Questions from a beginner.

thewalkindude

Hello,

Recently i have been practicing meditation twice a day. In the morning and evening giving myself 10 minutes for each session. I have a few questions.

Does anyone sit in the seiza position while meditating?

During this evenings meditation i went for a little bit longer than usual. I eventually lost my concentration for a minute or so and then brought it back.

After doing this i began to experience a weird feeling. My arms felt like they weighed a lot and my head felt like there was pressure inside and it was expanding. It didn't really feel like a good feeling so i stopped meditating.

Would you guys suggest that if i get this feeling i continue to meditate and examine the feeling more?

person

Its hard to say for sure. Though I've had similar experiences in my own practice, stayed with it and my head didn't explode or arms didn't fall off. : D Probably someone from the zen tradition would have a better idea.

hermitwin

Observe everything and allow it to happen.

Sabre

Hi thewalkingdude,

Once your concentration starts to build up, you can notice feelings that you never noticed before. Don't worry, we've all had these. Just like person, I also still have a working head and 2 arms!

Usually the strange things don't happen more often, or at least not to me. If they do, you could examine the feelings to get familiar with them. You'll find the source (a muscle you are contracting for example) or they will just disappear.

I wish you much progress from your meditation. If you can find a real life meditation teacher, that would be wise.

Sabre

DhammaDhatu

what Sabre said (apart from the "teacher" bit)

these are just 'special effects' due to alterations or movements in awareness

awareness is something very fluid, so it flows around and plays tricks on the mind

simply try to keep the mind calm when these special effects occur

if any anxiety, fear or confusion arises, simply try to be with those moods also, unless they calm down & dissolve

regards

zidangus

Does anyone sit in the seiza position while meditating?

I have long legs and it is very uncomfortable sitting in lotus position, so I just sit on a chair without back support. I have never tried seiza position for meditation though, so after you mentioning it I might give it a try.


Metta to all sentient beings

DhammaDhatu

typo: "if any anxiety, fear or confusion arises, simply try to be with those moods also, until they calm down & dissolve"

Sabre

typo: "if any anxiety, fear or confusion arises, simply try to be with those moods also, until they calm down & dissolve"

Still your old version was also kind of true

fivebells

Does anyone sit in the seiza position while meditating?

I sit on a meditation bench, or in a chair.

Would you guys suggest that if i get this feeling i continue to meditate and examine the feeling more?

Absolutely continue to meditate. Don't let attention collapse down on the sensation, though.

Cinorjer

Hello,

Recently i have been practicing meditation twice a day. In the morning and evening giving myself 10 minutes for each session. I have a few questions.

Does anyone sit in the seiza position while meditating?

During this evenings meditation i went for a little bit longer than usual. I eventually lost my concentration for a minute or so and then brought it back.

After doing this i began to experience a weird feeling. My arms felt like they weighed a lot and my head felt like there was pressure inside and it was expanding. It didn't really feel like a good feeling so i stopped meditating.

Would you guys suggest that if i get this feeling i continue to meditate and examine the feeling more?

First, let's eliminate the most common problems with physical and mental processes in meditation.

I don't use seiza posture because I was not raised sitting on the floor and I'm not a masochist. If you are not very familiar with this way of sitting on your heels, you can do it wrong and cause problems with your circulation and energy flow. This is because the weight of your body is on your lower legs and ankles, unlike even a half lotus posture on a cushion. So first question, do you know for certain your posture is correct? Are you using a bench or cushion?

Second most common problem is breathing. Are you breathing from diaphram, from the belly, letting it go in and out? Are you taking slow, natural breaths? Too much or too little oxygen can again have some very strange effects.

Beyond that, simply remember all you're doing is sitting quietly, breathing slowly, doing nothing. There is no safer thing in the world you can be doing, unless you're sitting in the middle of a busy street. It is impossible to harm yourself sitting and doing nothing. Whatever happens on the mat, you brought it with you. You're just giving your mind the peace and quiet to notice what's going on.

genkaku

In the beginning, I sat seiza. I did that until I realized, during one sesshin, or retreat, that if it was going to be that painful, I might as well sit half-lotus, which is, in my opinion, more grounded. So I did that. I never did take the next step to full-lotus, which is more balanced.

Sometimes I think practice amounts to little more than a series of surprises that lead us forward. Sometimes the surprises cause us to cheer and we become enthusiastic. Sometimes they cause us to cringe and we back off. Two steps forward and one step back -- something like that.

Over time, and with constancy, surprise is not quite so important or even surprising. There is stuff that makes our hearts glow with wonder. There is stuff that scares the crap out of us. Still, we practice ... and keep on practicing.