Emotional Reaction During Meditation

[Karmen]

I was wondering if anybody else had had an emotional reaction during some phases of meditation. Today I was doing chakra cleansing meditation and I had an reaction that I almost staret to cry when clearing the heart chakra. Did anybody else experience this?

[Naviy]

Well, everybody has emotions during meditation. Strong emotions sometimes too. Personally, I think, it is a good sign, because if you have strong emotions while doing such a boring (for mind) thing as meditation, this means that it works and opens up your subconscious mind, which heals your psychology. 

[Ramu]

1 hour ago, Karmen said:

I was wondering if anybody else had had an emotional reaction during some phases of meditation. Today I was doing chakra cleansing meditation and I had an reaction that I almost staret to cry when clearing the heart chakra. Did anybody else experience this?

Well I've never had an emotional experience like that but I usually feel electrical "shivers" from the base of my spine up to the base of my skull.  Divine Energy?  I'm not sure.  I've also started shaking all over, especially in my hands and wrists.  Not sure what THAT was!  All things considered I'm sure its all healthy.  Perhaps the emotions you experienced was the clearing out of emotional junk your True Self doesn't need?  If its one thing I've learned from all this spiritual stuff:  You are not your emotions or thoughts.  Moreover, you are The Silent Witness of those emotions and thoughts.  The True Self!

[Azrael]

3 hours ago, Karmen said:

I was wondering if anybody else had had an emotional reaction during some phases of meditation.

I cried or fell into immense laughter several times. It's normal. The more and the deeper you purge the shit out of your system, the more will set free and needs a mean to express itself. I know that this can be confusing in the beginning. But it's just the process. Every time this happens just think about you making real progress here, you just released some sneaky social condition, fear or what ever was deeply programmed into your psyche for way too long. 

[Fishy]

Both laugther and crying has happened. Totally normal 

[WelcometoReality]

@Karmen In one of Adyashantis talk he talks about a woman the teached that cried in every meditation for 2 years straight and then it suddenly stopped. I think it's just a natural healing process that takes place. I hope start crying soon. Haven't cried for years.

[werlight]

On February 27, 2016 at 10:18 AM, Karmen said:

I was wondering if anybody else had had an emotional reaction during some phases of meditation. Today I was doing chakra cleansing meditation and I had an reaction that I almost staret to cry when clearing the heart chakra. Did anybody else experience this?

@KarmenKarmen! Its great that you are emotional. Its perfectly normal. I was also very emotional when I began meditating. I went through a deep emotional healing process. Deep, Deep, very Deep. I released all my unresolved emotions. It was tough. But I felt great after the process. So continue the process !!

Edited March 1, 2016 by werlight

[Karmen]

Thanks everyone! Some really good insights here

[werlight]

Its very important not to repress your feellings ! If you feel like crying, cry. If you feel joyful, let your self feel that.. etc. Let your self go, and pay attention to your feelings. Another thing ..

Feelings need to be liberated !  The only way to do this is to express them. If you feel sad, let yourself feel it and say “I am sad” if you know why, say it.. Go through the process. It can be painful but it is necessary and you will feel great after.

 

[Akeberg]

I`ve been looking for a tread like this one. Grateful people have answered this.

For about four years I`ve been doing meditation on a weekly basis, but inconsistently. This meditation-practice were an actual part of my studies on Method Acting (a BA-program) and the practice we did is called TRE (Tension/Trauma Realeasing Exercises) Anybody familiar with this? During this period I felt like I had several break-troughs, each break-trough containing emotional upheavals. Sometimes it was more or less clear to me what the strong reaction were about and other times I didn`t have a clue.

A year ago I discovered Leo`s videos and started doing the work. It went well for a couple of months, but then I fell off track. I still meditated, but failed to do it regularly. Emotions, especially tears, were frequent whenever I did sittings. After a while I broke it off for some time. 

Today I`m on track and sticking to meditating again. I still consider myself a beginner and are therefore practicing the very basic stuff, starting off at 20 min per day to build up my habit. What I notice is that I often become emotional several times during one session. Sometimes it`s just for a second before the feeling changes or dissolves, but I`ve also noticed that I can get back to the same feeling by fixing my gaze at the same spot or nearby (which I would recognize as Brainspotting) I have to admit that I feel like welcoming these emotions, especially when they produce tears. When tears are released from my eyes it feels like something is being expressed or let go of. This is causing me to deliberately wanting to cry, although I try to steer away from chasing the emotion.

So my question is, what do I make of emotions during meditation? Could the emotions be distracting me from whatever I need to focusing on? Are they helping me, are they signs of progress? If so, why? If not, why not?

[WelcometoReality]

@Akeberg It depends on your intention. Why do you want to meditate? Is it to realize what you truly are? Or is it something else? If it is the first then any experiences you have is equally unimportant be that thoughts emotions or sensations in the body. Let them come and go naturally. Be the space that they occur in.

[cetus]

6 hours ago, Akeberg said:

So my question is, what do I make of emotions during meditation? Could the emotions be distracting me from whatever I need to focusing on? Are they helping me, are they signs of progress? If so, why? If not, why not?

@Akeberg  I'd call that progress. The mind can be a lot like a closet that needs to be cleaned out of old emotional memories. Usually lots of junk in there you forget about until you start digging. Let it come out. If there is emotion involved with a particular memory, observe both the memory and the emotions it stirs. Don't cling to them, acknowledge them and release them as they arise. You will find doing this very liberating and a lightness will remain from the acceptance and release. Be kind and loving and to yourself during the process. Remember, emotions and memories only have power when you give it to them.

[DoubleYou]

When I started meditating there was A LOT of emotional baggage I became aware of. This resulted in crying almost every meditation. It was something I never really did before but meditation is perfect for this. Even the most intense emotions can be observed without judgment.

Now a couple of years later as a result of this I rarely cry but funnily enough sometimes when I'm just on my own doing my daily activities there comes this quick urge to cry which lasts for only three seconds or so. It's almost like a sneeze, no emotion attached to it at all. Feels great to be able to do that. I guess these were moments that I used to ignore in the past which resulted in the baggage to begin with. 

So, let it be. Don't even think about it.

[Lyra]

I also tried doing some chakra meditation and did cry too, a lot. Recently  I started meditating to guided meditation by Leo after I realized how depressed I really am and how much of letting go I have to do. I've got a compulsive, resistant mind and very strong emotions and anxiety that are most definitely the cause of my physical ailments. Most of the time and during meditation I experience frustration and resistance towards these emotions and psysical sensations. It doesn't seem like I've started releasing anything yet. It's more like I'm becoming higly aware of those negative reactions the more present I become during meditation and otherwise. That baggage I'm carrying around made me suffer a lot in life and now I'm trying to clear my mind. It's hard to watch those thoughts and emotions that are causing my breathing issues. Then I can't help not to focus on the shortness of breath and tightness in my chest or racing heart and it makes me even more anxious and so it goes in circles. What a journey...and I'm really tired of fighting it.

 

[Akeberg]

Thank you so much for your answers! It`s wonderful being able to discuss my questions here. Really, thank you.