Hi,

So lately I've been getting a large dose of involuntary body movements/(kriya?).

It started a few weeks back perhaps 30 minutes into a sitting like a with a strong movement like a wave through the chest/upper body. Continuing on it kept coming up earlier and earlier while sitting. Yesterday it started up on its own while just laying on the couch and ended with a massive sobbing session. While sitting today I literally bounced off my bench several times until I finally just lay on the floor instead and let the thing run its course. After perhaps 30 minutes things started to calm down somewhat.

The shaking is quite intense, I had the thought today that I would probably be a big hit at a break dance competition.
Upper body, lower body, hips etc. all take turns shaking/moving, up/down/back/forward, all types.

Paying close attention, I've noticed that, while keeping attention focused on an object, after perhaps 10 seconds there is a pressure/movement/tension "forward" in the head, which, if I let it run its course, results in the movements starting up. I also have to be quite relaxed in the body, to much tension keeps anything from happening.

At this point, the movements pretty much go on continually unless I actively stop them, which is not hard to do with a little tension/resistance.

I read up on the phenomenon in Jack Cornfields "A path with heart", where he recommends keeping up just enough resistance to prevent the movements from happening so the energy can do something constructive instead of being "wasted" in movement. However, I must say that a felt quite good after my 40 minute shaking session today (I hesitate to call it meditation).

If I were to speculate, it almost feels like my body is trying to shake out years of accumulated body tension, but I really have no idea if that's close to the mark. I've been dealing with a lot of body tension for many years, which may or may not be relevant.

Anyway, any tips, ideas or comments are welcome. My plan is currently to simply let this have its course and see what happens. It's not unpleasant, and trying to resist it while meditating seems to be really bad for my concentration, so that doesn't seem to be a constructive option for me.

Thanks,
Simon

The only thing that comes to mind in my limited experience is myoclonic twitches/automatic muscle jerking ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus ), but I wouldn't risk assuming it's the same you described.
I did experience brief and infrequent involuntary muscle twitching in my practice, in some periods of practice more than in others, but never near this level.

It seems to me it's tightly related with muscle tension, as you suggested, but I can only go so far.

Hey John,



Thanks for your reply. That was an interesting read, though I don't think it's directly related to what I'm experiencing. I'm healthy overall, so I don't think this is related to any health issues.

Like you said, it seems to me to be related to muscle tension. I've had a some years now with a few very bad experiences that I haven't dealt with in a good way, which has resulted in large amounts of bodily tension for me. It's one of the reasons i started up a practice in the first place. Perhaps the large amounts of movement are simply in proportion to the large amounts of held tension. This is all just speculation though, I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

Anyway, this is all very interesting to see where it ends up.

Thanks,
Simon

hi simon. i went through a few months of experiencing involuntary body movements that sounds similar to your experience. it was quite intense for a while and involved twisting, being put into yoga positions, dancing (twisting sashaying kind of belly dancing is the best description i could give), turning circles when standing upright. it wasn't all fun though as sits would often involve face planting the carpet and being sort of held down there.

like you, it was always possible to resist it, although that seldom felt 'right' to do.

it was amazing and fascinating. eventually it just became more of an ordinary thing, in my view of it. apparently it isn't uncommon and signifies some energetic transformation that is happening in your body. it's related to the path but it doesn't seem to exactly correspond. mine started soon before first path and then continued for several months until some time after A&P on second path.

after that, it didn't exactly go away, more like it just lessened. i still get it a little from time to time.

so... don't worry about it, it will eventually lessen (though of course it may get worse before it gets better), and anyway it shows you're making progress!

good luck. jacki.

Hey Jacki!

Great to hear I'm not the only one, the lack of responses was mildly worrying.
Our experiences seem to line up fairly well which is quite comforting.

As a point of interest, I was discussing this whole thing with my partner, and she mentioned that she once visited a physical therapist that (among other things) shook different body parts of her patients to help dissipate tension. I wonder if that might be sort of a man-made/manual version of this automatic process.

It's all very fascinating.
Simon