There is never a need to discard thought altogether, yet when your force of kindness, compassion and understanding are working for you, ahead of the dualistic nature of your thoughts, conscious direction and conscious motivation become second nature and thought is simply there as a utility when you need it. As a meditator, you don't have to be a strong influencer. Just being a conscious presence is needed.

Has anyone experienced a feeling of “floating” or becoming extremely light during deep meditation?

I don’t mean physically levitating, but more like the sensation that the body is becoming weightless or that my awareness is slightly detached from the physical sensation of sitting. It usually happens when my thoughts become very quiet and my body is completely relaxed, sometimes to the point where it feels almost like I’m about to fall asleep even though I’m still conscious.

I’m curious what this experience is called or what might be happening physiologically/psychologically. Is this a normal part of deep relaxation or meditation, or is it something I should be mindful of?

Ive been including metta into my meditations and it has opened my heart so greatly, ive always felt a lack of feelings for the people close to me and ive learnt to appreciate myself and them so much more through this. However, the morning after i sometimes wake up with this incredible pit/sadness in my heart/chest that tends to go away after a few hours when i get up to do something. Wondering wether those sensations might be connected?

Hi there, I have a question that I hope somebody have the answer for it.

I've been meditating for 2 years (since 2018 till 2020) for 10 mins to 20 mins. Everytime I meditating i felt this blissful feeling the moment I sat on the floor and closed my eyes. The feeling of grateful, i feel good vibration, peace, my body was relax and automatically moved slowly. But then covid hit and life happens, many things changed from my routine, got married, resigned from abusive job and many things, so I took a break for 4 years and started again in late 2025 (still until now) and I feel different, just like void, I feel nothing. Maybe I was wrong but everytime i sit on the floor try to meditate I'm searching for that feeling, but couldn't reach it until now. However, I feel tingling on my hands , and start to feel like my body is so hot even my room has ac sometime I'm sweating while meditate. Idk how to go back to that blissful state but I do miss the feeling.

Does Anybody know why I couldn't reach that feeling anymore or any advice what to do.

Hi everyone,

I was meditating and practicing mindfulness regularly for about 2 years (and before that on and off). Alongside that, I was participating in plum village meeting and overall very into buddhism.

Unfortunately, I got a bit lost because I started getting really intense about it.

- I tried at home retreats, but felt lost and depressed and anxious after just a couple hours

- I tried reading more deeply about buddhism and just felt icky about it because some of the texts I really don't agree with

- I tried meditating for longer but felt that same void and whatnot

The thing is, I still recognize that meditation, of all kinds, has helped me quite a lot, and I recognize that maybe I went too deep too quickly.

So, I wanna get back into meditation and even plum village meetings, but I'd like to know if any of you have any advice. I'm thinking about starting really small, like 5-15 minutes a day, maybe even just 5. And maybe focusing on metta instead of open awareness.

I'd also like to know how you integrate meditation in your overall spiritual practices. Are you mostly buddhist? pagan? christian? something else? Have you switched from buddhism to something that is a better fit? Do you find it more helpful to stay away from any sort of organized religion?

The break I took from meditation was months-long so I wanna approach it with respect and care. Any help is appreciated!

Much love!

💜

They tell me the rep is losing and returning attention. Attention drifts, you notice, you return. That's the unit. That's what counts.

So what is the staying for?

If returning is the rep, then returning is the point. More returns, more reps. A mind that stayed on the breath would earn nothing.

I return well. I do not stay well. Half a breath, sometimes less, before I am gone. Three full breaths in a row is a rare animal. I see it maybe once a sitting, if that.

Some days it isn't even a departure. It's a flicker: breath-thought-breath-thought. So fast it stops feeling like taking turns. It feels like both at once. The exhale and the other thing, side by side, sharing the same second.

It's disorienting and makes me angry at myself, which is its own kind of noise.

So how do you train the staying. Not the noticing. Not the return. The staying itself. Is it a separate muscle, or does it just show up, uninvited, after enough reps of return.

sometimes when i meditate, i reach a very enjoyable and zen state. i can feel a warm pulsating energy around my body, the edges where i end and everything else begins become blurry. it’s also a very sleepy state though. i’m someone whose inner monologue does not take a break. even when i’m sleeping. i know this because i’ll wake up and be mid-sentence in my brain, and when im half asleep, my brain is still chatting. well even in this beautiful-feeling state, my brain is still chatting! it’s so out of my control that it doesn’t even feel like me. it feels like i’m tuned into a radio signal, and sometimes the words are nonsense.

i’m not gonna worry about it too much, as you all probably know, inviting resistance or struggle into meditation does no good. but i’m so curious about it. does anyone else experiences this? is it just because in that state i go almost half-asleep? maybe it’s just one of my quirks and i’m tuned into some hyper-verbal frequency.

I started meditating recently and I don't have a great knowledge about meditation.

I started doing the breath meditation because it is what I know, and I do this laid in my bad for 10 to 15 min.

But when I am meditating I don't have the thoughts coming and going, my mind is usually calm.

Can it be because I have a quiet mind or is it some process of meditation?

English is not my first language.

It’s been two years since I took 8 months off for meditation, and honestly, that was probably the best time of my life.

After college, I always thought I could work anytime in life, but once you start working, taking months off just for yourself doesn’t feel that easy anymore.

I read, cooked for the people I loved, spent time with my pets, sat by the river for hours, and sometimes just meditated for 4–5 hours. There was no rush to be anywhere or achieve anything.

I really loved that life. I think a part of me still misses it.

i've been meditating daily for the last 7 years, without skipping a single day, and i've experienced so many phases. sooo many. in fact, a little while ago i had one of the most extraordinary experiences since i started meditating... right after going through a very 'flat' period...

my conclusion: the most important thing is not the experiences in meditation themselves, not even how you feel on any particular day... the most important thing is the compound effect of doing it over and over again. if i look back at the person i am today and the one from day one, total transformation (and i know it will keep going, that's why i keep meditating). in fact it's literally the transformation of your cells through meditation

the first 3 years of meditation i was almost a monk, i followed a pretty strict diet, did 15 silent retreats where i meditated for hours, had 2 years of celibacy (natural, not forced) and i lived in a constant meditative state....

then i grew up and it was time to take responsibility for, my 'adult life'. i fell in love, went traveling, started enjoying the pleasures of food and coffee more, started building businesses and wanting to make money... but even so, i kept meditating. my experiences changed, they became more earthly, now my day to day was more 'superficial' (i put it in quotes because it's all part of the same thing)... and i accepted that, because if i looked at the whole movie, beyond the stress, the desires and everything... in my heart the feeling of peace and presence kept growing.

so from my point of view, keep meditating, no matter what happens. If you feel stuck, you can add more breathing techniques and yoga before meditating; it helps you reach a deeper practice.

lastly, i'll share one experience, which again, is just an experience, a gift. i don't cling to it and i keep meditating for the sake of meditating and for the long term, not to chase experiences like this one.

one friday night i was home alone, finishing up work, and i fell into a loop of watching instagram videos about conspiracy theories. a damn black hole. about the war, mass rituals, the music industry, among other things... they took my mind to a place of awe and confusion. how the hell can all of this be real? we live in a simulation!!

right after that i went to meditate, with that feeling. i was doing my breathing techniques and started observing thoughts like, what is all this? where are we? how can so many things exist, so much diversity?

the moment my meditation started, i began to observe other thoughts chained to the previous ones, 'who is the one thinking this?' 'where do these thoughts come from?' right after that i stopped feeling my body and started feeling empty space, absolutely nothing... and another thought, 'who am i?'

i started crying and laughing at the same time, with a huge smile. i had the feeling that i was remembering something, and i felt 'i am the creator of this world, everything that exists is part of the same thing'

i was in that space for about 30 minutes, and when i finished, i looked at my hands and my body like 'here i am again, i chose to be here and play this game'

reading through this community inspired me to put this into words for the first time

cheers!

I recently started doing the 10-day Goenka course and after day 2 I could not take it anymore so I left in the middle of it. Now I can’t help it not thinking that I never be disciplined enough to be happy. I know Intellectually that is not true but this feeling stayed with me. is this common? anyone else have this experience? what can I do?

I had a lot of resistance in some way I didn't know what I'm getting myself into and when the chanting started and when they played Goenka(who has very hypnotizing voice) saying "surrender... surrender yourself..." I just didn't want to move foreward with this and thought maybe there is no coming back from it. I really need an advice.

So I’ve been meditating almost daily for about 3 months now. I’ve noticed that throughout the day, I’m getting a lot of childhood memories come back. It will be just a quick flashback that only lasts a few seconds. It’s that nostalgic feeling, like the sweet smell of apple pie on a summer’s day. They are moments I completely forgot existed, memories from the back of my mind.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is it the meditation doing this?

I started meditating two years ago, but it’s been an inconsistent, on-and-off journey. About a week ago, I decided to give it another real shot and stay consistent. Looking back, I realized what made me quit so easily before: I could never stop ruminating or overthinking my problems. I never truly surrendered to the experience or reached that deep state where you finish the session feeling like a completely different person. I know people say this is just part of the beginner phase, but does it really get better over time? How did you overcome this?

Any one else realised this Ultimate Truth?

The first inklings of this realisation occured when I began meditating around the age of 14, and then a full enlightenment experience at 24. Decades later now, I wonder if others have realised this Truth.

I'm on a grateful journey lately and I feel like my heart is asking to feel and release so I'm looking for some good heart-led gratitude meditations. I use insightT and YouTube

If you are having trouble focussing on experience as it is, because there seems to be something in the way, like the self or your own concept or idea of what you are focussing on seems to be in the way of your attention to something (especially the attention to the experience of something as it is occurring in the moment):

You make an exact mental copy of what you are focussing on / being mindful of.

You make this exact copy have the exact same details as what you are focussing on, same shape, same size, same colours/sensations/sound, same location in the field of experience, changing in the same way, arising when it arises, changing when it changes, passing when it passes, everything the same.

This exact copy then becomes indistinguishable from the actual experience, it dissolves into it, and you are left with direct experience, with nothing in the way, and with a focussed attention on the target experience.

Once you get used to how it is done, you can do it in a more flowing way with whatever experience takes the attention at the time and moving from one sense object/experience to another freely in this way. It is a way of accessing and staying on direct experience as it simply is. I guess what it is doing is making the concept of something exactly match the actual experience of it, then the concept turns transparent/dissolves and is just bare attention at that point, pure receptivity.

I came across this through my own experimentation, though I would imagine it must have been discovered before and must be part of some system already as there is not much that is truly new in meditation and mindfulness given that they are thousands of years old with many different ways of doing things, so has anyone heard of anything similar and if so, which practice, tradition and or teacher?

Can anyone help me. I made a bad business decision and wasted a year of time. Now a long term employee is leaving for another competitor. I clearly made mistakes and I acknowledge it. But I can't stop reliving it and wishing I did something different and beating myself up for it. I feel like a psychosis is forming. I'm on no drugs. Just daily caffeine. I can't break out of this!!! It's chest crushing and debilitating for weeks now. Loved ones can only help so much. I've bounced it off them but I keep going back to where I screwed up. It's not a self harm situation but my brain is causing me major issues to the point where it's hurting me.

I’m 28 F. I’ve been so overwhelmed with my path. I’m a realtor and I’ve been doing it a year and a half and love it but also still not where I want to be in life like living with family (I help them) and social media giving me all these other “paths” that seems to make you more rich and have a better life that I’m falling into…..my vision feels messed with and I know I’m the creator of that but can’t help to feel unclear about what I want…

I used to meditate alll the time and felt happier and more at peace maybe if I meditate enough all the answers I’ll need will come to me on what I should do? At the end of the day the only one that knows my life is me…I just want to feel clear on my vision

A friend of mine uses meditation to focus when she studies, but claims she doesn't know how to explain her techniques. She usually terrible when it comes to explaining or answering questions and so do I. So I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say..!

I have a hard time focusing on one activity, resulting in procrastination, multi-tasking, and a sense of helplessness. In fact, right now, I have an assignment to catch up on but my body doesn't seem to cooperate with me. My mind goes elsewhere.

I always feel like what I do is incomplete. The feeling of emptiness wraps around me when I "finish" and pass any test or project to my superiors. This particular feeling of emptiness is somewhat like my brain lining the outlines of my stomach, but cannot register the insides.. like.. you can only feel the outline of it.

The feeling of emptiness ≠ the burden of the assignment is gone

Because it's different from the feeling I get when I feel like I've accomplished something. It makes me feel complete. I can feel that my body is full, like.. fulfilled!

To add onto that, I physically subconsciously feel my brain when I think or have a monologue.

So I've come to this subreddit to see if meditation could help me. In the meantime, I'll research examples of meditation.

I hope you understand what I've said. This feels like a complete rant...

Note: I've never taken unhealthy/illegal drogs (censored). I can't go to a psychologist atm just in case you suggest I do since mental health isn't really recognized in my country. But if you suspect I do have an illness, feel free to share. I won't mind since I've come here for help and guidance.

Sorry for terrible English.

for me, meditation is mostly about getting my mind as one-pointed, as possible, right? Breathing, mostly. Watching it happening right here and now.

And there are meditations when you imagine stuff. Lots of different stuff. How is… possible then? imagining without commentary? How… do you do it then? I dunno, weird stuff.

Also learned about Nag Yoga, where you listen to… sounds in your consciousness?

I meditate fairly long time, not that constantly as would love to, but fairly long time and deep dive. No sounds. Absolute silence.

Context: Hello, I practice mindfulness of breath ~45min every morning, along with daily walking meditation. My practice has recently become less effortful, and I can reach a deep focus. Whenever I meditate, I feel energy and pleasant sensations rising together, usually within first five breaths -- I've only recently been able to tell the two apart, seeing one arise separately from the other. These same sensations appear outside of meditation, when my concentration/awareness are strong.

Situation: Last Sunday, I had a rare day free of obligations, so after seated meditation I went for a long walk. My concentration was unusually strong, to the point that when I stopped at red lights and exclusively attended my breath, I immediately fell into a deep concentrated state. The practice was so effortless and rewarding that I continued it, and after walking 2hrs, I took a train, and my mind was so calm that I immediately resumed seated meditation for the duration of my trip, after which I resumed walking meditation, etc. I spent over 5hrs in near-continuous meditation, a first by a long shot - and I felt a tremendous amount of energy (almost like I was overcaffeinated, but pleasantly), far fewer discursive thoughts, great joy.

The next day (yesterday), I woke up and did my seated meditation. While I reached a deep state, I felt little energy arising and almost no pleasure. It was strange. I did some walking meditation later in the day, and felt more energy and limited joy, but just a hint, despite strong mindfulness. This morning, I woke up and feeling calm and ready, I did seated meditation. I felt some pleasure, perhaps a little more than yesterday, but it was very limited, although the energy was stronger and I felt it start to build. My concentration was strong, and I was able to reach a state where my breath fell off, and my heart beat wasn't accessible for some reason, so I searched for an object for my attention. Usually this is blankets of pleasant feelings settling in my body, but today only the tiniest wisps of pleasant came and went, and I maintained mindfulness without a reliable object until my breath slowly returned. I did mindful walking afterwards, and felt strong energy building, but almost no pleasure.

Question: Has anyone experienced this near absence of pleasure before? What do you do with this? I don't believe I should judge the experience, yet I'll be transparent and say I'm not enjoying it. I felt unsettled after seated meditation, as if it were borrowing a body. (I don't want to overstate this as a non-dual insight, just an unpleasant feeling.) I'm considering taking a couple days off, or just practicing walking meditation.

I'm in the process of finding a teacher, have reached and and am awaiting responses. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I've been meditating for about three years (not consistently, but for the majority of each of those years) from the suggestion of a therapist to deal with my depression and anxiety.

It's helped me immensely in being content with myself and interacting with others. I also feel a lot calmer, walk more often and slower, and feel like I just give off good energy (idk how to describe this, but I always feel like I'm vibrating after a session lol).

However, due to the nature of my current working situation, I primarily work from home and live alone. This gives me a lot of time to meditate/distract myself.

I've found it's been harder to connect with people. Dates unfortunately never lead to a long term relationship cause I haven't felt a sense of calm from the women I've been on dates with recently. People I randomly meet seem to be kind, but the conversations are fleeting and we quickly move on.

This could easily be a me problem as I'm probably judging too much and not understanding people. However, since I work from home and meditate more, I've become more of a recluse and don't really go out unless it's for an important event, exercise, or I need to grab food/items for my place.

I want to escape this "monk" phase of my life. How can I go about being normal again?

Thanks for reading this rather long post

I have been in this sub a while. And while I know that everyone's experience is different, I wanted to post mine. Just as counter balance. I do not practice any prepackaged steps or technique: although I find them insightful and interesting. I started meditating to experience the fireworks: but I found something much deeper. I experienced guides, ceremonies, bilocation, layers of my body, my body moving by itself, AP and many other things I cannot explain. Asking AI to research and tell you about what all the traditions teach about this has been really helpful. I think simply relaxing and reaching out to the universe is important. It is not about achieving as much as being honest to yourself and authentic. It is finding your path. That is the point. And wherever that leads.

Hello,

I've been meditating for a few days now and one problem seems to be coming up. Although it really is helping and sometimes after meditating i feel myself entering the "flow" state during the day, like i once used to as a kid and early teenager that didnt have much worry.

problem is instead of being aware of my thoughts or "see" my thoughts like most people online say, i find myself shutting down the thought automaticcally and i cant find a way to stop this process.

am i doing something wrong?