Question regarding effect of Vipassana meditation

[TanBi]

Hello,

I have just completed a 10day vipassana meditation retreat at Malaysia. It was all normal for me until day 6 where I feel that some of my actions are involuntary (I.e. Not of my intention to perform). For instance, while resting in my room and relax , my body started doing some stretching exercise and some appears to me some yoga moves which I have never perform myself. I have seek advice from the teacher and he said it is completely normal for the body to recover itself.

On day 8, I could feel some pressure or the sensation of a bubble of air between my neck and nose, it was as if I was having difficulty breathing.  There were sometimes I did neck stretching and when I put my teeth together I could feel them clenching. Later in the day, I actually broke down there was a mixture of crying and laughter (and I made the voice of a baby ).

Now that I have completed the course, I could still feel the urge to move involuntary but I am constantly suppressing it. Anyone have experience this kind of thing? Other sensation I have experienced are itching throughout the body. I could feel subtle vibration on day 5 throughout the body(free flow) but after that I could only feel gross sensation for area above the neck.

Thanks for any insight.

[Middleway]

Your symptoms appear to be the result of lack of adequate sleep. Pretty much same things happened to me as well. Rest for a few days and start back your meditation.

[TanBi]

Thank You. Do you happen to feel itchiness sometimes throughout the body even after meditation session?

[Middleway]

No but I used to feel shivers intermittently all over ththe body even though it was not cold. They subsided in a couple of weeks after the retreat.

I suggest you reflect on the experiences and skills you learned to train your mind. Set yourself up with a frame work on how to live happily and joyfully going forward. Eightfold path is a good framework to follow for example.

I follow the triple gem framework Mr. Goenka suggested. Good luck!

Warm regards,

Middleway

[Purnanand-Bharti]

An itch is one of the best things that can happen during meditation! It's an opportunity to observe how it passes, just like everything else. So no need to worry about this. It is a nature thing.

Good Luck