Meditation not feeling good

[thespiritual1]

i am 27. i first experimented with meditation when i was 14. Back then i thought i will be enlightened and feel something amazing if i meditate with focusing on my breath so i often forced my attention towards my breath. This became an uncomfortable experience, and my head would start feeling heavy whenever i pay attention to my breath. i stop doing that and practiced other techniques like positive affirmations like "i will be healthy", "everything will be fine". This made me feel better. i also focus on my feet when walking and that also helps me relax. At night, i sit still for a few minutes, i pay attention to my body, relax the body, then i pay attention to the mind and try to relax any headache or tightness i feel. i relax the headache by simply asking the headache to relax, i say "please calm down headache, please relax" and this seems to work to some extent.
Recently, when i sit still at night, my attention just sticks to my breath, and in the morning as well it will go to my breath. Whenever this happens, i feel a slight discomfort, and my head also start getting heavy, and a headache develops. After this, i just shift my attention to my study for jobs and exams, or entertainment or do a positive affirmation or try to just accept it. However, i still struggle with the same problem i was struggling with 15 years ago. i sit back, relax, observe my inner situation but i dont feel good inside, instead i struggle with the attention going to my breath and then my head getting heavy. Has anyone experienced this problem? Does anyone have a good solution? i will be thankful for your response.

[JustBe]

Meditation really shouldn’t be forced. So perhaps all those years ago when you forced your awareness to your breath, it created this pressure in your head. People who apply too much pressure naturally creates pressure somewhere else.

Maybe you could relax more without focus on anything and let your body naturally move through itself. When I’ve noticed that pressure in the upper region ( if I’ve needed a focus) I’ve dropped my breath into my hara and let my breath move through my body more so. That might work.

[Gem]

There are a few reasons for breath awareness being a good way to begin the mindfulness journey, but mindfulness is essentially a purification that resolves old trauma, sorrows, grudges and other such of burdens.

It usually has a relaxing effect on the outset, but the cessation of your desire to feel this way or that, and instead, just be aware, stops the resistance toward, and avoidance of your own internal content, and the allowance to let it be just as it is allows the contents to rise to the surface of conscious awareness - where it comes to light and passes away.

Hencewhy breath awareness, and mindfulness in general, is a healing meditation, and just like if you go for an operation to get a growth removed, it doesn't feel good. The surgeon creates a deep wound to take the growth out, and that incision hurts and takes time to recover. Likewise, mindfulness penetrates deeper in the mind to let the gunk come out. Just like you lance a boil to release the puss and muck, mindfulness penetrates the mind to let the impurities out.

It doesn't feel good, but it is good - just like an operation doesn't feel good, but it makes you better, so if the mind is impelling you be aware of the breath, go with it, but take care, just as you would take care after an operation, and do not be dissuaded by your aversions toward any discomfort that might arise.

[thespiritual1]

Thank you justbe and gem. i just saw some youtube videos about breathing. Some videos give complicated techniques like counting while breathing and taking pauses. i tried them but they create more headache. The advice that i find useful are focusing on the belly, and breathing through the nose instead of the mouth. i noticed that i often use my mouth to take in deep breaths. Today, i am going to try using only nose for all the breathing, and use my stomach for inhaling and exhaling. How is this approach?

[Starman]

thespiritual1, my approach is to use more than one technique; breath is fine but then after a few minutes switch to another technique. All of the techniques do the same thing, they focus your attention inside of you.

Good or bad feelings are surface feelings, they may even be emotional feelings; meditation takes us beyond the emotional sensations, at its depths it is nether good nor bad. It is inner quiet stillness,

Feeling uncomfortable is motion, it is not stillness, and it may be a message about adjustment, or the need for an adjustment, in my opinion. Learn different meditation techniques, and use two, three or four, different techniques in one meditation session. About five to fifth-teen minutes on each technique.

Put your thumbs in your ears and meditate on the sounds in your body beyond your thoughts. Put your tongue in the roof of your mouth and place your attention where your tongue meets the roof of your mouth; this is called “nectar technique“ and it focuses your attention inside of you. Concentrate on your third eye, which is located between your eyebrows at the lower part of your forehead. Lots of Hindus will put some Tiger Balm on that spot, tiger balm is warm and it keeps their attention on that spot.

I have been doing meditation for about 50-years and I use a variety of techniques which I gathered along the way. I meditate twice a day using at least two techniques each time I meditate. In my opinion it really is not about the techniques. Its’ about what we do with our attention. Techniques, including pranayama, which are breathing technique, see the link below.

Although, in my opinion, the basis of existence is feeling and feeling can get to be so fine that it feels like nothing. If I might suggest; do not have any expectations when you meditate as expectations have a tendency to not leave us open, and open-ness is one of the keys to diving deeply in meditation. All that I am sharing here is just my opinion.

Peace and Good Journey

https://www.yogabasics.com/practice/pranayama/

[thespiritual1]

Today i was very depressed when i woke up, and was struggling with the aforesaid problems but i feel much better by the end of the day. Despite brain fog and headache, i focused on studies and somehow the headache decreased instead of increasing. i practiced keeping my mouth closed and breathing only through the nose, and using my belly to inhale, seems to have a good effect on health. i had this problem where i would often burp, but today i burped a lot less. i also spent the day without using AC. The room was hot but i practiced accepting the heat and welcoming the summer. i feel much better now.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by thespiritual1

Tcomplicated techniques like counting while breathing and taking pauses. i find useful are focusing on the belly, and breathing through the nose instead of the mouth.Today, i am going to try using only nose for all the breathing, and use my stomach for inhaling and exhaling. How is this approach?

That's fine. Adding different things like counting and pausing etc are not good, and keeping it simple is better, so just feel yourself breathing normally is the best way. Through the nose is best and feeling it at the belly is fine... so what you're saying is right.

This is where you will hear different opinions, because unlike Starman, I say stick to one thing - the thing you just described, including accepting the heat, and any other kind of physical feeling, is the way of good practice.

[Unseeking Seeker]

In my view, meditation is nothing other than resting in our natural state. What is our natural state? Thought rested stillness, animating awareness in vibrant emptiness.

The OP speaks of enlightenment and effort. Instead of enlightenment, if we use the word ‘recognition’, to re-cognise our true being, it may perhaps be more apt. Enlightenment, if there is such a thing, is simply the disappearance of ego-identity.

Likewise, effort requires an identity, a doer, applying the effort. This takes us away from our natural state. So, I’d say, no techniques are needed, unless it is to detox, that is, escape incessant thought chatter. So, to that end if we focus on mantras, breath or whatever, we have to drop that too as a conscious activity. It is tricky really, since once we build a habit, a pattern, we may say we are doing nothing by volition but have we not acted to create the ripple?

[J_A_S_G]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

In my view, meditation is nothing other than resting in our natural state. What is our natural state? Thought rested stillness, animating awareness in vibrant emptiness.

The OP speaks of enlightenment and effort. Instead of enlightenment, if we use the word ‘recognition’, to re-cognise our true being, it may perhaps be more apt. Enlightenment, if there is such a thing, is simply the disappearance of ego-identity.

Likewise, effort requires an identity, a doer, applying the effort. ... It is tricky really, since once we build a habit, a pattern, we may say we are doing nothing by volition but have we not acted to create the ripple?

Yup and I've heard the habit of doership in meditation - e.g. attending breath or any other object is a doing - the Observer Trap. In effect it's a more benign form of ego. One way to escape is through effortless techniques like choiceless awareness AKA just sitting AKA resting in awareness AKA do-nothing meditation.

[Unseeking Seeker]

@ JASG ~ to be fair actually, in early days, it may be difficult for neophytes to visualise thought rested stillness, whilst remaining aware in no-thing ness. Therefore, concentration is advocated, such as watching a candle flame, reciting a mantra, watching the breath or maybe a visualisation such as employed in idol worship or reciting scriptures. However, we must throw away the ‘crutch’ to be released from lower mind. That’s what I’d say.

For meditation techniques, the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra has 112. We are spoilt for choice actually. Yet, in the end, silence is the liberator.