Question: I know that everyone’s experience of meditation can be different, but I just have this need to know what is really going on. I have been meditating for a year or so, on and off, usually clearing
Meditation allows the mind to become clear and serene, like a pool reflecting the beauty of nature.
my mind and being silent for an hour, but recent, I have started to meditate regularly, and feel a physical sensation, of my body vibrating and I seem to be free from my body and my head feels like its swirling around, its almost as if I am drunk! Though, I have to agree this is an amazing sensation like I am intoxicated, I feel fresh and awake after that.
Can you explain what is actually happening on the spirit level as my physical level goes through this? How is it possible that my mind, when it is silenced to such a deeper level, is able to cause this freeing of my body, when I know that I am not my mind or my body? How does it influence my body . . . or is it that my mind has been taken over by my spiritual self and it is indeed the spirit self that’s causing this? I would really appreciate it if you could relieve me from this curiosity.
Answer: Even though meditation is in one sense a mental process, because the mind and body are intimately connected, when the mind experiences silence, it affects the body and provides a corresponding degree of restfulness in its physiological functioning. It is this depth of rest that allows the body to normalize any imbalances that inhibit its full expression of health. What you experienced was a somewhat entertaining version of the very mundane process of the body’s release of stored stress and conditioning, and the consequent sense of rejuvenation and freedom afterward. It’s a matter of understanding the interrelationship of the mind and body and how the two function symbiotically during meditation.
It’s important to keep in mind that what happens during a meditation session isn’t actually all that important. Where you really begin to experience the benefits of meditation is in all your daily activities. As you meditate regularly, you carry some of the stillness and silence with you into everything you do. Instead of being reactive and reflexive, you are more responsive and reflective. You release constriction and become more creative, relaxed, and expansive.
August 17th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
The benefits are wonderful,…..clarity is one of them. You really KNOW more,
the spectrum of realization through observation is another level….there is always more… I hear it can erase negative experiences from the subconscious mind !?!?!
August 17th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Wow this is so true and amazing!! I have just recently began to meditate everyday for around 3 weeks now and it is amazing to me the effect it has had on me. Instead of snapping at someone I stop and think of the consequences of my action, I turn inward and listen to my body and then react from a place of total love. Thank you, Deepak, Dr.Simon, Davidji and everyone at the Chopra Center. Your work is truly a beautiful thing.
August 18th, 2010 at 2:27 am
I have become much calmer in my every day life since I began meditating about 2 months ago. It is still a work in progress, my meditations, but I am thankful to have incorporated primordial sound meditation into my daily routine. Now if I can just get my teenage daughter to meditate : )
August 18th, 2010 at 7:36 am
I have been participating in the 21 day meditation challenge and I cannot believe how much effect it has had on my daily life. I feel as though the meditation process is washing away all the stress in my
whole being. It has helped me be less reactive and much calmer already. This is definitely going to become a daily ritual for me.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:10 am
RE 21-Day Meditation Challenge: I just finished Day 7 with davidji and am learning so much. So many myths have been debunked. I used to think that meditation was something that I couldn’t achieve, but I was wrong! It’s easy; just show up. I experienced itching in multiple places and tried to just let it go and refocus. I look forward to every day with davidji. Thank you!
August 19th, 2010 at 6:46 am
The great yogi, Patanjali starts his monumental treatise on Yoga saying that Yoga is nothing but gaining control on mind’s functioning. Out of the eight steps of yoga – the first two steps relate to physical and mental cleanliness and control. Then comes Yoga-aasanas (Or postures) and Pranayama (Breath control). All are part of the MIND CONTROL SYSTEM elucidated by Patanjali.
What happens in Meditation? The same thing as what happens in deep sleep – approximately. The mind comes slowly to restfulness and is with minimal or no thoughts – and therefore the body and mind both are both REFRESHED. In Meditation, it is done with total awareness while in sleep it happens without awareness.
As you rightly said – this awareness, restfulness and peace are reflected in all daily activities subsequently.
August 21st, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I have been in infrequent meditator for awhile now and when I heard about the challenge during the last webinar, my first thought was, “Man this could not have come at a worse time. I’m starting a new “second” job, we’re packing and getting ready to move to another house and there are just too many things going on.” Then I immediately turned my head around and said, “This could not have come at a better time!” I have commited to completing the challenge and moving forward with a daily ritual. Several people have already commented on how calm and relaxed I seem during such a turbulent time.
Thank you davidji for all the inspirational guidance.
August 24th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I want to start meditating how do I start?
August 25th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Hi Monty,
Thanks for your question. There are many ways to begin meditating, and many forms of meditation. In the synchronistic way of the world, this month the Chopra Center has begun a free program called the “21-Day meditation Challenge,” which is an excellent way for new meditators to tip their toe into the experience of meditation and learn a variety of meditative practices. While the current program has already begun and is well under way, we encourage you to sign up for the next challenge, which will take place this fall. You can learn more about the meditation challenge here. As well, the theme of this month’s Agni Newsletter is meditation, so we invite you to browse through the issue and learn more about how to get started with meditation. Finally, you can also learn more about meditation at the Chopra Center’s online library.
Let us know if you have any other questions. Please email learn@chopra.com or call (760) 494-1639.
with love,
The Chopra Center staff
August 28th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
I have a question… sometimes, when I finish my meditations I fell that I’m some place else, and it’s hard for me to reconect with my body, it’s hard to open my eyes… I fell as If I’ve flown off my body and it’s hard to come into my body again… Some times I even fell light headed and sick in my stomach… Why is that? and how can I finish my meditations without having this sensation???
August 30th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Meditation can help you feel at ease sometimes it’s like praying. I get so deep that I can hear a higher power. It can put me to sleep sometimes in a dream and people I have seen before and some that I have not. You can focus your meditation on a picture and a thought of something or someone comes to mind. Like this poem:
“Frio”
I am Cold, Frio
at least that’s
what he had said.
So I took his soft
blanket and I cover
him.
I gently kiss his
forehead and said “I
will see you tomorrow.”
He was Cold, “Frio”.
I came back the next
day just like I had said.
I feel Cold, “Frio”…
I ask Why?
He replyed, “I feel
frio for You.
He turn away wrap up
in his soft Blanket.
He was cold, “Frio”…
The very next day he pass
away…”He”was getting old.
Esta Frio
Meditation can allow you to have a clear mind and make you be creative. You just have to believe and do what you are set to do.
Love, Christine
October 17th, 2010 at 9:22 am
Meditation Journal – 21 Day Challenge by Deepak Chopra Center
Day 7 – October 17, 2010
What did I experience during my meditation today?
I achieved momentary silence and stillness TWICE!
I found that my most calm, serene moments, where I really felt the “float”, were during the waning of the single bell notes that were sounding from the Center. I felt as though my body were floating on each waning note. There was even one moment when I became aware of traffic noise that a motorcycle went by, and I found myself floating on that waning sound as well.
I had thoughts. I thought of all the people joining me in meditation around the world. I thought about a laughing Buddha. I thought about how my friend Chiari wouldn’t be experiencing this meditation until tomorrow, because she was functioning a day behind in the 21 Day Challenge. I wondered why the background music in the meditation had changed from the first few days. And I thought about how I didn’t quite like the bell chimes at first. I saw the color brown.
I felt sensations. My feet were cold despite my slippers. I became aware of my right thumb and how it was resting on the edge of my mouse pad… I could feel the “sharp” edge of the pad against the pad of my thumb, and I wondered why I hadn’t centered my hand on the pad. I became aware (as I always do) of how my hands seemed to feel as though they had become a part of my desk, as if they had sunk right into the wood and become a part of it. (During my morning meditation, I always sit at my computer, in a padded computer chair, either with legs crossed, or my feet resting on a ledge under the desk, and my hands palms down on the desk. Sometimes my right hand is on the mouse pad, and sometimes I push the mouse pad aside and place it also on the desk itself.) My stomach did in fact gurgle.
My thoughts and feelings afterward: after meditating I not only feel calm, but very clear headed and full of energy. I immediately want to go outside, do yard work, indulge in a hobby (such as my photography). I am able to immediately and without stress, organize my thoughts and activities for the day. I am quick to smile, and feel more in tune with my family, friends and neighbors. I am happy.
Brenda
British Columbia, Canada
August 13th, 2011 at 2:41 am
sir,
while doing meditation my body is rotating, sometimes it jurks.
it means what happening to me.pl explain