Kim:
Helen Pohl:
This has been my experience as well. Piti showed up about two months ago for me, hasn't left.
I'm glad because as a long-time anxiety sufferer I feel that this whole thing is a counterbalance to that. Being able to rest in the jhanas has made a huge difference both to practice and daily life.

Hey Helen, thanks for your comments.
Do you mind me asking how you have coped with it not leaving? In part, I'm finding the constant sensations (particularly waking up at 4.00am buzzing like an phone on silent) quite anxiety inducing!
How did you move from this to a more balanced state in the jhanas?
Yes of course.
First time was quite..intense and then it returned as you say in the middle of the night. Despite feeling quite poorly from night work it was sort of a comfort. I remembered having read about jhanas earlier this summer so I guessed this was what was happening. I did what Brasington recommends basically, shifted attention from the breath to the buzz and went from there. Took a while to get stable, and go from first to second jhana etc.
The intensity wears off though and I am better able to be with it however it plays out. Better able to distinguish which jhana I am in.
Regarding the anxiety I felt that it was OK because I've had isolated occurrences like this in the past and they didn't hurt me(my anxiety is of the health-related variety-hypochondria) and I thought they were a release of emotion/tension. Plus, I quickly noticed that whatever was happening was having an effect on everyday life and baseline anxiety levels-they went way down.
Perhaps the body wants this as a sort of self-comfort....correct me if I'm wrong. Brasington has a theory as to which neurotransmitter produces which jhana that I find quite intereresting.
Still, it's been like this for quite a while now and I can't help but wonder how long this is going to go on...