Saliva and Swallowing - Help

[kieranperez]

Every single time I sit down to meditate I keep having so much spit come up and I keep swallowing and this is becoming so distracting and takes away from my concentration. I mean, this is happening like 10 times every minute. I’ve listened to the whole “put your tongue on the roof of your mouth” and that hasn’t done anything at all. I’ve tried letting it be but then I just end having a mouth full of spit which is just insanely distracting. I don’t know what on earth to do about this as this is so distracting. I’ve even tried doing my meditation first thing in the morning when possible before I’ve had anything to eat in case the timing of eating and meditating after had anything to do with it and that did nothing. Fuck I’ve even tried cutting down food and fasting more. 

What am I doing wrong here? Tips?

[passerby]

well man I cannot help too much, but I did read a while ago some Taoist stuff (that might offer some help) that the Taoists believed saliva had some sort of spiritual significants and that when the Taoists were meditating and they had to swallow, that they would do it very forcefully and deeply and with strong intent.

Don't ask me anything about it tho, that's all I can remember, but you may be able to research into that and find more info that could help you

[Truth Addict]

@kieranperez

Think of it as an itch.

You could easily ignore it and let it be however it is, or you could put your attention on it and let it distract you.

Ask yourself; why am I making a big deal out of nothing significant? What happens if I let my saliva pour out of my mouth?

I know it sounds silly, but have you ever considered that angle before? 

Edited December 2, 2018 by Truth Addict

[mandyjw]

What are you focusing on when you meditate? Your breath? The feeling of aliveness, in your hands, body? 

[Charlotte]

This is the funniest thing I've heard all day 

Your not alone brother!! 

I've come out of meditation many times looking like I have a hole in my bottom lip. ?

[Salvijus]

Idk, try to drink a glass of warm water with honey or lime or both before you meditate

Maybe it will help

Edited December 2, 2018 by Salvijus

[Sven]

You could either try as already mentioned to let it just fall out of your mouth (... )

Or you could just swallow it without thinking about it too much.

The "what am I doing wrong" is definitely not related much to to saliva, but rather to how you respond to it.

We produce saliva throughout the day and swallow dozens of times during the day - yet you rarely notice it ever. Just like you breath all day long, but you - unless you practice this - never notice it.

It could also be the way in which you engage in meditation. Do you have this much saliva building up during the rest of the day? Or just when meditation? In that case see what you are doing different when engaging in meditation. Maybe that can help.

And definitely what @Truth Addict says! What is the reason you make a big deal out of it? It is the emotions building up which distract the meditation, it's your own perspective, not the saliva itself

[cetus]

@kieranperez Thinking about it only makes it worse. Like you may not notice the ringing in your ears until you put attention on it.

[FredFred]

@kieranperez I heard that in the buddhist scriptures they recommend keeping the tongue glued to the palate.

I've never personally tried it myself since I don't have this problem, but some says it help with keeping saliva out of the throat. 

Edited December 2, 2018 by FredFred

[OneLittleHumanMind]

Like Sven earlier said, we produce saliva and swallow it all day long. Sometimes we notice it, other times we don't.

Due to my body-focused OCD, I sometimes get stuck in my swallowing too much and in the past I added negative emotions to it. But those emotions are superfluous to have about a very natural occurrence in a body. So don't blame your swallowing, loosen your thoughts about it. It is also quite good to have saliva in a mouth, because if I don't have it, my throat begins to feel dry and my mouth tastes bad afterwards.