Strong Body Sensations

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Wayne Conner, modified 9 Years ago at 5/9/15 1:46 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 5/9/15 1:45 PM

Strong Body Sensations

Posts: 13 Join Date: 5/9/15 Recent Posts
Hello,

I've been a long time reader of DO but never had a reason to post before now. For the past few weeks, I've been experiencing a greater awareness of my body when I'm not meditating. By awareness I mean the vibratory sensations that we look at during vipassana. In the beginning I only noticed it when I wasn't fully concentrating on anything, it was just there in the background of my awareness. The last past couple of weeks, however, its gotten stronger to the point where unless I'm a sleep, I feel this constant flickering tension through out my body, to the point where its getting unpleasant. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin. Has anyone experienced this before or have any advice on how to stop it?

Background information: I've been practicing meditation for 11 years this summer. I started with a local zen group, sitting 2-3 times a week. Around 7 years ago, I started sitting everyday doing mainly concentration practices (anapansati). The last several months I've been doing strictly vipassana and noting practice. Mapwise, I don't believe that I've gotten close to 1st path or even crossed the A&P yet. I've had a few weird experiences on and off the cushion (kundalini like bursts, hearing disembodied voices, seeing with the eyes closed, etc) but nothing that would lead me to think that I'm all that far along on the path.
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Wayne Conner, modified 9 Years ago at 6/14/15 5:18 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 6/14/15 5:18 PM

RE: Strong Body Sensations

Posts: 13 Join Date: 5/9/15 Recent Posts
I'm still having a constant sense of vibrations all through my body. Depending on how focused my mind is on something, it can be sort of like a background hum to very intense. In the past couple of weeks I've also had a couple of strange events - the first I was standing at my desk at work and it felt like several waves of energy rose up through me and out through the top of my head. Then last week I woke up to my morning alarm, turned it off and laid back down for a few minutes as I normally do. As I'm laying there, it felt like I had this circular energy rotating counter-clockwise in my head and in my stomach. Once I got up and got in the shower, the feeling disappeared.

If anyone has any experience with this or suggestions about to deal with it, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.
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katy steger,thru11615 with thanks, modified 9 Years ago at 6/14/15 7:43 PM
Created 9 Years ago at 6/14/15 7:39 PM

RE: Strong Body Sensations

Posts: 1740 Join Date: 10/1/11 Recent Posts
Hi Wayne,

It's good to read you.

First, are you taking a lot of Vitamin B suit? 
That can cause very pleasant sensations (but long term problems).


Reading what you wrote, I would make time for this at least once a day, setting the alarm clock for, say, 30 minutes to an hour, and at the outset intend to experience this sensate experience, then start the practice and just attend the experience that comes up. What happens when the body becomes suffusive in this and then the head and the mind sort of lets go of tracking the experience once it's suffusive?


A utility between shikantaze (just sitting) Zen training and anapanasati training (with jhanas) is, in my opinion, shikantaza is so equanimious as to feel like it may deny a practitioner their following and study of the many interesting paths/shows a mind gives rise to and one would naturally like to follow these mental paths; so a longing can result if an equanimous practice is started early on, a homesick "But what am I? I really want to know!" can take root.
And in anapanasati, one is encouraged to first get the mind to a safe, calming conditioning, but then, yes, if we want to check out all those paths a mind will present, we can and do, and those potentials of mind paths are even mapped; but then anapanasati also teaches that we practitioners will naturally let go of those paths of mind, they have no reliable reward, though they are interesting. So the practice of anapanasati also naturally goes to equanimity. 

So both shikantaza and anapanasati become 'just sitting'. More learning.
Mattias Wilhelm Stenberg, modified 9 Years ago at 6/25/15 8:19 AM
Created 9 Years ago at 6/25/15 8:19 AM

RE: Strong Body Sensations

Posts: 131 Join Date: 10/26/13 Recent Posts
Sounds like regular "chakra cleaning" and some kundaline to me, that is, nothing to worry about. Just relax and try to enjoy it. emoticon
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Wayne Conner, modified 7 Years ago at 3/1/17 1:07 PM
Created 7 Years ago at 3/1/17 1:07 PM

RE: Strong Body Sensations

Posts: 13 Join Date: 5/9/15 Recent Posts
Update:

Thanks (belatedly) for the replies. The volume on the vibrations started to turn down after a couple of months. I still experience vibrations all the time, it's just more like background noise now. I talked to several other Goenka meditators, which is the style of vipassana I do, and it seems like this is some what of a common experience.

As for the Kundalini, I believe I must have crossed the A&P. A short time later I had a really intense dark night phase that just came out of no where and felt like the life was sucked out of me. I just rode it out and kept meditating everyday till it eventually passed.