New level? No Level?

[NewtotheLife]

I've been trying to reconnect with meditation. Today, I did 1.5 hours and it was weird. I was all over..felt like I wasn't meditating but I was yet at some point I went somewhere and can't recall where I went.

Is this normal? and would this be considered a new level to meditation?

[LadyMay]

There are no levels. Just experiences. Or there are only the levels you decide to give your experiences.

It's normal in meditation to have shifts in temporal and spatial awareness though. Also the part that governs memory would likely not be active enough to remember fully the details of your experiences.

[wstein]

Today, I did 1.5 hours and it was weird. I was all over..felt like I wasn't meditating but I was yet at some point I went somewhere and can't recall where I went.

Is this normal? and would this be considered a new level to meditation? In a sense, a new 'level'. Un-remembered excursions during meditation are normal though usually few in number (<1%) of sessions. They also occur in vision work. Building up your energy reserves can help somewhat with this. Basically all it means is that you went somewhere you were not ready to deal with yet. You may yet remember someday.

[NewtotheLife]

Thank you for the replies.

Wstein, what is vision work? and how does one build up their energy reserves?

[wstein]

Wstein, what is vision work? Vision work (also know as vision questing) is often associated with shamanic practices but also occurs in meditation. It is used when seeking guidance (commonly direction in life or to find something hidden). Visions are symbolic representations of what you are looking for or directions on how to find it. The essence of things are represented not the form of them. For instance a tiger might represent a powerful instinct driven force. Visions come from 'external' sources, typically higher self or guides and are always in a form specific to the vision seeker.

Visions can appear much like certain types of dreams. Dreams typically are from internal sources and in addition to being symbolic can be literal or completely imaginary. In dreaming a tiger is more likely to represent an animal or danger.
how does one build up their energy reserves? There are many many energy raising techniques. Perhaps the best documented complete with exercises is 'NEW' by Robert Bruce of Astral Dynamics fame. Lowering stress, eating right, and getting enough sleep also go a long way to not depleting what you have.

There are two basic places to store energy reserves: the dan tian (internal to physical body) and the aura (external).

I don't have a specific technique for directing energy to the dan tian (also tan tien, dan tien, or dantian). I know it is documented somewhere.

One way to put energy into your aura is based on some kind of hands on energy healing technique or making psiballs (both emit energy from the palm chakras). Hold your palms facing your body about a foot from your torso, palms flat, fingers splayed wide and do your energy technique. Done correctly, energy will come out your palms and fill the space between your hand and your torso. As more gets pumped in, it will continue to flow all around your body, filling your aura.

[Gem]

I've been trying to reconnect with meditation. Today, I did 1.5 hours and it was weird. I was all over..felt like I wasn't meditating but I was yet at some point I went somewhere and can't recall where I went.

Is this normal? and would this be considered a new level to meditation?

Sounds normal and meditations work at subtle levels. Cheers and a happy new year.

[Emmalevine]

After 1.5 hours you would likely have gone very deeply into meditation which may have produced a sense of disconnect from your physical body. I rarely meditate more than 20 minutes sadly but I have noticed that after about 15 my experience deepens, there is a definite shift. I really must practice at meditation longer.

[LadyMay]

After 1.5 hours you would likely have gone very deeply into meditation which may have produced a sense of disconnect from your physical body. I rarely meditate more than 20 minutes sadly but I have noticed that after about 15 my experience deepens, there is a definite shift. I really must practice at meditation longer.

It gets shorter the more you practice as well as how well you maintain a waking mindfulness. My most intense and quickest shift was into a lower Samadhi (2nd Jhana) after 7 minutes of meditation.

It would take me longer now though as I haven't meditated in months.

[NewtotheLife]

Thanks everyone for your responses!