beoman

this was my main reason for posting. i didn't mean that i did lots of physical activity (i know muscles get sore from that =P) - i meant that i had a lot of energy activity from the relaxing-meditating, NOT physical activity, but my muscles got sore afterwards. at least, that's what it seems like. is it possible for that to happen?

this site seems dedicated to getting people to look. seems to work! =P.

Hey, wanted to report a phenomenon. These days, whenever I lie down and meditate and get into a really comfortable state, I start getting bubbles bursting all over my body. By 'meditate', I don't mean do energy work or anything - I mean relax, get into a nice state of mind, start doing vipassana or samatha if anything. When I am relaxed, I'll get little bubbles appearing + bursting all over my body. I think they are related to energy. Each time one forms + pops I feel slightly better. stuff all over - arms, legs, chest. some really deep ones, some very light ones. some interesting ones around my knees - sometimes I get not a bubble, but it's like both edges of my knee suddenly come in and press quite hard, squeeze tightly, then are released. I don't control any of this, but it happens. It especially happens if I hurt myself, like strained my wrist from drumming too much. I'll get tons of little bubbles around the damaged area. if i lie down long enough (30min-1hr) i get so relaxed, don't want to move around anymore =P. anyway, if i smoke some of the marijuana, this process happens even more so. nothing forced in any volitional sense, it just happens more. really don't want to get up then. I've noticed a few times that, after getting tons of activity in, say, my legs, or my lower back, they will actually be sore the next day or two. This has happened a number of times. I've tried to correlate it with extraneous physical activity, but it seems to only be correlated with when i do this process. my question is - what's going on? is it healthy (for muscles to get sore from this?)? anything i should change (not that i do anything in particular..) to make it 'work' for the 'better'? (in quotes since i dont know what it's doing or whether it's better. my intuition is that my body is healing itself and that it's great, but i dnno.)

if y'all are going on Goenka retreats i really recommend you read Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha, as well as this guide on how to get stream entry during a goenka retreat: http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2010/11/going-for-stream-entry-on-goenka-10-day.html . that way you can actually get stream entry - it's pretty useful! i think the biggest thing preventing goenka people from getting stream entry is lack of realization of how possible it really is.

hey rainbow_vein, thanks for the tips! i believe you're correct on all your points: i feel a bit woozy if i keep doing it, so seems like i should not push very hard. when stuff is happening i try to use it to my advantage immediately, like 'oo now i can go and solve THIS problem i used to have' and i start doing that. what actually helps a lot if that the scanning method i use, the goenka, emphasizes to pick an order on the body and stick with it, not lingering on any point once you have experienced a sensation there. having that resolve forces me to keep going and i never regret it (as more interesting/beneficial stuff happens that i wouldn't have thought of). i realized this already but i'll emphasize it even more now that you mention it. thanks again! =).

how does it differ from "opening the energy gates of the body"?

hello all. i started doing a practice that i didn't read about. so far i'm just winging it and doing what feels good, but it might be informative to have it put into a greater context. i can do this thing i got out of "Opening the Energy Gates of the Body". the idea is to do a body scan from above the top of your head going down to below your toes. you're supposed to move your attention down your body like a plane, just noticing any blockages or tension or any sensation really along the way, only moving down not up (though i find it doesn't matter now). you're supposed to use this to identify energy spots and dissolve them but i haven't gotten that far. if i do it correctly, and i'm getting better at it, when i go down to my ankle, then the sole of my foot, then the tip of the foot, then the toes, then past the toes about a foot into the ground - it's a definite spot that i can intuitively reach - then i feel this great peaceful downward flow over my entire body. basically it feels like all my energy is draining downwards, except i'm not being depleted - just a really peaceful affective well-being is left in its place. if i focus on that spot 1 foot beneath me then the motion is increased. there's a tendency to link it up with a spot above your head - and i wonder if they're similar - but i think you have to not do that. i started doing goenka-style body scanning and that seems to have a similar effect, though maybe more thorough cause you go over your entire body in more detail. i dont get the draining motion, but i do get the affective well-being, and if i focus on the bottom then i can go from that to the draining, too. body scanning is: scan the body, going in this order (my personal order): head, chest, left arm down and up, right arm down and up, mid-body, left hip, right hip, left leg down and up, bottom body, right leg down and up, mid-body, chest, right arm down and up, left arm down and up, neck, back of head, top of head, face, rinse + repeat. scan means to put your attention there and intending ONLY TO WATCH, and not do anything else, try to feel a sensation on that particular part of the body. as soon as any sensation is felt there, move on. what ends up happening is i feel little gaps, and i try to put my attention there, and then it feels the gap is released and i feel a sensation there, then i move on. so it seems like im releasig energy blockages perhaps? the more i do body scanning in one session, the deeper this sense of affective relaxation gets. when i scan through one time, i'll notice gaps that i'll put my attention on until i get a sensation there, which then feels like my body is filled in with those sensations. the next time through, the thing that i filled in now seems like a coarse gap, and i can look even deeper to fill in more sensations. as i do this i become overwhelmed by this really heady affective relaxation. it's weird.. it's not blissful, really, though it seems intoxicating in a similar way. it's not like all body-affect is draining a way to leave none behind, it's like this 'relaxed'-affect is filling in. but as i body scan more i almost get restless and impatient as it feels like i can't take it anymore.. but at the same time there's an interest in filling it in more to see what happens. i think it would be better to feel this way than to feel fearful and anxious. seems like if i stabilize in it it would be easier to get felicitous/have it all disappear (which is the goal of PCE practice, see here). anyone else have any experience with this? it's like all the negative affect is just going away to a nothing-spot. is it healthy/dangerous? =P.

EDIT: oops, moved it here

it's not a headache, though. i feel like it should turn into one but it doesn't.

oo that did help a bit actually, thanks! ill have to try that one a few more times

aye, it certainly seems like my awareness stems from there, though the point of what i'm trying to do is to realize that awareness doesn't actually stem from there =). and it doesn't, actually, from what i hear of the more awakened people that i hang out with. i know what you mean about intuition. i feel sometimes like anything i read my mind connects to stuff i'm doing now.

i'm 22, living in NYC. about it being a medical issue: i'm pretty sure this is an entirely mental process, as it has almost completely faded at times. it seems intimately linked with desire and 'self' and intention and stuff, not to any physical things. interestingly, if i touch my head and the inside of my mouth where i think i feel it, the sensation subsides. that makes me think it's not physical-based at all, and that the physical touch is obscuring it. that is what i'm going for! i don't consider it a spirit rising so much as a process happening, but might just be mincing words =P. ah interesting. i thought the crown was the point on the very top of the head. ive heard about the one you mention but i thought it was called something else. would projecting upwards in that fashion really be a good idea in my state though?

I have not - can you recommend info on how to do that?

Well it's not that I sit down to meditate so much, it's more that my constant way of existing currently is focused around painfulness in my head, so even if I don't sit formally, due to momentum and stuff it will manifest. So I'm thinking I need to do more than just stop what started it, but to work actively to relax it. I did stop actively meditating for a month or two but this pain actually prevented being calm and peaceful anyway. What is energy projection?

o man he says "don't dissolve points in the brain without a master directly guiding you" - too late, in the brain is where it hurts the most! the just breathing stuff is good too, the book has sections on Longevity breathing, and practicing that is quite nice and relaxing. ah thanks for this too! i remember i used to just move my body around and sway my head when sitting down, that seems to help, though it looks a bit weird.