yes. That's the water Element.

I've gotten to that stage a few times.

I still have a hard time ignoring it when it happens though and it often snaps me out of trance/meditation.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Some background: I have regularly practiced meditation for a few years, and over the last few months, I have considerably expanded my practice by learning new techniques and meditating more frequently. The last month in particular has been the biggest step up, as my psychiatrist has decided to take me off medication and instead intensify other forms of therapy.

This has had a significantly noticeable and positive effect so far, but one thing happened earlier today after a meditation session that was about an hour long: when I opened my eyes at the end, I felt a tingling sensation concentrated in the middle of my head and lower back and then reaching my limbs, like a cold wave radiating outward. That was the first time I had ever experienced such a sensation after meditating, but it was so calming that I just paused for a minute or so to take it all in before going about my day.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, how often has it happened to you?
It's amazing the phenomenon that arises from meditation. I heard an entire orchestra and smelled fresh cooked bread once, along with hearing my name being called out from nowhere.

Enjoy it, savor the flavor, but realize at the same time it's not that significant either, but a good sign the meditation is effective. Until it passes it might be significant for awhile. Heh.

It's just phenomenon. Mayko.
 

PearlSeeker

Well-Known Member
It's amazing the phenomenon that arises from meditation. I heard an entire orchestra and smelled fresh cooked bread once, along with hearing my name being called out from nowhere.
"[insert name here] , would you stop meditating now?! The dinner is getting cold..."
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
Congratulations

Thank you!

I'm curious what you visualize. That can be significant as I understand it.

It depends on what I'm meditation for; I have multiple visualizations for each purpose. For example, when I meditate on reducing or removing expectations, this is one of the main visualizations I use:
  • A tree starting from the same root but slowly growing many branches, all of which have their own leaves. The tree represents life on Earth, while the branches are the lifeforms. The leaves are the various people, cultures, religions, and worldviews.
  • Even though it may seem that one of the leaves has "chosen" to antagonize another, this is merely how their worldview has become shaped by their circumstances, experiences, biology, and upbringing. At the end of the day, they didn't really "choose" anything, and expecting anything specific from them is pointless because expectation sometimes implies they can change at will.
On the other hand, when I meditate on being in the present moment, this is a crucial visualization for me:
  • I start by closing my eyes and imagining myself as an observer in the room. Gradually, I zoom out to the whole house. I then zoom out to the whole building from outside, the street, the neighborhood, and then the city, and so forth until I picture myself looking at Earth from space.
  • In the following step, I start slowly zooming back in, this time on different points on Earth. I picture myself observing people going about their day in urban settings, the countryside, industrial areas, desert sites, the seaside, etc. With each instance of zooming in, I focus on how the present moment has a myriad of different experiences, situations, and interactions. No matter where someone is or what their worldview may be, we're all in the same present moment, having our lives shaped by numerous factors.
  • Finally, I move my observation to a river bank or any other moving body of water and liken its trajectory to that of my (or any other individual's) life: it is moving somewhere, and in the present moment, it is getting closer to that destination. There is no point in thinking about where it was before or where it will eventually be. The focal point is that it is moving now.
These are two visualizations out of multiple, as I mentioned, but I hope these help answer your question!
 
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