Sense of spinning while meditating.

[Felcor]

Hey guys, so during my meditations sessions I have had a few weird and wonderful experiences.

One thing that has happened quite a few times is that I get a sensation of spinning, like I am sitting in the center of a merry-go-round.

 

I do not know anyone who I can talk with about these sort of things, so I thought I would come ask you guys. Has anyone experienced this? Any idea what this could be?

[Marblehead]

That likely has to do with blood flow to the brain. If you practice controlled breathing while getting into the meditative state then I would have more reason to think this.

[Felcor]

Yes I do practice controlled breathing. So does this mean that the blood flow to the brain is being reduced or increased as a result of my breathing?

[Apech]

These sorts of things are normal ... just carry on.

[MooNiNite]

this is your astral body.

 

as you get more energy, it starts loosening so to speak.

Edited July 27, 2014 by MooNiNite

[Marblehead]

Yes I do practice controlled breathing. So does this mean that the blood flow to the brain is being reduced or increased as a result of my breathing?

I would think that the blood flow is being reduced. But, as Apech stated, carry on, no worry. Just don't do it while you are driving. Hehehe.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Marblehead

[GrandmasterP]

Yep, it's normal.

It'll pass so don't worry about it just observe it ,let it go and return to your breathing.

Edited July 27, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Felcor]

Ah thanks for the input everyone. I was not really worried about it, I was just curios about it as it happens so often.

[Tibetan_Ice]

I wouldn't settle for any hasty diagnosis here. People are so quick to give their advice that they forget about the important parts, like first finding out what type of meditation you are doing, what is the source of the instruction, how often you practice, for how long...etc.

 

Maybe the spinning is a result of oxygen deprivation or perhaps it is a result of oxygen saturation. You haven't said enough about what you are practicing, how you are practicing etc at his point for anyone to give you valuable advice.

 

Clue:

What form of meditation are you practicing?

What is the source of the instruction? Do you have a book? What is the book's name?

How long have you been practicing?

How long are your meditation sessions?

Can you describe your daily routine? Do you do any preliminary warmups, pranayama, yoga, postures?

You obviously don't have teacher and the source that you are using for instructions doesn't adequately explain the effects from proper and improper practice. Perhaps you should be looking for a better manual.?.?

[ChiDragon]

For those who practice breathing, I always ask the same question to determine their level of accomplishment.

Please answer these two questions:
How deep is your breath when inhale....???
Did you breathe slowly or fast.....???

[Spotless]

As you meditate the space around you will begin to attune to the constant munching of your avatar.

Do to the vigorous nature of your munching the muscles on each side of your head stimulate a side to side motion while the movement of food from one cheek to the other creates a rotational force - you are becoming one with the munch

Edited July 27, 2014 by Spotless

[Felcor]

I wouldn't settle for any hasty diagnosis here. People are so quick to give their advice that they forget about the important parts, like first finding out what type of meditation you are doing, what is the source of the instruction, how often you practice, for how long...etc.

 

Maybe the spinning is a result of oxygen deprivation or perhaps it is a result of oxygen saturation. You haven't said enough about what you are practicing, how you are practicing etc at his point for anyone to give you valuable advice.

 

Clue:

What form of meditation are you practicing?

What is the source of the instruction? Do you have a book? What is the book's name?

How long have you been practicing?

How long are your meditation sessions?

Can you describe your daily routine? Do you do any preliminary warmups, pranayama, yoga, postures?

You obviously don't have teacher and the source that you are using for instructions doesn't adequately explain the effects from proper and improper practice. Perhaps you should be looking for a better manual.?.?

 

Well as to my exact routine I was just sitting in half lotus while breathing into the lower dantien as described in Section 2 nose to tan tien path in the book :Tai-Chi-Classics by Liao Waysun.

 

The spinning usually starts about 20 minutes in and it can be annoying as it usually comes accompanied with thoughts like: "Here comes the spinning again", "Ah dont think about the spinning clear your mind!".. "I should probably ask someone about this spinning" ..

You get the idea.

 

Sometimes it just goes away or sometimes I end the session there. Sometimes it never happens.

[doc benway]

Hey guys, so during my meditations sessions I have had a few weird and wonderful experiences.

One thing that has happened quite a few times is that I get a sensation of spinning, like I am sitting in the center of a merry-go-round.

 

I do not know anyone who I can talk with about these sort of things, so I thought I would come ask you guys. Has anyone experienced this? Any idea what this could be?

 

Do you meditate with your eyes open or closed?

The feeling of spinning, vertigo, is generally not related to blood flow to the brain as much as to the body's position sensing mechanism which is related to the inner ear and associated neurological pathway, although both are certainly possible.

If you sit or stand still for long periods of time with your eyes closed, it is not at all unusual for the lack of visual information to cause the brain to get a bit confused regarding the body's position in space. This is a very common experience for beginning meditators and generally the brain adjusts and it goes away.

One way to see if this is the issue is to simply open the eyes and see if it stops.

Meditating with the eyes open or partially closed will stop this.

Assuming you are not holding the breath or hyper-ventilating, it's probably not related to oxygenation...

[Felcor]

For those who practice breathing, I always ask the same question to determine their level of accomplishment.

 

Please answer these two questions:

How deep is your breath when inhale....???

Did you breathe slowly or fast.....???

 

 

I would say my breath was rather deep, and slow. Speaking of breath. What I generally try and do is clear my mind and not "try" to meditate so I try not to expect what I should be feeling and just let things flow naturally. So I take control of my breathing and get into rhythm and relax and then I "let go". Now what I have experienced is that sometimes my breathing changes in odd ways but then instead of taking control and forcing it back to how I think it should be I let my body do what it wants to.

 

One time this lead to me breathing rapidly and I got a strange sensation in my Dantien. Another time I kept inhaling a lot and then I thought damn I should exhale and So I exhaled a bit but my body seemed to say: "Nope, Inhale more!" So I did and It felt like something was happening but then my thoughts rushed back: "IS this normal" "What is hapennning??" And i stopped the meditation.

 

I realize some of you would caution my "Experimental" nature when it comes to these kind of things, but I believe that the body knows what it is doing and that It can show me things that I did not know. Before Every session I ask for guidance and I thank those that have contributed to my knowledge in any way. And After every session I send my thanks again. I live in South Africa and getting a teacher to train me in person is something I am looking for but is not that easy to acquire. So I trust in the universe and in my soul for guidance.

.. And read and study as much as I can XD

Edited July 27, 2014 by Felcor

[Felcor]

Do you meditate with your eyes open or closed?

The feeling of spinning, vertigo, is generally not related to blood flow to the brain as much as to the body's position sensing mechanism which is related to the inner ear and associated neurological pathway, although both are certainly possible.

If you sit or stand still for long periods of time with your eyes closed, it is not at all unusual for the lack of visual information to cause the brain to get a bit confused regarding the body's position in space. This is a very common experience for beginning meditators and generally the brain adjusts and it goes away.

One way to see if this is the issue is to simply open the eyes and see if it stops.

Meditating with the eyes open or partially closed will stop this.

Assuming you are not holding the breath or hyper-ventilating, it's probably not related to oxygenation...

Eyes closed, and no the times the spinning happened my breath was steady. It seems to happen at about the point where my mind is cleared and I can fully relax. There is absolute quiet for a while and then the sensation starts up.

[Spotless]

Check out the interview below - it is regarding the Awakening experiences of Igor Kufayev

In it he explains similar activities during meditation:

 

 

http://batgap.com/igor-kufayev/

[doc benway]

Yes, when we reach a point of stillness, silence, and spaciousness, what some call a connection to the unbounded space of existence, there can be quite a sensation of vertigo.

I think it may occur when the boundary we normally associate with our 'self' is recognized by the body and brain as an illusion. This boundary is an illusion based on our sensory apparatus and thoughts, all of which conspire to make us think we are a separate something contained within a bag of skin.

Meditation can allow us to see through this delusion.

This is disorienting for the biological organism.

Meditating with the eyes partially open should eliminate the vertigo to some degree but maybe not entirely, there may still be that sense of openness, spaciousness, that is so vast and 'un-anchoring,', if you will, that there may be that feeling of floating, difficulty distinguishing center from periphery, up from down, in from out, large from small, time distortion and so on. And that feeling may turn into a deep feeling of warmth and bliss as you connect with your spacious aspect and develop stability of awareness and spaciousness.

The Bönpos refer to this as great bliss naturally arising from realization of the inseparability of space and awareness.

Whether or not this is what you are experiencing is hard for me to tell, not knowing you or the depth of your practice and commitment, but that is one possibility.

A very good book (and CD) that goes into this and gives very simple guidance for experiencing this "Inner Refuge" is Awakening the Luminous Mind by Tenzin Wangyal RInpoche. He's a great teacher and translates esoteric Tibetan methods into the Western paradigm and syntax quite well.

Good luck with your practice.

[Felcor]

Check out the interview below - it is regarding the Awakening experiences of Igor Kufayev

In it he explains similar activities during meditation:

 

 

http://batgap.com/igor-kufayev/

Thanks.

[ChiDragon]

Felcor...
I believe I have detected your breathing problem. I have other business to attend right now. I will elaborate with more details later.

[eye_of_the_storm]

Your oxygen is fine haha

MooNiNite is probably the closest

and

Apech "Carry on"

ah Steve too, though a bit wordy ;P

Ahhh Space and Awareness... That reminds me of a time when I was infinite space and awareness, haha

Edited July 27, 2014 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Felcor]

Yes, when we reach a point of stillness, silence, and spaciousness, what some call a connection to the unbounded space of existence, there can be quite a sensation of vertigo.

I think it may occur when the boundary we normally associate with our 'self' is recognized by the body and brain as an illusion. This boundary is an illusion based on our sensory apparatus and thoughts, all of which conspire to make us think we are a separate something contained within a bag of skin.

Meditation can allow us to see through this delusion.

This is disorienting for the biological organism.

Meditating with the eyes partially open should eliminate the vertigo to some degree but maybe not entirely, there may still be that sense of openness, spaciousness, that is so vast and 'un-anchoring,', if you will, that there may be that feeling of floating, difficulty distinguishing center from periphery, up from down, in from out, large from small, time distortion and so on. And that feeling may turn into a deep feeling of warmth and bliss as you connect with your spacious aspect and develop stability of awareness and spaciousness.

The Bönpos refer to this as great bliss naturally arising from realization of the inseparability of space and awareness.

Whether or not this is what you are experiencing is hard for me to tell, not knowing you or the depth of your practice and commitment, but that is one possibility.

A very good book (and CD) that goes into this and gives very simple guidance for experiencing this "Inner Refuge" is Awakening the Luminous Mind by Tenzin Wangyal RInpoche. He's a great teacher and translates esoteric Tibetan methods into the Western paradigm and syntax quite well.

Good luck with your practice.

Thanks for the reference I will check out the book.

 

@ChiDragon whenever you have time your input will be appreciated, thank you.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Felcor

[doc benway]

Your oxygen is fine haha

 

MooNiNite is probably the closest

and

Apech "Carry on"

 

ah Steve too, though a bit wordy ;P

... alas, it's my nature

It takes too much effort to be concise.

 

 

 

 

Ahhh Space and Awareness... That reminds me of a time when I was infinite space and awareness, haha

 

[eye_of_the_storm]

... alas, it's my nature

It takes too much effort to be concise.

 

 

[ChiDragon]

I would say my breath was rather deep, and slow.

 

Good, congratulations, the proper way for breathing is to breathe deep, slow and long. The rhythm is inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale.....and continuous.

 

 

Speaking of breath. What I generally try and do is clear my mind and not "try" to meditate so I try not to expect what I should be feeling and just let things flow naturally. So I take control of my breathing and get into rhythm and relax and then I "let go". Now what I have experienced is that sometimes my breathing changes in odd ways but then instead of taking control and forcing it back to how I think it should be I let my body do what it wants to.

 

This is where you had disrupted the rhythm in your breathing.

 

 

One time this lead to me breathing rapidly and I got a strange sensation in my Dantien. Another time I kept inhaling a lot and then I thought damn I should exhale and So I exhaled a bit but my body seemed to say: "Nope, Inhale more!" So I did and It felt like something was happening but then my thoughts rushed back: "IS this normal" "What is hapennning??" And i stopped the meditation.

Here is where you have made the mistake by inhale, excessively, which cause too much oxygen rushing to your head. Unfortunately, your brain cannot handle that much oxygen all the sudden. Normally, people will be very uncomfortable in the chest and feeling dizzy or lightheaded. In your case, you'd felt like your head is spinning.

 

You should have control of your breathing, at all times, by breathing deep, slow and long; and never try to change the rhythm such as inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale.....and continuous. The duration of inhalation and exhalation should be the same to keep the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio constant. So, your body won't get confuse.

 

 

Edited July 28, 2014 by ChiDragon

[Bearded Dragon]

I would think that the blood flow is being reduced. But, as Apech stated, carry on, no worry. Just don't do it while you are driving. Hehehe.

 

I had when I fainted the other night. Had dinner and a few glasses of red, fell asleep on the couch, got up to go to bed, about to go to the toilet, then BAM out like a light. Wasn't drunk or anything but I'm sure it was something to do with a lack of oxygen (still investigating). The sensation was an instant change to some sort of hallucination, a spinning sensation, a falling sensation, and a feeling of complete loss of control. This lasted what felt like 5-10 seconds then I just remember waking up perhaps a minute or so later on the floor with a nasty bump on my head.

 

Probably not the same thing but still a point to consider. I think you'll know intuitively if it's a bad thing or not.