Meditation Feelings & Experiences
When you start naturally tuning into your thoughts and feelings during meditation, you’ll know that something is definitely working. Here are some indicators to watch for:
- Your concentration improves
When you can easily concentrate on one activity at a time, you’re doing something right. The practice of mindfulness meditation emphasizes the non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. You feel less stressed about the future and more in tune with the here and now. As your concentration improves, so does your ability to work on a single task efficiently. Interestingly, even when you aren’t formally meditating, you are becoming more aware of your mind from moment to moment. The act of realizing that you’re thinking is actually a significant step in the direction of mindfulness!
Try the exercise of counting your outbreaths: if you can go from one to ten without losing count even once, then you’ve made significant strides. You can also tune into how thoughts and sensations that arise during your meditation practice feel. Check in, then let go. Remember, you are not trying to become a great counter of the outbreaths, but a greatly mindful and dedicated meditator.
- When other people notice the changes
Although we might be experiencing different meditation sensations while practicing, we may not be aware of any physical or psychological changes in our everyday lives until someone points them out. Sometimes we’re so fixated on meditation experiences that we lose focus of what’s really important: the subtle results that come from simply being present. The thoughts and sensations that occur in meditation are fleeting and will vary from session to session, but the positive changes that take place in our minds and actions are more stable and are apt to be noticed by those around us.
- Having amazing meditation experiences
You may feel like you’re having amazing meditation experiences… and you may not. Any meditation teacher worth their salt will tell you that experiences aren’t what it’s all about. Being aware of what you are experiencing in the moment and maintaining a position of impartial observation is what it’s all about. Whether you know what you’re feeling or thinking, or you’re aware of your sense perceptions, or you’re aware of your breath, or you’re aware of amazing meditation experiences, that awareness is the sign that your meditation is spot on. Overall it’s best to let go of the idea of trying to have experiences. Ironically, that’s when you get better at meditation.
It’s likely that some of your meditation sensations will feel a bit odd. For instance, during practice your sense perceptions may seem heightened or different than usual. This is completely normal; in fact, such meditation experiences may be an indication that your practice is evolving. The key here is to resist the temptation to try to replicate or analyze – or even reject – the experiences. It’s when you can maintain a very natural and objective awareness of whatever arises without grasping at it one way or another that you’ve really made progress.
