Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Rocking motion during meditation - resources

During the past few months, I have meditated maybe 15 - 20 times. And during these 15 times, I have had 'involuntary' upper body rhythmic motions maybe 10 times. And believe me, I am not causing these motions. I tried to stop the motions, but they would begin again, involuntarily - So that told me that I was definitely not causing it.
Being curious as to what this "rocking motion" meant, I scoured the web for articles that explain the same. Most of the articles mention that this has something to do with the Kundalini Energy arising. Some say it's a natural thing that happens - The body makes some adjustments to the system during these motions - adjustments for the better.
Some say, it's about clearing energy pathways or chakras. So below I list a few articles that I think are relevant to this upper body involuntary movement stuff:

1) Kundalini Awakening
2) Spontaneous Movement
3) Odd rocking motion
4) Meditation
5) Raw foodie's story
6) Rocking?
7) Ecstatic Movement
8) Effects of meditation
9)More on tingling/crawling sensations

Here's what the book, 'Ask and it's given' by Esther and Jerry Hicks has to say about this(Pg 186):
"As you quiet your mind, you may feel a sense of physical detachment. For example,
you may feel no real difference between your toe and your nose. Sometimes you will feel the sensation of twitches and itches beneath your skin. And often, once you have released resistance and are soaring in your natural pure, high vibrations - you will feel an involuntary movement in your body. It may sway slightly from side to side or forward and backward, or your head may role gently from side to side. Any or all of these movements are indicators of your achievement of a state of meditation".

I think this upper body movement during meditation hardly affects my meditation. I am definitely intrigued by it, but keeping with the spirit of meditation, I just observe it as a phenomenon that's happening to me.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

That has happened to me everytime i sit cross legged. Ever since I was little I remember it. I do not medatate. But i am ususally thinking about "larger than life thoughts" when it occurs.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for putting this together--I've meditated on and off for years and always have the accompanying rocking. One time, I was meditating outside, in, the sun, with a crystal in my hands, and I swear, the rocking was so pronounced, there was no way I could stay in a meditative state.

I have never been particularly concerned about it, but I was always curious....so, thank you again. This sated my curiosity.

(Gotta love the 'interweb!!")

Gretchen said...

I have experienced this and it was particularly powerful this morning so much so I wanted to look up the meaning. Your blog provided good foundation to understanding. I have written my blog today about his experience. Thank you for your beautiful blog which I have found today. Peace and blessings.

221g said...

@ Anonmymous1and2: Thank you. Great that you found this info useful

@ Gretchen: Nice to know about your experience. I have had it on and off during meditations.. Peace to you.

Anonymous said...

I experience this rocking motion a lot. The consensus seems to bethat it is the rising of kundalini. I sometimes ask this energy questions and in response the rocking either increases dramatically - which I take to be a 'yes', decreases dramatically - which I take to be a 'no' or stays the same, which I'm not sure what to make of. It's just one way I'm experimenting with it.

I also associate this rocking motion with a cranio-sacral rhythm or the rhythm of the cerebro-spinal fluid.

All I know is I feel lighter and more present after a meditation in which it arises.

221g said...

@Anon - Thanks for your comment.
It's good to know what others experience with regard to meditation.
Glad you found your meaning for this motion. I feel lighter too. I have experienced the Yes/No situation you have described once.

Anonymous said...

One of the most dramatic instances of classic kundalini awakening was experienced by Copi Krishna (1903-1984), of India, who meditated for three hours every morning over seventeen years. On Christmas Day, 1937, he had his explosive awakening with kundalini pouring up his spine. By his personal account, he rocked out of his body and was enveloped in a halo of light. His consciousness expanded in every direction, and a vision of luster unfolded before him; he was like a small cork bobbing on a vast ocean of consciousness. This extraordinary experienced occurred once again, and then Krishna was plunged into twelve years of misery, during which he "experienced the indescribable ecstasies of the mystics…and the agonies of the mentally afflicted." Following twelve years his body apparently adapted to the new energy and stabilized, but he was permanently changed. Everything in his vision was bathed in a silvery light. He heard an inner cadence, called the "unstruck melody" in kundalini literature. Eventually he could experience bliss just by turning his attention inward. He became, as he said, "a pool of consciousness always aglow with light." His creativity soared allowing him to write poetry and nonfiction books.

221g said...

Anon, I have heard of Gopi Krishna..But haven't read his book.
Thanks for sharing his experience here!
I have had experiences with Kundalini but in a mild tone.. These things happen once one quietens down for example during meditation

Anonymous said...

first sitting, cross legged meditation today.. my intention is my charkras and kundalini has been in mind of late. My body did rock so much that I stopped put on my webcam and filmed myself to make sure i wasnt imagining it and wow.. i was rocking and as someone else said it didnt interupt the experience. But until i read the comments here, i had no idea i was on the right track! thank you, than you! awesome site

Anonymous said...

That just happened to me. I actually started with some upper body circling movements and then rocking...cool...glad to know I am not going loony :)

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's just cause your sitting still and your heart beat is making you rock.

Jeannie said...

This info is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for putting it together. I've been trying to understand what is causing this and how to use this rocking motion more effectively. Great article!

Anonymous said...

I to am thankful for your for putting information together. I to rock. I usually start in small circles then energy builds up to large movements - head can rock from side to side also. If I stop myself - I find myself slowly starting again. Look out meditations circles here I come -
Richo

Anonymous said...

Thanks. Sincerely. I experienced this kind of rocking motion this morning as I was meditating, and I was quite intrigued by the experience. The amplitude of the motion was small at the beginning and grew progressively quite large, while the frequency remained the same. It lasted a good 20 minutes. I have been surfing the web for info over the past 30 minutes, and your blog was the first one offering interesting information. Thanks again.

Chris said...

I too have a rocking sensation while meditating. it is not the heart beat because this is a new sensation i had not had before during meditation.

It feels like a wave or pulse going through my body. Sometimes it goes in a circle, at one point during a meditation session I felt as if I could control the movement of the motion much like my body was a human pendulum, (like anonymous said) although i did not think to ask a question, I just let the thought go.

Today I did a chakra meditation that used sound frequency and a beautiful visual effect. As the frequency arose, the rocking sensation increased and as the frequency went down so did the rocking/circling motion so I do feel this is due to a rise in vibration, not sure if it is kundalini or not since I don't know what that experience is like.

I searched the internet and this was the first site i came to and found that i am not alone and i must be doing something. I felt a weird sensation after the meditation that i had not felt before. Like, my mind was calm but i felt very confused and felt this energetic sensation/(tension almost) in my body. It was if I knew something had happened but had no idea of what. also i kept zoning out for a few minutes afterwards.

Thank you for your information, I will continue to check back on your blog.
-Chris

p.s. The video for the meditation with the vibrational sound frequency for each chakra is here below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iVBWgC_R6E&NR=1

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I partcipate regularly in workshops where we explore spontaneous movement as you describe it. If you allow the movements free reign, you might find yourself moving into spontaneous yoga poses, mudras, or simply shaking freely. It leads to unbelievable healing and love.
To get a better understanding of this process, read some of Bradford Keeney's books. His book entitled "Shaking Medicine" documents the many forms spontaneous movement has taken in this world and over the centuries.
In addition, you could explore the therapeutic practice of authentic movement, which is also about allowing spontaneous movement for inner healing. Finally, the chiropractic practice called "Network Spinal Analysis" is all about reconnecting the body to its own wisdom so it can find the inner spontaneous movements necessary to realign itself. You can also check out my short website at www.be-moved.com.

J Floyyyd said...

for those who have head spinning during meditation: make sure it's not a disorder of the inner ear! my head spun for years while I was practicing and it was getting harder and harder to live a fulfilling life...then i realized vertigo was the source of all of it.

Anonymous said...

Like so many others, I am experiencing the rocking and swaying during meditation and I notice a very gentle rocking is staying with me throughout the day. Its been great to hear so much about it from others.
Thanks for this post and the comments.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this, my head bobbed back and forth quite quickly this afternoon during meditation and I was curious what this might mean as well. As many others have said - thank you for sharing!

sanjayrao1010 said...

Thank you for your Blog. This has been going on for months , everytime I close my eyes within minutes it starts its back wards and for wards, sometimes sideways rocking, sometimes my hip shakes violently, then it rises up the body to chest shoulders then head . Its very violent sometimes, Once or twice i tried to hold it, and the base of my spine started to vibrate so violently, i thought the bones would explode , so I immediately let go .

I dont know if this is kundalini rising or stressed being released.

either way its a good symptom. The most important thing is not to get carried away by it. Its a sign on the road that is all. Not a goal.

Yes if you talk to it, it answers by harder rocking , as if its answering.

I was searching for a reason, and am so happy , so many here have this reaction . I feel normal

Free_Smiles_ said...

I have recently begun to have this rocking sensation during meditation; I thought it was something bad, like I was doing something that went against my natural bodily functions or pushing myself too far. I am glad that it is something positive, and nothing to worry about. Thank-you for your blog, it has been a help :)

Anonymous said...

I was standing and trying to meditate the other day and I noticed that I was swaying, my sister walked into the room and when she saw this she thought I was swaying because I was about to faint. I never realised I was swaying that much, always thought that may be I had weak knees or something. But yesterday I decieded to sit down and when I startd meditating I did feel like I was swaying but it was a lot lesser than compared to when I stand.

Anonymous said...

I also rock back and forth uncontrollably while in lotus position sometimes my knees will bop up and down almost as if the are wings on a bird and want to fly : ) it feels like a spiritually connection of mother earth to the root chakra and the heavens to the crown chakra.
Elen Sentier's new book Shaman-Pathways-The-Celtic-Chakras describes that our life may be on a spiral path which leads us thru the chakras in a special way. The energy travels back and forth between the chakras .. with an infinity symbol ..traveling up and down the chakras in pairs. she also mentioned the spiral as the universal symbol... dna is in a spiral.. shells, the galaxy etc. so to me it makes sense that the chakras are on a spiral ..which would give a physical explaination why we vibrate or sway or move in meditation.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this blog. It's reall helpful information. I am having same experience during my medication. Some time feels my head is rocking, or some Times my neck turn left or right, if I bring back my neck in the center if goes back left or right. I was thinking I am doing something wrong or incorrectly meditating but your blogs really helpful. Thank you one again

Anonymous said...

Is anyone can tell the best way to do meditation?

Anonymous said...

These posts are great. I thought this only happened to me. What a relief. I get a head bobbing that I can't control. I always just went with it, but wondered what it was. Once it is done or after the meditation I feel extremely still.

Unknown said...

I don't do meditation regularly but weekly twice i meditate. Whenever I start to meditate within 10 minutes my body starts to move forward and backward. And most of the time I get tears in my eyes.
I hope this is because of stress release.

Unknown said...

Tonight was the first time I'd experienced this. Thank you so much for guidance as to what it means. I have only recently started meditation. My body began to feel cooler and lighter and then I feel myself gently swaying, as if someone was rocking me to sleep in their bosom. It felt calming and like my body was expanding and merging with the air around me. I felt like I could float away. The swaying increased, became more intense but still gentle. I felt more and more like a balloon, getting lighter and lighter as the swaying continued. It was scary and peaceful at the same time. I didn't know what to make of it so I slowly ended the session. But now I know it was probably a good thing and I look forward to delving deeper into my practice.

Unknown said...

And my eyes started to sting and tear up. Forgot about that.

Shree Guru said...

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.

You can check the videos on https://www.youtube.com/user/prakritikriya and you can also check the website www.kalkikriya.com - Loves : Murali Krishna

Anonymous said...

Me as well, I also vibrate. Mostly in my head but when I sit cross legged even when I'm not meditating.

Sarah said...

I experience this rocking and its a spirit of one sort, mainly guide. Make sure you ground and protect before doing any spiritual work x

Sarah said...

What iv learnt is, you know its a spirit rocking you because, you can feel their vibration at your root shakra. When you sit still crossed legged, you can feel spirits energy. Its beutiful 😍 but please ground and protect before any spiritual work.

Unknown said...

Hi interesting but how do we ground and protect?

Sarah said...

Go on youtube at type in ground and protect 😁

Anonymous said...

So happy to read these posts after my fascinating meditation experience last night. Slowly my head started to move side to side, then little by little increasing in movement until my head was doing full big circles. My body was also twitching and my eyelids where fluttering. I work at a standing desk and I am still feeling involuntary movements this morning. Really interesting!

Unknown said...

The Abraham-Hicks answer to rocking back and forth resonates with me the most. I have been meditating for about 20 years. Recently, to go into meditation, I started imagining that I was diving deep down inside myself, underneath the noise of my brain chatter, to rest in the lap of my "inner being". I feel that I am in a much deeper meditation and I feel this rocking sensation every time, so far. The occasional fleeting thought just floats on by. I feel that this rocking motion is a result of my energy rising to a higher vibration and I find it very soothing and evidence that I have achieved a deeper state of meditation.