a few questions

moodswing · August 28th, 2011, 22:44

Hi There,

I'm new to meditation and have been doing it for the last 2 weeks with lifeflow cd 10. Most times I experience a relaxed/dream state within 10 minutes in which time seems to fly, if I then open my eyes in most cases i see that i have been "out" for 40 minutes. I don't know if in that time i have been asleep cause it sure did feel different from regular sleep. I guess my question is; is this normal?

Also yesterday, just before i transitioned into relaxed/dream state i experienced something weird. In a split second i saw, very clear, a door slamming open and hitting me in the face, i even heard the sound of the wood door hitting my head. Out of reaction i pulled my head back very fast which caused me to be wide awake with my heart beating like crazy. Anyone else experienced something like this?

Thanks, i'm learning alot from this forum.

Domas · August 28th, 2011, 23:03

Hi. I read that that can be Your ego or mind playing tricks. When You reach a deep state mind can start to play tricks for You to stop meditating, it's trying to scare You away. Once I saw myself bleeding from my head, but after second it dissapeared. Maybe others have more information. Good luck!

GilesC · August 29th, 2011, 11:17

Originally Posted by moodswing

Hi There,

I'm new to meditation and have been doing it for the last 2 weeks with lifeflow cd 10. Most times I experience a relaxed/dream state within 10 minutes in which time seems to fly, if I then open my eyes in most cases i see that i have been "out" for 40 minutes. I don't know if in that time i have been asleep cause it sure did feel different from regular sleep. I guess my question is; is this normal?

Yes and no... it depends.

When you're in meditative state, time does not play a part in that state, so 40 minutes can seem like no time has passed. However, this can also happen if we start to daydream, such that we become attached to the thoughts in the mind and just don't notice the time passing. If it's the case that you are just observing awareness and thoughts and letting them pass whilst in the meditative state, and you come out of meditation with no knowledge that the time has passed, then you're doing meditation correctly. If it's daydreaming... well, you tend to know that you've been doing that.

Also yesterday, just before i transitioned into relaxed/dream state i experienced something weird. In a split second i saw, very clear, a door slamming open and hitting me in the face, i even heard the sound of the wood door hitting my head. Out of reaction i pulled my head back very fast which caused me to be wide awake with my heart beating like crazy. Anyone else experienced something like this?

This can be a reaction from the mind. It tends to have some crazy idea that if we enter the meditative state then it will cease to exist and so, it fights to keep hold of us and bring us back to it's attachment to us. It's a bit like if you were to start falling asleep whilst sitting up, your head start to drop and when it goes so far, it wakes us up with a start. So, just recognise that this is the mind's own fear of letting go, and keep practicing meditation... it'll become easier.

Hugs

Giles

moodswing · August 29th, 2011, 11:40

Thanks Domas and GilesC for your clear replies.

I often get some sort of tension in/around my eyes when I'm meditating for about 5 minutes. Sometimes it goes away within a few minutes sometimes it stays. Am i doing something wrong with eye position or something?

GilesC · August 29th, 2011, 15:39

Hi again,

Sometimes when people are new to meditating, they think that meditation involves some sort of strenuous trance like state that they have to force themselves into, often closing their eyes and pushing the eyeballs upwards as if looking up inside the head. This isn't necessary at all for meditation to be effective and often leads to strain on the eye muscles which could be the tension/pain you are feeling.

Some meditation practices recommend closing the eyelids "lightly" (so not scrunching your eyes closed), leaving them open just very slightly, and when you do this, your eyes should be more relaxed and the eyeballs naturally looking forwards (and then you have to practice not focusing on changes in light hehe!)

So, let us know if you can tell what you are doing.

Hugs

Giles

moodswing · October 21st, 2011, 20:31

Originally Posted by GilesC

Hi again,

Sometimes when people are new to meditating, they think that meditation involves some sort of strenuous trance like state that they have to force themselves into, often closing their eyes and pushing the eyeballs upwards as if looking up inside the head. This isn't necessary at all for meditation to be effective and often leads to strain on the eye muscles which could be the tension/pain you are feeling.

Some meditation practices recommend closing the eyelids "lightly" (so not scrunching your eyes closed), leaving them open just very slightly, and when you do this, your eyes should be more relaxed and the eyeballs naturally looking forwards (and then you have to practice not focusing on changes in light hehe!)

So, let us know if you can tell what you are doing.

Hugs

Giles

Hi Giles,

A fairly late response from my end but you are right. The tension in my eyes came from putting too much effort in closing them. If i close them lightly so I can still see some light through my eyelids and i look upward lightly I have no tension at all.

Thanks.