Expanded-body Sensation During Meditation - Have You Ever Felt It?

[Wind]

Meditated for 20 minutes.

Intention was to practice concentration by bringing back focus on breathing sensation. I found that bringing my perriferum awareness to a point in the visual field helps me to notice when my mind starts to wander (as thinking usually happens in imagery). So I smoothed out breathing with visual field.

It was difficult to keep focus on the concentration object as I would try to experiment changing it within the session (focusing just on breathing, or adding perriferum awareness of other senses, or adding image of light coming in my body as I breath in, and so on). But this is ok as long as I just observe the automatic patterns of my mind and come back to my primary intention - breathing. Perriferum is secondary.

In about 10 minutes, as I was focusing on breathing with more accuracy and observing distractions with extreme carefulness, I got into a state of what I call "exoanded-body sensation" where my body becomes heavier and the sensation of body boundary expands outside the body, it felt as if I'm wearing a heavy (although very mellow mellow) armour on top of my body, and the focus intensifies and becomes more effortless. I've been getting into this state quite often recently, and it follows with access concentration, so I consider it being high-level meditative state. However, I'm aware of the danger of getting hooked on this sensation, so I look at this just as the signpost that tells me I'm progressing.

What is interesting is that this is something I used to feel when I was a kid. I remember in childhood when I was laying on my bed and was about to fall asleep while looking at the ceilling, I would feel this sensation and wonder what is it, how to describe it? It was really strange. The focus was intense and I remember it once or twice followed with contemplation about my existance and questions like who am I, how can I exist, how can I be before being nothing, what I was before, what defines me? And I would get the glimpse of understanding that I'm infinity, but back then I didn't even have vocabulary to describe it or even understand what was happening.

Have you felt something similar in your meditation sessions? How do you make sense of this "expanded-body state"? Is it just random sense, or it goes along with access concentration?

[DavidBorja]

I've heard this sensation called "bulbous-teeny", meaning "the feeling of being very big, and very small, back-and-forth and/or at the same time". I felt it at the start of my practice but haven't felt it as much lately, and it could have been related to the novelty of meditative experiences.

I observed the sensation. I don't seek it really, but I agree with you that it's nice. It's interesting that you say part of you "wants" more of that experience. Continue meditating and noticing the part of you that "wants" certain things out of meditation.

And as far as "making sense of it"; I've heard explanations of this sensation as the ego taking control of physical perceptions because it's being threatened. Imagine a boat being rocked because the sea monster underneath has been detected. There's likely a more  scientific explanation for the sensation, that someone after me can contribute!

May the both of us keep practicing <3

Edited July 9, 2017 by DavidBorja

[PlasmicProjection]

I often induce tingling over my whole body when I meditate or try to astral project. And yes it's a sign post. We shouldn't get too attached to it.

Edited July 10, 2017 by PlasmicProjection

[BonnieJ]

Did it happen to you again?

I am asking because the exactly same thing happened to me a few times when I was was little and I could not describe it.

I wondered every now and then about it and it happened again after more than 35 years after deep meditation when I lay down. I knew instantly it was the same sensation I had felt more than 35 years ago.

It left me in a few seconds, probably because I was too nervous when it started to happen. Will I be able to feel it again. Did you feel it again? 

Edited October 11, 2017 by BonnieJ

[Wind]

23 hours ago, BonnieJ said:

Did it happen to you again?

I am asking because the exactly same thing happened to me a few times when I was was little and I could not describe it.

I wondered every now and then about it and it happened again after more than 35 years after deep meditation when I lay down. I knew instantly it was the same sensation I had felt more than 35 years ago.

It left me in a few seconds, probably because I was too nervous when it started to happen. Will I be able to feel it again. Did you feel it again? 

That's interesting. Yeah it happens from time to time. It becomes more frequent when you experience it few times, because your mind learns the neural-pathway, and then you can access it through concentration - I noticed it usually happen as my mind shifts to "access concentration". But now I don't care about this sensation, because chasing it could be a distraction.

Edited October 12, 2017 by Wind