Signs of progress in meditation
When you’re new to meditation you often need some reassurance that you’re on the right path. Often it’s hard to tell whether you are making progress or not. I emphasized earlier that one of the things that will help you to stick with your meditation practice is the ability to notice and appreciate small changes. So here are some of the small changes that you might want to watch out for.
- Other people noticing that you are changing. Sometimes it’s hard to have a sense of perspective on ourselves. We can easily concentrate on supposed failures to the extent that we completely miss positive changes. Often, my meditation students report that other people notice that they are changing; becoming more relaxed, less reactive, and more friendly.
- Starting to develop more concentration. You can use the counting to give you a sense of whether you are developing more concentration. Being able to count to ten even once may be a step forward. If you make it to there, then you might want to aim to count to ten three times in a row. You might notice that you have the ability to count continuously and also have a lot of thoughts arising. That’s great! Pay more attention to the fact that you have developed more continuity of awareness than you do to the fact that there are still a lot of stray thoughts.
- Having interesting experiences in meditation. You may begin to notice unusual things – like a delightful sense of rhythm in your breathing, or the way in which your body subtly moves in response to your heartbeat. These are signs that you are developing more concentration and awareness in meditation, and you would be wise to pay attention to such experiences. Some of the things you might experience might seem a little odd. A common example is seeing patterns of moving lights. This is a good sign, in that you are moving into a deeper state of concentration. But it’s best not to pay much attention to those lights or they will turn into a distraction and slow your progress.
- Spontaneous resolution of posture problems. Sometimes you’ll notice parts of your body relaxing spontaneously. Sometimes a particular problem you had with your posture might suddenly disappear.
- Paying more attention to the outside world. It’s a very good sign when you start to slow down and notice the beauty in the world.
- Noticing your posture more. You may become more aware of your body during the course of the day, and you may notice how awareness of your body grounds you. You may even come to a deeper understanding of how your posture influences your emotions and mind.
- Noticing you have choices. You may start to notice the gap between stimulus and response, and realize that you have a choice about how to respond. You can choose not to respond habitually, but instead to choose a more appropriate and creative response.
- Becoming more aware of your actions. Often, before we get to the stage of being aware of our actions before we do them, we start to notice them after we’ve done them. It’s tempting to feel frustration to realize that you’ve lost your temper once again, but actually it’s a good sign that you’re noticing this at all. With practice you’ll be able to catch those responses earlier and earlier, until you’re able to choose to respond more creatively.
- Feelings of calmness. You may have spells of greater than usual calmness in your meditation or after meditation. You may even experience some reluctance to end a period of meditation.
- Interesting and vivid dreams. When your meditation begins to “bite”, it often leads to more vivid and meaningful dreams. Pay attention to these and see what you can learn from them.
- Becoming more dissatisfied. Paradoxically, one side-effect of becoming more self-aware is that you realize that there are things about yourself that you’d like to change. This realization is uncomfortable but also useful. If you don’t become aware of things in your behavior that you want to change you’ll never do anything about them.
- Time passing quickly. When you’re really enjoying something, time passes more quickly. It’s common to notice that time passes faster in certain meditations.
Comments
Comment from Robert
Time: March 27, 2009, 4:34 pm
I have always been a vivid dreamer, but sadly my entire life has been plagued with horrendously frightening dreams which then lead to hallucinatory sleepwalking and injury. Also, I rarely feel like I have slept at all.
After a few nights of practicing meditation, I have experienced positive and interesting dreams with no sleepwalking. Last night I was blasted into space by the americans from an air force base with a particularly architecturally fantastic mirrored building, where there was a Blackbird plane on display (this plane beat everything there was at top trumps). A friend I haven’t even thought about since school (15 years ago) was along for the ride, I think we were humanity’s last chance. Unsure how it ended but for once I was not being attacked by monsters and waking up screaming/sweating.
So, just to say thanks, I’ve not even touched the surface of the information on this site, and already there has been a major change which, if permanent, will indeed change my life in a big way.
Thanks for making this information publically available. Keep up the good work.
Comment from srag
Time: July 20, 2011, 10:51 am
Hi
I am doing stage 1 – 30 times stage 2 -30 times, by that time, my breath become less obvious and can’t feel the in and out. I can see some people faces ( old, ugly, scary can’t explain) which I never met them in my life. kind of pictures coming. why it happens?. should I let it go and keep calm. I think it distracting the meditation
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: July 22, 2011, 7:25 pm
Hi. The fact that your breath is becoming less obvious is a very good sign, signaling that you’re developing a state of calmness and focus. What you need to do at this point is to shift your attention either to pleasant sensations of energy (piti) that you sense in the body, or to any happiness (sukha) that has arisen. It’s probably because you’re not doing that that these images are appearing to you. They’re technically a kind of samapatti, where the mind, not having become used to stillness and a consequent lack of stimulation, provides its own stimuli — usually of a slightly bizarre or unpleasant form.
Comment from Alexander
Time: September 6, 2011, 7:19 am
I briefly tried to practise meditation a few years ago and during that time my concentration would wander – I’d catch myself at a count of fifteen or more and realise I’d ‘zoned out’. I started again only a couple of weeks ago and found I could get to ten and start back from one many times without distraction. Then I had a session where I mentally uttered the words ‘let go’ near the beginning of my meditation and felt everything melt away, as if being propelled in the void. I was aware but concentrating on nothing and I thought this to be real progress. Since then I seem to drift into a hypnagogic/ semi dream state (thoughts leading to thoughts – mostly abstract) and I stop counting altogether. I lose awareness as this seems to be a wholly passive state. It is the same as when falling asleep and my mind just wanders off. Am I mentally fatigued? What can I do to pull myself back? I focus on my breathing, the rising and falling of my abdomen but it’s a struggle as of late. Also, it is preventing me from meditating for longer than 10 minutes or so as I feel I will end up asleep.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: September 6, 2011, 11:17 am
Hi, Alexander.
This sounds like either the hindrance of sloth and torpor, as it’s called, or perhaps a more subtle experience of what’s known as “drifting,” where the mind is caught up in thoughts.
Paying attention to the abdomen is precisely the wrong thing to be doing in these circumstances, and it may well be that main cause of what you’re experiencing. Paying attention to the abdomen is a great way of slowing the mind down and creating calmness. It’s like the brake on your car. But you don’t want to drive with the brakes on, which is what you’re doing.
Instead, try paying attention to the breathing higher in the body — up in the upper chest and head. You should find that more stimulating.
Your “letting go” experience sounds pleasant. It’s good to let the mind rest from time to time…
Comment from Alexander
Time: September 6, 2011, 5:24 pm
Thank you for you prompt reply. I’ve read up a little on the hindrance of sloth and torpor and I think you have correctly diagnosed the issue. It seems, after reading a few articles, that I may have only a minor problem to over-come and the first steps towards this have been traversed. I will resume practise tomorrow and implement your suggestions. Best wishes.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: September 6, 2011, 6:33 pm
Another thing you should watch out for if your posture. And tendency toward slumping, and to closing the chest, will promote sloth and torpor. It’s very hard to diagnose this yourself, so if you want to take pictures of yourself, from the side, while meditating, feel free to send them to me. One technique that works well is to set up a videocamera, and to take stills from various points in the meditation. That gives you time to forget that you’re on camera, and so you won’t be “on your best behavior.”
Comment from Alexander
Time: September 9, 2011, 3:53 am
Posture isn’t normally a problem for me, however, I’ve had a back problem recently and have had to resort to using a wall for support. While not slumping in this position it does take away a significant amount of effort. I was at the doctor’s yesterday and have been given medications but today the pain is greatly worsened ruling out any meditation at all. This is a shame as my Zen meditation pillow arrived today but for now I will have to just practise relaxation whilst lying on my back. I will report back once my back is improved and let you know if the improvement in posture sees an improvement in mental energy and focus during meditation. Thanks.
Comment from John
Time: September 24, 2011, 11:49 am
After about 4 months of meditation, the strangest experiences have been occurring when I meditate and sleep. I see bright lights (sometimes just a single, central light) that can be so bright it’s as if I’m meditating with a commercial spot-light on me. (Yes, it is that bright.) No longer do I see “blackness” when I close my eyes or fall asleep. Sometimes I “burn-up” with body heat. Also, my dreams, while pleasant, have turned bizarre. In one dream everything was chromey-metallic and even my voice sounded metallic. (In that dream, I told myself, “Where am I? I don’t think I want to be here.” And then I awoke.) Last night, I seemed to have been in the future with buildings, towns, even energy sources that are nothing like we have today. The experiences are positive, and I am gaining an immense sense of how we are connected and the world cycles/persists/continues. But, are my meditation “lights” and dream experiences typical?? Thanks.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: September 26, 2011, 10:43 pm
Hi, John.
Meditation experiences are so varied that almost everything that can happen does happen. Odd dreams are quite common, especially when beginning meditation or when doing more intensive meditation on retreat. (One retreat my dreams were in neon outlines and in cartoon form, and I used to have lots of dreams of looking into the sky and seeing huge planets hovering above the earth. Sometimes there have been Buddhas and bodhisattvas in my dreams).
I often have the perception of light during meditation, although not while I’m asleep. This is described in Buddhist texts as well. The light itself can be an object of meditation, and in fact I’d encourage you to simply be aware of the light.
As long as you feel these things are positive, then that’s fine. If there’s anything at all that seems worrisome, to you or to others who know you, then please let me know.
Comment from Alexander
Time: September 27, 2011, 7:54 am
Bodhipaksa, my meditation has been going fairly well since I last commented but I am having some difficulty with my awareness. Following on from your earlier suggestions I have chosen to take my awareness away from the abdomen and into the head (I have opted for the third eye region). I have no problem fixing my attention on that spot as I inhale up through my nose and find it quite easy to feel/visualise the flow from my nostrils into this area. It is on the exhale I find that I am, after a few minutes, losing focus of this area. There is no real sensation from the exhale that I can attribute to the third eye area and find my mind wanders to minor discomforts (back, sinuses, jaw) or simply drifts. Should I be following the breath whilst being aware of the third eye or should I fixate my awareness on the third eye and allow the breath to pass through it?
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: September 27, 2011, 11:18 am
Hi, Alexander.
I’d actually meant for you to pay attention to the physical sensations of the breathing that arise in the head. I’m curious why you chose the “third eye.” I put the term in quotes because it’s not part of my vocabulary for either practice or teaching. It’s not a part of the body I routinely pay attention to. Having said that, I’m struck by the fact that I can feel sensations connected with the breathing just about everywhere in the body: less so in the head, although perhaps that’s just because I haven’t been looking. It’s possible that if you relax more into your awareness of the breathing, you’ll start to notice sensations there, but I’d suggest simply paying attention to the breathing itself.
Comment from Alexander
Time: September 29, 2011, 8:27 am
I was drawn to the third eye as I used to do a lot of basic chakra meditations and thought it may be beneficial but I don’t think it is (definitely not at this stage). I’m now doing as you said and just paying attention to the breath without forcing too much to fixate on any one area (as it seems either tension or distraction results) and the results are positive. I’ve been using all the resources on your wonderful site and it is all a great help to my practise – despite this being in the comments for stage 3 I am only just starting to add a little of stage 2 to my routine so will keep at it the way I currently am for a month or two more before seeing what stage 3 involves. Many thanks.
Write a comment