Likes Likes:  0
Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 24

Thread: Is this normal?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    West Texas
    Posts
    40
    Likes (received)
    0

    Exclamation Is this normal?

    I've been in Goju ryu for a little over six years now and have practice meditation from the start of my training. For the past month, however, something odd has been happening when I meditate. I always meditate after I pratice but lately when I do, I get cold. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?
    -Margeaux Ellis
    Karate is a matter of the heart. -Miyagi Chojun Sensei

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Gardena
    Posts
    2,842
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by risingsun
    I've been in Goju ryu for a little over six years now and have practice meditation from the start of my training. For the past month, however, something odd has been happening when I meditate. I always meditate after I pratice but lately when I do, I get cold. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?
    -Margeaux Ellis
    Cold as in ? temperature wise ? Personality wise ? emotional ?
    Prince Loeffler
    Shugyokan Dojo

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    West Texas
    Posts
    40
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Temperature wise.
    Karate is a matter of the heart. -Miyagi Chojun Sensei

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Location
    Gardena
    Posts
    2,842
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by risingsun
    Temperature wise.

    How does that make you feel ? Good ? Bad ?

    BTW, you need to include your name in every post. Thanks
    Prince Loeffler
    Shugyokan Dojo

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    West Texas
    Posts
    40
    Likes (received)
    0

    Question

    I really don't know how to ansewer that. As far as my mind I feel refreshed and rejuvinated. But as far as my body.....cold. I'm just kind of freaked out because it has never happened in the previous years, why now?
    -Margeaux Ellis
    Karate is a matter of the heart. -Miyagi Chojun Sensei

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Zaragoza, Spain
    Posts
    116
    Likes (received)
    0

    Question

    Actually my temperature raises when I do meditation... Is it me who should be worried?
    Alejandro Villanueva.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    20
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by risingsun
    I've been in Goju ryu for a little over six years now and have practice meditation from the start of my training. For the past month, however, something odd has been happening when I meditate. I always meditate after I pratice but lately when I do, I get cold. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?
    -Margeaux Ellis
    Feelings of body temperature change during meditation, either feeling warmer or colder, are common. (They have to do with shifts in chi/ki circulation.) I wouldn't be concerned about it, unless you are also sensing other signs of possible ill-health, or imbalance, during normal activities.

    You mentioned that you meditate after practice. This means that you meditate after some exercise; it is normal for the body to cool off somewhat after exercise. I don't know you, but my guess is that you are becoming more sensitive to bodily sensations; this cooling off after exercise may have always been there, but as your meditation practice progresses you gain a greater sensitivity to nuances of bodily sensation.

    If this continues to be a problem there are various remedies. First, put a blanket around you while meditating. Second, is your window open? If it is, does that allow a breeze in the room? If so, either close the window or perhaps place a curtain in front of it to modify the breeze. Third, a warm cup of tea before meditation will often relieve these kinds of sensations. Use black tea, not green. In traditional Chinese medicine, green teas are slightly cooling and black teas are slightly warming, and you want a slightly warming liquid. Do not drink a lot of the tea as this may send you to the bathroom; just a small cup, enough to warm you up. Fourth, do you use incense? Some incense have a cooling effect; the more sweet and floral forms of incense tend in this direction. If you do you use incense I would recommend a more resin or bark based type such as pine, sandalwood, cedar or sage.

    Finally, ask your teacher about it.

    Hope these suggestions are of some assistance.

    Best wishes,

    Jim Wilson
    Dharmajim

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    West Texas
    Posts
    40
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Thank you for the information.
    I feel a lot better now knowing what you have told me. I will try your suggestions and hopefully be more compfortable in my meditative state.
    Thank you,
    Margeaux Ellis
    Karate is a matter of the heart. -Miyagi Chojun Sensei

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
    Posts
    6,227
    Likes (received)
    118

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by risingsun
    ...I'm just kind of freaked out because it has never happened in the previous years, why now?
    Because you're a year older?

    Changes in muscle mass, subdermal fat, basal metabolic rate, diet, hydration, etc. can all affect how our bodies cope with ambient temerature when he are sedentary; and meditation is, after all, a sedentary activity.

    One can practice meditation without being an ascetic. If you feel cold, turn up the heat.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    61
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by risingsun
    I always meditate after I pratice but lately when I do, I get cold. Is this normal? Should I be concerned?
    This is not the place for answers to questions of this nature. If what you're experiencing are makyo, you should be deferring to a zen priest. Makyo are not things to be dealt with lightly, especially in the absence of somebody qualified enough to assist you when they arise. Some makyo are far more intense than others, but in the interest of safety and guidance, I'd suggest you immediately align yourself with someone in the know.

    Michael Hodge
    Last edited by Michael Hodge; 14th July 2007 at 17:17.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
    Posts
    6,227
    Likes (received)
    118

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Hodge
    This is not the place for answers to questions of this nature. ...
    I disagree. I think this is one place, among many, to ask such questions.

    As for asking a Zen priest, there are more types of meditation than just Zen meditation. If it had been a religious question...a question specifically about Buddhist practices or principles...then I might agree, but it wasn't.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    61
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Owens
    As for asking a Zen priest, there are more types of meditation than just Zen meditation.
    This is decidely not a issue of religion. Meditation is not Zen's property alone; it holds no monopoly on it. All meditation serves one purpose -- to bring the mind to one-pointedness, and along the way, there are things one must be ready to deal with, a lot of which can be downright frightening to the psyche. Unless any one of us here have endured makyo and can claim expertise in assisting a person who experiences it, the most rational thing that can be done is refer the topic creator to a person with sufficient qualifications. Anything else is potentially dangerous for him. These things are not to be trifled with. Without correct and proper guidance, all sorts of potentially ugly fallout may result.

    With all due respect, what are we to do when his cold bouts turn into inexplicable pangs of fear, which are also makyo? Continue playing armchair therapists? I recommended a priest because they are trained in these matters through experience of their own. I could also recommend a psychiatrist, but one's mileage may vary with them as they could only diagnose makyo insofar as the notes they've collected in similar cases.

    Michael Hodge

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Amherst, MA
    Posts
    144
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default

    Well, Zen priests are few and far between, and getting advice from one can be as problematic as going to the internet. Telling someone to see a priest, or even a therapist, is passing the buck.

    Answer: Yes. It's normal...you're human so how could it not be normal? Does everyone experience the same things...no. It's in your mind/body...so you have to learn to deal with it. Reading and questions and 'advice' can only give you a framework to define your experiences...not answer them.

    If sitting results in bothersome physiological effects...do something else. Like practice your MA. That is good moving meditation, keeps the mind/body connected and discharges energies.
    Last edited by Harlan; 15th July 2007 at 13:41.
    'Leaves fall.'

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    7
    Likes (received)
    0

    Default vasodilation

    when you meditate, your body enters a state of relaxation. This triggers your parasympathetic nervous system to become activated while at the same time your sympathetic nervous system becomes inhibited. What the consequences can be is that the parasympathetic is used for relaxation/metabolism which causes your blood to be diverted from your muscles/skin to your core(abdomen,organs). as a result you may feel cold in your periphery. where are you getting cold? is it in the hands and feet? if so then that would explain it. if it is overall internal body temperature, then some other underlying cause might be the reason.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, USA
    Posts
    6,227
    Likes (received)
    118

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Hodge
    ...Unless any one of us here have endured makyo and can claim expertise in assisting a person who experiences it, the most rational thing that can be done is refer the topic creator to a person with sufficient qualifications. ...
    Well, I have experienced getting cold during meditation, which is what the OP asked about. Further, I have assisted others during meditation, and even wrote a short paper on the topic -- Zen and the Art of Massage --that was used at Ashmead College in several of their programs. By your reasoning, that makes me qualified to answer the question.

    So I did.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •