Hi everybody, I started performing a breath meditation 2 weeks ago. I generally meditate twice a day, between 10 and 20 minutes (I set an alarm.) Last night, after meditating for around 15 minutes then stopping, I decided to start again a few minutes later. I quickly began to experience a bodily sensation that can be best described as "burning." While it wasn't necessarily painful, it was overwhelming in it's own way, and I could not continue focusing on my breath due to this strange sensation. Is this normal to experience when you begin meditating?

Something that can pop up in the early nanas, especially between third and fourth, is a sense of heat or firey energy. This may be what you experienced. I believe the Pali word for it is atapa

I would think "tapa" is the word, that atapa would mean "fireless". But I don't know. And heat in Sanskirt is "tapas" ....

Howdy, 

Is this sort of a burning in the chest area perhaps from a natural and very normal over-focus on the lungs while breathing?  You may not be having this natural over-focus on the lungs, but since you mention just starting breathing meditation, this can come up. 

the sensation seems to be everywhere (in my limbs, as well as my torso) but hasn't shown up the past few days.