Hello, and a ?

Hi everybody, new here and just wanted to say hi and how amazingly encouraging/discouraging this site is. The idea these things are possible is exciting, but I get ahead of myself and become overwhelmed. Which is a great opportunity to practice acceptance, so...lucky me!!
My question: I've had a couple of experiences in the last week that have been interesting and was wondering if anyone had any ideas. The first time I had what I call an expansion that was centered in my head. I was watching my breath and noting and I felt my awareness "drop" within my head and then everything just seemed to open up. Small 'I' didn't open, but my head was full of a vast space. This only lasted for a few seconds and was gone. The second time lasted longer and was based in my chest. This time the space was truly massive, it felt like I could have put the whole world inside myself and it would been tiny in comparison. I also felt very clearly that their was nothing to this thing called "I", just a bunch of phenomena flashing in and out, and that this was true for everything. I have never experienced feeling what I've only known intellectually before and it was very calming. I've been trying to experience this again, but I'm pretty sure I'm trying way to hard and just have neck pains to show for it. Thanks.

Welcome RevElev, could you give us some more background? Maybe how long you have been practicing what methods etc. What things have been like sense this event. Was there a lot of Euphoria? Borderline Mania? Could possibly be and A&P... could also have been you stumbling into a jhanic absorption... glad you are hear, please give some more details and we will try to help out anyway we can...

Hi RevElev,

Experiences like that happen a lot, especially early on. It could be related to insight stages. Though, many times they are just the relative affects of early samadhi (concentration).

Details about experiences can be helpful, but it's even more helpful to know what you're actually doing when you practice. That may help us figure out what's happening.

Practice well,
~Jackson

That was quick, I've been practicing on and off(mostly off) for about 20 years. I've practiced Tai Chi and Taoist meditation as well as Tibetan meditation, both of these were practiced with teachers. I've also done some book based practice as well, mostly Zen. I've recently(4 months) been following my breath and noting as outlined on this site. After my experiences I felt very calm and focused. I also felt somewhat energized, even though I was physically tired due to my work schedule.

Welcome aboard RevElev!

Could be a lot of things. My immediate thought is this:
www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/dharm...%20MInd%20and%20Body

Keep posting on this site and you're bound to make progress. I suggest you have a look at the meditation instructions under the 1st gear section of this site. Also you'll want to give us a detailed report on the specific sensations you are having. I suggest you look at Nadav's notes. He does an exceptionally well job of being detailed and to the point in his noting style.

Hope you keep with it!

Thanks for the responses, another question regarding a recent experience. Instead of just sitting outside and looking at the breath, I tried, and succeeded to some level, at getting inside the breath. I tried to watch the breath much more closely, to see the components that make up each inhalation and exhalation. To get inside the illusionary appearance of the solidity of each breath. This was difficult, the in/ex seemed surprisingly slippery. They were gone before I could get a hold of them.
Just trying this, however, helped me become more focused, my breath became more subtle then I have previously experienced. I did this for 2 hrs yesterday and felt good about how it was going. I sat again this am and had an interesting(for me) experience. Followed the same as above, but at some point It felt like I fell down into my breath. My physical awareness decreased dramatically. All I could feel was an extremely pleasant tingling feeling over my entire body, all the usual aches and tightness were completely gone. My mind/brain/awareness(?) also felt great, but I'm not sure how. It was a kind of very mellow euphoria, not sure how to describe. Nothing was really going on and I wasn't "happy" exactly just felt great for no apparent reason. I would guess this lasted 5-10 minutes not really sure. I slowly began to come back into my body and started to feel 'normal' again, the aches and tightness showed up in my legs and back and my mind was the way it feels when I first sit down. I still felt good but more normal. I'm assuming this is a result of concentration and I'm not quite enlightened(that's a joke). Just wanted some advice on whether I should stay with focusing on the breath or start noting or something else entirely. My plan is to stay with the breath for a couple of wks and then start trying noting. Also, thanks a lot for the input and the entire website.