How Can I Improve My Practice

[Raptorsin7]

Does anyone have pointers on how I can improve my meditation practice?

My main practice is notice consciousness and then notice the feelings that come up and then notice the sense of trying to resist or accept the feelings. I've also been trying to watch my own sense of effort and doing, but I don't know if I'm doing it right. One thing that's been happening recently is my brain is incredibly charged, I feel a strong pulsing there when I meditate, it can get a bit dizzying sometime but I take it as a sign of progress. 

My goal is have similar energetic releases that i've had with lsd in the past. I can already feel the tensions in my body start to unwind, and I can feel certain sensations now that I only ever felt on psychidelics but i'm still struggling to fully let go.

[GreenWoods]

14 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

My goal is have similar energetic releases that i've had with lsd in the past. I can already feel the tensions in my body start to unwind, and I can feel certain sensations now that I only ever felt on psychidelics but i'm still struggling to fully let go.

Meditation can cause releases but if that's your goal then maybe do other practices that are more likely to cause releases like shamanic breathing or shaktipat transmissions (the main releases from shaktipat would start once the kundalini is awakening and doing it's purification process).

[Thought Art]

@Raptorsin7 Try doing Qigong once a week, as well as doing some guided meditations like Headspace to see how others are approaching meditation. 
 

There’s a lot of Qigong sitting meditations that are beyond anything I’ve heard leo talk about when it comes to meditation. I know on his books list though there’s good stuff 

[Raptorsin7]

@GreenWoods I got RASA in the past but I didn't feel anything, and I feel a lot of resistance to hyper controlling the breathe through shamanic breathing. I can already feeling releases from simple meditation, but I was wondering if maybe there were more efficient ways. The main sense of tension is from the sense of control and personal identity so I don't see a better approach to resolve this than simple meditation, other than using psychidelics.

@Thought Art I was doing  a few chigong exercises, but I fainted from a simple back stretch so I'm kind of hesitant about continuing to do it.

[Thought Art]

@Raptorsin7 do you have health issues?

[Raptorsin7]

@Thought Art Not anything diagnosed, but I am not healthy. I think unless unless you've released a lot of the tension and contractions in the body you are unhealthy. I'm assuming that 99% of seekers are unhealthy because they are disconnected from the true source of health and well being, so I don't think I have special health issues that normal people don't.

[JonasVE12]

5 hours ago, Raptorsin7 said:

I've also been trying to watch my own sense of effort and doing, but I don't know if I'm doing it right. 

That's one of the reasons you are spinning. Welcome the trying to figure it out if you're doing it right. And then ask yourself if you can let it go a little bit at a time until that energy of trying is removed from your consciousness. Those energetic releases happen when you get passed all the stuck energies between your heart and forehead. Relax your forehead and all other facial muscles as well. Also drop the 'doing' in the meditation. It activates thinking. When you sit down, you want to let go of any needing, trying, shoulding, doing.

When you have this intention prior to the meditation, your subconscious will activate thinking in order to achieve the goal you are setting prior to the meditation. You want the meditation to come to you, instead of doing the meditation. It sounds funny, but it's an energy thing. The only thing you want to do prior to meditation is letting go of any intention other than to welcome what is. 

Basically, you want to stop trying to get releases as well. And also, trying to stop trying, is also trying. Trying is an energy, is a contraction inside your mind. It's like when you're squeezing a ball with your hand, you learn to relax your hand in order to let the ball expand. The relaxation causes the ball to expand. So you need to learn to relax your mind. All the trying in your meditation is the same as squeezing the ball harder. The same relaxation needs to happen within your mind and naturally with each relaxation and letting go of forcing, trying, doing - you will sink into your body and reveal more depth of feeling. The relaxation itself is a release. Sometimes it takes some weeks of welcoming your spins in order for them to let go. Each time a little bit more. And each time you are welcoming what is, including the spins, you sink into your body a little deeper. And there will come a time you sink into the parts of your body that hold your deepest contractions. But you need to work on relaxing the upper tension first, mainly in your head, because that will prevent you to go down into your body. 

 

[Asayake]

5 hours ago, Raptorsin7 said:

but I don't know if I'm doing it right.

This is just another thought that pops up from time to time when meditating. Realize this thought is just like any other object that appears in meditation, it's just another thought. Just be aware of thoughts when they arise and let go of them when they pass on, like clouds fleeting on a sky(the sky being you, the thoughts come and go but you're always here). 

5 hours ago, Raptorsin7 said:

 I feel a strong pulsing there when I meditate, it can get a bit dizzying sometime but I take it as a sign of progress. 

I think this is a sign of progress yes. When I first started meditating for example I would feel itchiness or tingling in random places on my body, after a period of meditation, that stopped, and I became aware of some tension in my back for awhile instead. After a while that also stopped and I became aware of some energy in my third eye chakra instead. About one year ago when I meditated on LSD I had fractals appear in my visual field. They came back every time I meditated for a few months afterwards. At first I was worried about this and thought I had done something wrong and I was scared I might have injured myself. But now I realize they were just another appearance in meditation and all appearances move on sooner or later and will all teach you something about yourself that transcends thoughts.  

All sensations, thoughts, feelings, visions that appear will pass on sooner or later and eventually you will become conscious of a new appearance. You don't need to think too much about it or what it means but you can just let the pulsing sensation be when it appears, be aware of it and eventually it will pass on and some other sensation will arise. You can view it like getting to know a part of yourself you didn't know before, it's on a temporary visit to be accepted by you(which happens just by you being aware of it when it appears) and when it is fully accepted it will dissolve and leave space for something else to appear.

For example when something like anxiety or frustration arises, it can be viewed as suppressed emotion in ourselves that we didn't let ourselves feel before because we escaped into our thoughts or distracted ourselves with activies when it wanted to arise. There's no need to think too much about whether you're accepting or resisting, because just being conscious of what is is actually what accepting is. 

[Thought Art]

@Raptorsin7 Dr. Yang Jwing Ming has a really good Meridian Qigong Yoga that is all done laying down. Recommend you try the DVD or book!

[The0Self]

Just turn toward the undeniable truth. If the undeniable truth isn't clear, some things can get you there: inquiry, surrender, looking at beliefs -- again and again, very carefully.

[VeganAwake]

Have you tried those float tanks? They are very relaxing.

Have you ever been prescribed any muscle relaxers?

Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs and massages should be your best friends.

❤ 

[Inliytened1]

34 minutes ago, VeganAwake said:

 

Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs and massages should be your best friends.

❤ 

Great advice!  Highly recommend followed by cold showers.

[Raptorsin7]

3 hours ago, VeganAwake said:

Have you tried those float tanks? They are very relaxing.

Have you ever been prescribed any muscle relaxers?

Saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs and massages should be your best friends.

❤ 

No I haven't but I wonder if that could be helpful, the muscles in my head and jaw are very clenched. Do i need a doctors note or can I find natural versions of muscle relaxants?

Yeah i've done hundreds of sessions in the float tank, but I never had any truly relaxing experiences. I find it hard to fully surrender being away from my house and in the water

[Thought Art]

Try a neoryhtm 

[Inliytened1]

27 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

No I haven't but I wonder if that could be helpful, the muscles in my head and jaw are very clenched. Do i need a doctors note or can I find natural versions of muscle relaxants?

Yeah i've done hundreds of sessions in the float tank, but I never had any truly relaxing experiences. I find it hard to fully surrender being away from my house and in the water

Saunas are amazing for spiritual awakening- but follow up with ice cold showers.   It shocks the system and triggers kundalini.

 

[Raze]

Try unified mindfulness

meditate for 40 minutes every morning, you can enter a flow state that changes the whole day 

do strong determination sitting and “break through pain” and “break through difficult emotions” by Shinzen Young 

[VeganAwake]

5 hours ago, Raptorsin7 said:

No I haven't but I wonder if that could be helpful, the muscles in my head and jaw are very clenched. Do i need a doctors note or can I find natural versions of muscle relaxants?

I would first try some hot and cold compression to expand and contract those muscles(20min hot 20min cold for 2 rounds in each area) ...maybe take some excederin an hour before, and if you're still not getting any kind of relief maybe try to get a prescription for a muscle relaxant.

Also some insurances do cover physical therapy massages, I would at least give it a shot. A doctor should know what to do.

❤ 

[GreenWoods]

@Raptorsin7  RASA's strength isn't necessarily on causing energetic releases. Shaktipat transmissions as well as KAP transmissions are better for that.

The most powerful way to cause releases is definitely psychedelics. 

[Raptorsin7]

2 hours ago, GreenWoods said:

@Raptorsin7  RASA's strength isn't necessarily on causing energetic releases. Shaktipat transmissions as well as KAP transmissions are better for that.

The most powerful way to cause releases is definitely psychedelics. 

Yeah i've had incredible energetic releases with psychs. but i've been unable to reach those releases on my recent trips, so i'm working on it sober. 

I have some MALT, that's the next one i'm going to try so we will see

[Raptorsin7]

@Inliytened1 I used to get a lot of benefit out of cold showers but now I can't handle the cold and I resist too much. But I'll try it again thanks.

17 hours ago, Benton said:

@Raptorsin7 Yantra

Is Yantra a deity? How does that work