New to meditation and intense experience

[Padawan]

I have only meditated twice in my life both times today, i became interested in it after learning of a phenomenon called Astral Projection. I have been researching meditation techniques and experiences all week and i decided i would meditate this morning.

I meditated for approximately 15 minutes and got quite relaxed and was just trying to keep my head clear or thoughts and I eventually finished fairly happy with the experience.

I have just tried meditating for a second time starting a 7pm exactly. I set a time for 20 minutes and begun. Coming up to what must have been 19 mins in I opened my eyes because of a disturbance, anyway I kept my eyes open staring straight forward at a shirt that was hanging in front of me, i was still very relaxed despite having just been disturbed and I decided I was not been too distracted by having my eyes open and my head was clear of thought so I continued but then suddenly i felt intense relaxation and my vision began to blur in front of me with the shirt i was staring at blankly appeared to wobble. Then my alarm went off much to my annoyance and it all ended.

What was going on? Is this normal? Anyone had similar experiences?

[iciek]

Originally Posted by Padawan

I have only meditated twice in my life both times today, i became interested in it after learning of a phenomenon called Astral Projection. I have been researching meditation techniques and experiences all week and i decided i would meditate this morning.

I meditated for approximately 15 minutes and got quite relaxed and was just trying to keep my head clear or thoughts and I eventually finished fairly happy with the experience.

I have just tried meditating for a second time starting a 7pm exactly. I set a time for 20 minutes and begun. Coming up to what must have been 19 mins in I opened my eyes because of a disturbance, anyway I kept my eyes open staring straight forward at a shirt that was hanging in front of me, i was still very relaxed despite having just been disturbed and I decided I was not been too distracted by having my eyes open and my head was clear of thought so I continued but then suddenly i felt intense relaxation and my vision began to blur in front of me with the shirt i was staring at blankly appeared to wobble. Then my alarm went off much to my annoyance and it all ended.

What was going on? Is this normal? Anyone had similar experiences?

This is a normal reaction to relaxation. The eyes not being focused can give rise to optical illusions.
As to Astral projection it requires a fair bit of mental discipline and whilst it can happen "accidentaly" it is unlikely that an undiciplined mind could maintain it for any meaningful time. Concentrate on basic meditation first before trying tricks. There is an introduction to meditation link at the top of this page.