Body movements during meditation

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I started meditating about a month ago. I experience now some body movements. It happens around 5 minutes after I start meditating. I feel the energy and I focus it on points of pain or muscle knots that I have had for a long time.
It is when my mind is conscious of what’s happening in my body, as well as outside, but it is set as an observer.

The body starts then to move by itself. It acts like a mix of a Chiropractor and Accupuncturist. It tells me when to breathe, moves parts of my body accordingly to my breathing (note that, when I decide to conciously breathe, the move slows down to accompany my breathing pattern). It has very specific moves and body parts position on each serie of movements.

I have experienced muscle spasms (very strong), it scard me at first, as well as head/neck moves to fix some neck/shoulder knots. The body knows exactly how to move to fix certain parts, and with different speeds of move at different time of the move. It also knows when to apply needle-like stinging sensation at certain accupuncture points.

I would like to call it body healing meditation. I feel awesome after it and feel like I have unblocked energy paths. I was wondering if anybody encountered such experience.

[Anonymous]

Hi Dislay,

What you’ve encountered sounds similiar to the way Bruce has described “Spontaneous Chi Gung”. Apparently, there is a whole category of chi gung systems that use this approach. Personally, I haven’t experianced anything like this.

Hope this helps,
Janak

[Anonymous]

Hi Janak,

Thanks for your input! It actually does look like Sponteanous Qigong, thank you for clarifying this, I am able to read up on it and about its effects.

Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

I’ve actually been afraid of this stuff! but I’m thankful you mention this, sets a positive precedent not to be afraid of it.
In fact, I’ve been avoiding it so much in meditation that it follows me around throughout my day; I’ll get sharp-shocks in localized locations, I’ll find myself not breathing or suddenly catching my breath. The head/neck stuff I actively do, which is probably why it never quite “takes”; gotta let the body do what it do.
Likewise, though, now that I think on it, Bruce does mention (generally/broad-strokes) these types of experiences in Relaxing into your Being/Great Stillness books; that is, what Bruce calls the ‘ten thousand experiences’ in the Great Stillness.

[Anonymous]

You seems to be doing spontaneous qigong. This type of qigong is common enough and is often done in some add-on situation in some qigong practice where people find it interesting and usually feel good about it. It is not done in relation to any problem. It add mystery to the practice. I can’t remember exactly how it is done, but the idea is that you settle down (in standing position for it is quiet dynamic ) and slow down your mind and put yourself into it. The person is in control of the situation because you are all the time conscious of and can control or stop the action if desire.It is just like you ask the body and qi to take over and carry out automatic action.
My qigong experience is very limited, but I have the opinion that this spontaneous qigong is not useful. Although it is mostly harmless and that it is an internal body function that may even be considered natural. In this qigong you need to stand in a harmless open space because you might start to twist and turn and roll about. You might even mimic animal movement and make noise. I feel that although the body carry out all sort of automatic function as in everyday life but sometimes the action might not be exactly the best. Therefore in qigong practice we preferred to be in 100% control and know what is the outcome.

I read all the books by Bruce and he have never mention this types of activities because I think he did not expect this types of reaction to happen and that he don’t think it is worth indulging in those activities. Many other school actually find this qigong interesting. I think you must have come into it while doing the outer dissolving.
In outer dissolving we are in full control in the sense that we keep our intention with us all the time and our mind don’t wonder of , maybe space out, and instate of dictating what is happening we become a slave to the body function. Whereas we want to practice and built up our mind and intent and be strong in our own conscious way. What we do is sinking qi down the body gradually and at the same time be conscious of any problem area in the body. If we sense any problem, we slow down and concentrate by RELAXING into the area and at the same time sending, breathing more qi into the area and mentally willing or have an intention by repeating in our mind ice to water, water to gas. In qigong practice intention is very important and it is actually the real thing, trust that when we hold the intention, it shall actually be so. In this way we sink qi(which is a fundamental qigong practice and is very beneficial by itself ) relax into a good body posture, provide good qi alignment and solve physical ailment.
Back to this deviation you mention: I think it is a different type of qigong you go into and is not part of outer dissolving. Take it as a variation you can use if it happen (other wise don’t encourage it) and also if it is relieving a particular problem in your physical body. Maybe if you known you are going into it you can do the sinking qi in sitting position. Sitting down make you more stable and settle down and discourage physical movement , all these is to tone down any excessive action so that there is better control on your part.
I must clarify that sinking qi is always best done standing up for that facilitate the qi to drop as in gravitation action and being able to root into the earth through the feet is very beneficial.
Inner dissolving is usually done sitting down because sinking qi and rooting is not the main thing. We are clearing non physical problem whose root is not outside but is inside the body. However it seem that emotional issues although inner it has relation to the physical body. It is the layer that have a strong physical mixture. When we enter into the deeper/inner layer of our body/existence like the astral body or mind body we no more deal with qi or when we deal with qi we are not dealing with qi in relation to the earth any more. Sitting down provide a stable and free body to allow the mind to sink into itself. The mind settle down and free itself of mind chatter, stop consciousness of the body and become so still in itself that Bruce call it entering into a mind-stream. In another word it is just mind or consciousness itself and it is alive and active like a stream in that nothing, no thought state.
I wanted to add more onto this topic and end up making lots of general comments which I hope can make this forum more active. If any ideas is wrong I hope somebody will correct it.

[Anonymous]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the comment, it does indeed provide a lot of information, which I found helpful.

First of all, In my experience, I don’t find it useless since it does heal my body (like a body factory reset). I have little experience with filing the area of pain with qi to cure it as I did not explore this method enough.

For me, this spontaneous qigong is quite effective as it does all the body movements that untie all my muscle knots, as well as doing acupressure and needle-like sensation within my body.
What I would like to say is: It does open up / clear out my energy channels effectively so I am quite satisfied with this method.

I understand though where you’re coming from with the intention being a big part of qigong and I actually couple this spontaneous qigong, with tai chi practice, which I find a good combination for progress.

Hope this will help others!

[Anonymous]

Ah, actually I wanted to point out that, I can actually start this body healing process, laid down, sitting or standing up position.

Addtionally, I just tried a session with qi location controlled by my mind. My body now, does still move, but only the movements that will help heal that point.

I am not sure you can heal muscle knots sitting still with no body movements. Maybe other people can let me know

So in my case, when I let my body decide, it actually works on the entire body, when my shoulders are tired, it will work on my legs for example, so the body can choose the area to work on. Then when it works on that area, the mind naturally follows to concentrate on some point with the qi.

So I guess it is a combination of letting the body choose where to work and the mind and qi follows.

[Anonymous]

Dislay- I have been practicing this type of qi gong off and on for twenty years. The traditions where I learned it was called Katsugen Undo in Japanese- also I learned a variation from Tienko Ting who calls it Natural Chi movement. It was very healing for me when I had adrenal fatigue and didn’t have the energy for much practicing of other methods of qi gong. I found it most useful for the physical and qi bodies- it didn’t really work on the emotional or mental bodies for me. I don’t practice it much now- I get better results with sitting and movement practices. I have seen people with emotional and mental traumas who do this practice can have strong cathartic reactions but in my observations it would not release well. They would tend to get caught in loops of repetive reactions and not fully resolve their blocks. From what you wrote it seems useful for you and is not causing you emotional or mental problems. Ishmael

[Anonymous]

Hi Ishamel,

Thanks for your input! Indeed I feel fine I guess everybody has their own experience with qigong

As far as I’m concerned, I’ll continue for now and once my body is “repaired” or my channels fully opened, I might switch qigong style to get on a more spiritual aspect.

[Anonymous]

OMGoodness! I am so happy to have found this page! This started happening to me almost a month ago. I began meditating just under a year ago. I was very concerned & worried at first, and thought perhaps a spirit was coming into me and doing this. I even began video taping myself because I just could not believe what was happening. I had no idea what to do, but the more I relaxed into it, the more pronounced the movements became.

At this point, it has happened to me everyday during meditation for the past 26 days, and lasts anywhere from 45 minute up to two hours! I was a gymnast, and have suffered a lot of back pain over the last 30 years. My biggest issue was pain in my tailbone on the lower right side. The aching was awful in the morning, would subside by late morning and would set in again by late afternoon. EVERYDAY! It would get so bad by evening that I would wince in pain.

My pain is almost gone now, after 26 days. This energy has done what years of physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractor visits and pelvic therapy could not do. Plus, after working on my lower back for about two weeks, it moved on and began addressing pain in my upper mid back (from a whip lash injury after being rear-ended 26 years ago), then onto my collar bone (which my mom tells me I broke as a child) to my shoulder injury (uneven parallel bars in high school) and most recent is my TMJ. This is changing my life. It’s absolutely incredible.

The movements were VERY painful at first, and it was difficult to relax. But I began to experience less pain the more I relaxed, so I would constantly tell myself to relax while it was happening. It moved me around like CRAZY on my chair, and then began pushing me off my chair and began to work on me on the floor. The video is a little disturbing to watch, I must say, but the results have blown my mind.

[Anonymous]

Great to hear it is working out (and having had some recurring pains myself alleviated, I can relate- to those that haven’t exper’d; having everyday pain-waves is hard to conceive [I’d oft been told, just take an aspirin, or take it easy a bit… not quite a fix, but whatever- grin and bear it .. but a possibility for relief? …]
Just to throw another potential- if you wanted to explore/consider.. as you mention, first instinct is to fight-it.. but one ‘can’ relax into it.. -another step can be to sense (if) the movements is the structure ‘fighting-it’ at a subtler lvl.. if can relax in the structure (as well as the more surface-voluntary-related), then the energy can flow even stronger, and perhaps not “express”.

I.e. if the (tension) and (movement) is like turbulence from a swiftly flowing river.. the rough corners and twists, and rough-spots on the bottom causes the flow to splash-eddy-turbulence (“white-water” foam).. could analogize to the feelings of energy-surges…
and if smooth- the river-bed, and adjust the “corners”-turns-twists.. the flow can smooth out, even if moving much faster (the pressure of the water no longer surging/folding on itself.. it evens out- and accels)

Thus just like an electrical-jolt can cause the muscle to contract-jump-tighten.. or if stay relaxed to that “reflex” it flows through… perhaps, in some way, the flow of energy spreading out can collapse into contortion of the soft-tissue, but if it flows and you can release so it isn’t caught into it….. (just something to check.. what I found, sometimes)

other times- the unwinding I think is like some plastic-wrapping that is balled up and tossed in the corner, and then you hear it slowly start to shift and open up from the crumple- but the plastic sort of sticks to itself, and is “folded/creased” but its natural-springiness starts to ease open (especially if you “jiggle it a bit” -as breathing, and E-flow sigh/relax/release can).. in this way, the un-ravelling might be seen also…
—-
if either of these two helps (whether separately, or both) just look (inquiring, like glancing down to see if you shoe is untied, or if a sound you heard was a coin dropped by your feet– you just see if it is there.
(not try and figure it out, or make it a certain way- if shoes are untied you can tie; if you want to “tie-them” but they are tied… that being the qual of attn- could relate to above)

good luck in your practice

==========
the comment about making a video of the twitchings- both reminds me of the neck “joltings” I was getting watching a movie.. I didn’t see, but imagine disturbing.. -also the Indonesian MartialArts practice of animal-mannerism possession.. starts with that out of control-out of balance movement, and can end up on-the-ground (but the learned, stance/flow practice, and the associated movements for each “animal” fits with each flow and the two-make a coherent stability.. (I’ve seen some others video’d doing that, but I haven’t filmed myself doing) -came to mind, as willed energy-driven movements, this “possession-going-with movement, and “spontaneous qigong” are three quite different things I think.. and practice of the last (that third) is less recommended for development.

[Anonymous]

Hi Laura,

I’m glad you lived a similar experience as mine. I still continue to practice, it looks like our bodies are very vast inside and there’s much to “fix”.

Hope you get better until all pain and tension is gone!

[Anonymous]

Due to the abundant energy kundalini awakens and then the subtle body gets activated. This can happen to even new beginners of meditation. This happens due to their spiritual practices in past lives. It is the NATURE that connects every one back their path of spiritual practices when the mind and soul get (with required karmic burning), then naturally one experiences lot of craving for meditation and then when they meditate, this experience happens. Initially movements from side to side or back and forth. Some times, head being pull backward or sometimes, head spinning, some times, the whole body spinning in horizontally to the floor etc.

But these people are blessed ones. Once these spontaneous movements start, one can actually lead to the path of SELF REALIZATION in a more balanced and guided way by knowing detachment, technology of soul functioning, knowing the NATURE and its engineering etc.

One way or the other, all souls who experience involuntary movements are connected by souls and they are naturally guided further for higher self realization.

[Anonymous]

i think there is two types of body movements.
1. when the person concentrates on the physical self and stays awake to body energy or chi. This is actually a type of qigong practice. This is not meditation as is mostly understood by those who do spiritual practice. Concentration and focus is used mainly to connect to subtle energy , forces or chi.
2. when a person meditates to achieve a transcendental state it require a deeper concentration and the person is normally trying to be free of bodily influence. The involuntary body movement is of a different nature and the person come out of it with a different feeling. I don’t have close or deep contacted with this types of meditation and can only volunteer my humble opinion. I believes in this case the experience is mental or spiritual and not very much physically. In fact the person might come out of it feeling tired or exhausted.
There are a lots of similarity between qigong amd mediation but the two are actually very different and we should not mix them up otherwise we do not get proper results if we are not clear about what we are doing..

[Anonymous]

Hi! It has been just over two weeks ago I started with meditation. I had problems at first for sitting upto 10 min even. Now I have graduated to 25 min at a time. I have started to meditate twice a day, both 25 mins, in the morning and after office hours.

The thing about having muscle spasms while meditating happened to me today and it did freak me out. I had no idea what it was and why it was happening. When I started to move my concentration to deliberately loosen the muscles up, i did fade away buy came back again. The fourth time it came back, I really was confused and scared as to what happened and had to end my session abruptly. I was scared, like shit scared. Nothing like that had ever happened before..

A few thoughts went through my mind when I tried to analyse what had been happening, you know after the session. At first I thought that may be i was slowly slipping into my subconscious state, just drifting into sleep or something like that. But that thought just seemed absurd.

I still did not understand what had happened. I don’t know what will happen the next time i sit for meditation. But I am going to give it a try again.

If you or anyone, as a matter of fact, have any knowledge of what it is or what is happening please let me know.

[Author]

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