Tingling/Electric/Floating Sensation

[daydreamer21]

Hi, Im new here and basically wanted to ask about a certain experience I've been having with meditation.. Since I was a young child I've been aware of the fact that the mind is very powerful, and as far back as I can remember I've had amazing experiences such as randomly having an event "pop" into my head only to have it come true later on, or sometimes "hearing" a word or phrase in my head and receiving a phone call moments later about the very thing I just "heard". I wont get into all the details but as a kid this type of thing happened almost nonstop and I knew I different than a lot of other kids in that regard. However, the older I got it seemed to happen less and less..to the point where it became a somewhat rare occurrence, and something I sort of swept under the rug when it did happen from time to time. Anyway, within the past year and half it seems that this "ability" has sort of "rallied the troops" and has made a comeback as if to get my attention. I've had a lot of truly awesome experiences during this time and I think its because I started paying attention to it more and sort of saying thank you when it happens. Now the question...in an effort gain some control and actually use these "messages" to guide me in life I've begun to meditate daily. After only trying it for 3 days I've been able to get myself into such a relaxed state that my normal "thinking mind" literally seems to shut off and amazing feelings/vision start to happen. Sometimes its faces I see, sometimes its words I hear, other times I see what I can only describe as a light show in my head...almost like looking through a kaleidoscope. Other times I'll see nothing but black with some sort of pulsing/electric energy floating in the darkness...Its like seeing a jellyfish full of electricity (weird, i know). Also, today on day 3 of meditating I got to this same relaxed state but there was nothing complete darkness. However, my whole entire body was tingling and felt like electricity was pulsing throughout my legs and stomach..it was very warm and felt so nice that I even let out some sort of moan haha. I would also like to point out that at one point it felt like I was floating just BARLEY above my own body for a few seconds. Now that I'm done rambling I would just like to ask If this is normal for people who meditate after a few days and would like to know what exactly it could be..energy, something in my mind/body awakening..I have know idea what it is, only that it feels amazing and I cant get enough of this new love called meditation....ANY input or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[GilesC]

Hi daydreamer and welcome to the Project Meditation community,

You are correct, the mind is very powerful.
The amazing experiences you talk about are commonly known as intuition.
Unfortunately, for your ego mind at least (I know that sounds offensive but trust me it's not), you were no different to any of the other kids or any other person for that matter.
We all have the intuitive awareness, it's the awareness of everything that is what we truly are. As kids we are more aware of these intuitions because we haven't covered it up with a history of emotions and mental attitutes that we build up over time as we grow. However, as kids, we typically don't have the language or means of expressing what it is we experience (hell, even as adults we struggle hehe!), so it's not something that kids typically talk about, and then as adults we are so wrapped up with the thoughts and 'day to day lives' that we've developed, we almost push these intuitions into the background and our minds tell us (we've learned) that they are not real.
So, it sounds as though you've followed the path of most people in that you are aware you had the intuition as a child, yet it got covered up (it didn't disappear, it was just hidden) by thoughts, memories, emotions, and life in general, as you grew up, and now you are doing practices to help you recognise once again that those intuitions are there. You're breaking away the buzz of thoughts and seeing the awareness that has always existed there beneath. It's up to the individual person as to whether they can recognise what their ego/mind is doing in covering up the intuition and thus choose to recover it back into their life.

I would suggest, rather than focus on what you experience during your meditation practice, which is often generated by the mind and the senses and biofeedback of those, that you instead let those things pass and bring yourself back to the meditation practice (your mantra if you meditate with a mantra etc.) and then become aware of what is in the mind at the point you stop the meditation practice. It is said by some teachers that the most intuitive awareness is just at the point where we stop meditating and before all the day to day thoughts start coming back in to distract us once more; and that if there is anything important to remember from during the meditation practice it will be available to us in our awareness once we stop the practice, otherwise, just be happy to let it go and not try and get it back.

Let us know how you get on.

Hugs

Giles