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Hi Everyone! When you start to meditate, you may face some challenges. Or something may happen that you may be curious to understand about it.
Today, I will discuss with you some of the things that may occur when you meditate. I will teach you about 16 Experiences During Meditation and How to Manage Them?
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Watch: 16 Experiences During Meditation and How to Manage Them?
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1. You Accumulate Saliva
This is something that many of you may experience. As you become more and more relaxed, you will suddenly find that saliva has accumulated in your mouth. And this can get quite uncomfortable.
The reason saliva has accumulated is because while meditating, you are not conscious of it building up in your mouth. And the reflex to swallow your saliva has not been activated.
How to Manage Saliva Accumulation?
What you need to do is simply swallow the saliva. If you can, do it mindfully.
Feel the saliva in your mouth. And as you swallow it, notice how your muscles work together to draw the saliva down into your body. Notice how the saliva feels as it flows down into you.
If you can’t do it mindfully, just swallow the saliva. The moment you realize it has accumulated in your mouth, simply take a gulp. And resume meditating.
2. You Feel Bliss
Not everything you experience during meditation is an issue or problem. This is one of the experiences that is good.
What happens is that as you meditate, you dive deeper and deeper into theta wave. This is the results of clearing your mind of thoughts. As you clear it of more thoughts, you experience more bliss.
As my meditation master taught me – nature abhors a vacuum, emptiness of thoughts is quickly replaced by bliss.
How to Manage the Feeling of Bliss?
Not a problem. So no solution required.
Simply keep meditating. Enjoy the feeling of bliss.
3. You See Bright Lights
This happens often for me. And I have students who shared with me that it happened for them too.
Sometimes, during meditations, as you become more relaxed, you see a bright light appear in the darkness. And when you open your eyes, the light is gone.
That is normal because your eyes at normal state can only see within a short range of light wavelengths. When you close your eyes, and you are more relaxed, your eyes are not restricted to that limited range.
You begin to perceive a wider range of light wavelengths. As such, you can see beyond the physical world. You can do the same when your eyes are open too.
I know this because I can do this. When I like to, I simply go into a meditative state while my eyes are open, and I see things beyond the physical world.
So, during meditation, when you are relaxed, when your muscles are relaxed, you can see more.
How to Manage Seeing Bright Lights?
Again, this is not a problem. It is a wonderful thing that is happening. It means you are beginning to experience the non-physical realm that is around us.
When you see bright lights while meditating, simply relax further.
Do not get excited. Keep meditating.
And as you do, you can see more. Sometimes, it can be more lights. Sometimes, the lights take a form; for example of an angel, a divine being, or a spirit guide.
Again, do not get excited. Just keep meditating
Additional note
There are instances when you meditate, and you see bright lights. And when you open your eyes, you continue to see that bright light in this physical world. The light is so bright that it lights up the entire room with immense brilliance.
Simply stay in a meditative state. This is a sign of the Divine. And it is a great blessing to see this. Accept it with great humility.
4. You Feel Cold
This is rare. Usually, when you meditate, you will find your body getting a little warmer. But feeling cold can happen.
How to Manage Feeling Cold?
It is always a good idea to have a shawl, a cardigan or a light blanket near you when you meditate. When you feel cold, simply cover your upper body with it.
Or if you find that you often feel cold when you meditate, then cover with the shawl or light blanket, or wear the cardigan before you meditate.
5. You Are Crying
Once, long time ago, I was meditating. And as I went deeper into meditation, I felt such immense bliss. And then, suddenly, I started to cry.
Not a terrible type of weeping. But just soft tears.
What had happened was that I experienced rapture. It is one of the many manifestations of meditation. I will explain more about Rapture further down this article.
In the meantime, just know that this is a good thing. And you will find that at the end of the meditation session, you will feel such great peace.
How to Manage Crying?
Simply let it be. Enjoy the rapture. The tears are part of the experience. Accept it humbly.
6. You Feel Drowsy
As you go deeper into meditation, you will go deeper into theta wave. One of the effects of this is drowsiness.
I have many students who tell me they face this problem. Some even eventually fall asleep during meditation.
The good news is – this drowsiness, and even falling asleep will result in a good night’s sleep. I have many students who updated me that they had such great sleep after the last meditation session.
How to Manage the Feeling of Drowsiness?
You brain is a muscle. Since you have been born, it has been working. It has been doing its job – thinking, managing your bodily functions automatically, etc.
When you meditate and go deep into theta waves, your brain finally gets a rest. What happens when a tired muscle gets a rest?
Imagine that you work non stop for a month. How would you feel? Exhausted, right?
In fact, once you lie down, you would fall into deep sleep. It is the same for your brain.
Imagine your brain has been working hard for decades, since you were born. And now, finally gets a break.
That’s right. It goes into complete rest state. And that can lead to drowsiness or sleep.
So, what do you do about this?
Simply go with the flow. If you feel drowsy during meditation, then let it be. Accept the drowsiness. If you doze off, let is be so too.
Besides the reason that you have entered deeper into theta wave, the other reason is that you are tired. Especially mentally.
The good news is – eventually you will have enough rest. And in time, you will no longer feel drowsy when you meditate. That is when your meditation practice begins in earnest.
7. You Feel Fear
It is natural to feel fear. Especially when you are meditating in the dark.
It can be a fear of ghosts, of spirits coming to disturb you, of even seeing terrible visions of monsters or hell.
These are all illusions. They are the constructs of the mind. There is actually nothing to fear.
How to Manage the Feeling of Fear?
This is why in my meditations, at the beginning portion, I always set up protective energy fields. I guide my students, and in the meditation videos, to bring in the Divine Love energy to surround your self. This is for protection.
And if the mind still plays tricks. And you still feel frightened. Simply open your eyes. You will find whatever you thought you saw would be gone.
If you like to learn how to protect yourself before you start to meditate, click on the image below to learn how to do it.
8. You Feel Fresh
There are times when I meditate, and I feel fresh after the session. And that is awesome when I need to be alert. But it is not good when I meditate at night, and I am wide awake after meditating.
The reason the mind is so fresh is because I have managed to clear all thoughts from my mind. At the same time, I have not, during these meditation sessions, been able to go deep enough into theta waves.
You may experience the same thing during meditation. And here are the solutions.
How to Manage You Feeling Fresh?
One solution would be to meditate in the mornings. Since I am going to be alert and wide awake, why not meditate at dawn? It will be a great start to the day.
Another solution is to meditate longer. And go deeper into theta waves.Even better, go way deep into delta waves. This will be very restful and relaxing. And after that, sleep will not be difficult.
9. You Exhibit Involuntary Movements
I have a few students who would move their body, especially arms and hands, during meditation. This is nothing scary.
They are not possessed. Remember I always bring in protective Divine White Light at the start of every meditation.
What is happening is that the students are doing mudras. The movement is smooth and dance-like. Sometimes, some students may even get up and dance.
The spontaneous mudras are because of Kriya energy. The energy moves the student’s body.
The student may stop doing the Kriya mudras whenever he or she wills it. I have confirmed this with all who experience this.
But the problem is that when the student forces himself or herself to stop doing the mudras, he or she will be unable to go deeper into meditation.
How to Manage Involuntary Movements?
Let it be. Allow yourself to do the mudras. They are of divine origin.
Take it as a blessing.
I will explain more about mudras in future videos. Remember to subscribe to get updated when I publish that video.
10. You Feel Itchy
This is a common phenomenon. Many of my students experience itchiness when meditating.
For some, it was a little bit of tickling of the skin. For some, it could be an entire body part or even the whole body experiencing itchiness.
The feeling varies from person to person. Some said they feel as if there was something brushing their skin lightly. Some said the felt as if insects, like ants, were crawling all over them.
How to Manage Feeling Itchy?
This is again something that happens because your body is fully relaxed. There is energy flowing through your body. This energy is called Chi in Chinese.
As you go deeper into meditation, you begin to feel more relaxed. And you start to feel rapture. In Pali, this is called Piti. It is a good sign. It means that you are going to experience rapture soon.
Meanwhile, what can you do about it? Nothing.
Simply bear with it. But if it becomes too unbearable, you may lightly scratch to ease the discomfort. Then return to your meditation.
But it is better not to do anything about it. Just let it be.
11. You Feel Numbness or Pain
This is quite a common thing to happen, especially when you are new to meditation or you have not been meditating for a long time.
You are seated in a semi-lotus position. After a while, you can feel your legs going numb. Some may even experience pain.
How to Manage the Feeling of Numbness or Pain?
Try to tolerate this as much as you can. You will find that as you practice more, you will not experience any numbness or pain in your limbs.
If you find it intolerable at any point, then simply stretch out your legs. After a while, you will find the pain or numbness reduced or gone.
12. You Have Visions
This is more common than you may think. I have quite a number of students who have visions during meditations. Some even have those that are like short movies. These are called Nimittas.
It happens when we go deeper into theta wave. Most of the time, we are simply observers of the events that happen in these mini movies or visions.
Sometimes, the scenes can be wonderful like being in a heavenly place, or terrible like a horror show. Some even see divine beings like Buddha, Jesus, and Mother Mary.
How to Manage Seeing Visions?
Sometimes, the visions have a message for you. The message can be in a voice message, a thought that comes to your mind, or even the objects in the vision can be symbols.
You can learn to interpret and understand the messages. Or you can consult a teacher to help you find out what message the divine has for you.
If you have any experience of visions during meditation, you can share about it in a comment. I will do my best to help you interpret and understand it.
13. You Experience Rapture
This is a state of being that you experience during meditation. It is a feeling of extreme happiness. I have experienced this, and it is a really awesome feeling.
As you go deeper into meditation, you will experience Piti (that is Pali for rapture). At first, you feel itchiness at various parts of your body. Some may even feel it throughout the body.
Then you see flashes of light. This is momentary. The next stage of rapture is when you start to feel energy flowing over your body. It happens like waves reaching the shore, again and again.
As you practice meditation more and more, you will find yourself at the next stage of Piti. And that is you feel an extreme lightness of your body. Mentally, you feel uplifted, too.
Finally, you have this feeling that whole body is pervaded. The feeling of energy pervading your body like a tidal wave. This feeling is very strong.
I have felt this many times. And it is a very powerful feeling.
How to Manage the Feeling of Rapture?
This is a very good event to happen. Simply allow. Continue to meditate.
It is only with time and practice that you can go deeper into theta wave. And at that point, you will find it easier to relax. And the restlessness will disappear.
14. You Sway, Twirl or Jerk
During one of my earlier meditation classes that I attended, I have a fellow meditation classmate who would twirl round and round while seated. It is involuntary.
He told me that he could feel the energies. They are so strong that they make his body sway and twirl.
The meditation master taught us that this happens to some people. Some may suddenly feel their body jerk. Some may sway side to side or back and forth. Some, like my meditation friend, would twirl.
The teacher explained that this phenomenon happens usually because the meditator’s internal tension is too wound up. This tension could be due to overwhelming stress.
How to Manage Swaying, Twirling or Jerking?
Nothing can be done. Just let it be. One day, when the stress and tension are reduced, the movements will stop.
15. You Feel Warm
Every student I have in my meditation class mentioned this experience. The reason you feel warm when you meditate is because as you relax, your blood vessels dilate.
This dilation of blood vessels has the same effect as drinking alcohol. The whole body warms up. Some people can get so warm that they may even perspire.
How to Manage the Feeling of Warmth?
Mostly, there is nothing to be done. This is because the warm feeling is a nice feeling.
But do clothe yourself adequately. This is so as to not catch a cold after you meditate.
16. You Feel Weightless
Some students would feel as if they become weightless.Some even reported the feeling of levitating. And that is just it. It is just a feeling. It is not really happening.
How to Manage the Feeling of Weightlessness?
Do not be concerned as this is just an illusion. It is known as Maya or Makyo.
Simply continue meditating. Continue to focus on the breath.
It is more important to achieve calm, peace of mind and bliss.
16 Experiences During Meditation and How to Manage Them?
Timotheus Final Thoughts
Flowing Love Meditation
Now that you learned about these 16 Experiences During Meditation and How to Manage Them, I hope you are encouraged to practice meditation?
And if you are already practicing meditation, I hope you will practice it more.
As you have learned, some of these experiences are good, and it can be something you can look forward to. Some may not be so good. And that is all right. You have learned today how to manage them.
Do you have any questions about the 16 Experiences During Meditation and How to Manage Them? Leave your questions as comments. I will be happy to answer and help you.
I will be sharing more about spiritual experiences, meditation and meditation related topics in future videos and blog posts. Remember to join the Flowing Love Meditation community to be updated whenever I publish a new video or blog post.
I wish you good health, wealth and love.
Timotheus
Flowing Love Meditation for Inner Peace and Well-Being
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My name is Timotheus Lee. I share about meditation, healing, good health, wellness, spiritual topics, etc. to help the world and people to be healthy and happy. For inner peace and wellness. To learn more about him, and Flowing Love Meditation, Click Here.