Can someone explain what's happening to my eye sight

[Emoint]

Hi guys, when I'm mindfulness walking the dogs, I have got into the habit at focusing on one branch or leaf of tree and as I walk past it, it gets bigger and more 3d. It's now becoming like having one of those virtual reality goggles on. It was scary and now I'm getting used to it. But colours are so rich, and shapes and definitions, and flower colours are taking my breath away as well. Is this normal after meditation or during  mindfulness. It's really powerful. If I fix on a tree branch and slowly go down the trunk and then back up I can feel the trees growing energy and it's age, and how much it took to grow so tall. It's exciting but freaking me out a lot. Anybody else experience this kind of thing? Tbh it's a relief for a bird flying across my line of sight to distract me. I can see everything in such tiny detail. Wierding me out, but I love it

[Goofaholix]

Focusing on one branch or leaf of tree and as you walk past it is not mindfulness.

In mindfulness practice we just notice what we experience through the six sense doors.  When walking your dog just notice the body moving, notice sounds, notice thoughts as they arise, notice how your emotional and mental reactions to the people and situations you meet, or as you interact with your dog.

Your attention should be on what you are doing, and the experiences around that, nothing more.

If you see a tree then all you need to do is notice seeing is taking place, and then if it catches your interest notice looking is taking place, and if any thoughts or emotions arise in reaction to the tree then thinking or feeling is taking place.

Whatever you experience just notice it, don't get involved with it, let it go.

[Dhamma]

I think mindfulness, when practiced regularly, can lead to us to noticing things with our senses that we never noticed before.  It's not magical -- simply that our minds our not shooting off into fantasy and folklore as often. We area bit more grounded in the present moment, paying more attention to the moment that surrounds us.

[Emoint]

Thanks guys. I think we open the entry door to mindfulness with a different key goofaholix, I think, you look at the whole and then zoom in, I zoom in and then gradually pan out, if that makes sense. Cause after a succession of 'one things' the moment, the now, is born into a huge now, here, moment. i focus on one thing when i'm scanning my body and then as i scan up the body i am more here, and the more of me i scan the more moment I become. EG, i focus on a leaf it sticks out, the twig the leaf is attached to sticks out, then the branch, then the bough, then the trunk, then its bark, then the hieght, etc etc until i am overwhelmed with its incredibleness. Its majesty and its being. I'm getting really good now at staying 3d virtual reality all dog walk now, i'm also transferring the skills of mindfulnes whilst scanning into things outside of my self, and thanks to your comment guys, I realise what i'm doing. When i look at the dogs in their own 'moments,' the movement of four limbs rotating around a horizontal back bone do disorientate sometimes, but i'm getting used to the giddyness, its the now moment in motion i'm trying to master next. Though when a dog shoots off in one direction my trance like state gets broken. Trance like states, or lets call them meditational states have a very slow moving metabolism. I appreciate your replies guys, thankyou.

[Goofaholix]

I suggest you get established in basic mindfulness instructions.  Mindfulness practice is quite repetitive and mundane, sticking with it as it is and learning to be content with that is the key to deepening your practice. Here are a few resources that should help;

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwjp9KYF4t1SQXZiSGNqRi1BMkk/view
http://www.buddhanet.net/imol/retreat/instructions.htm
https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/meditation-instruction/

[stillpointdancer]

Hi guys, when I'm mindfulness walking the dogs, I have got into the habit at focusing on one branch or leaf of tree and as I walk past it, it gets bigger and more 3d. It's now becoming like having one of those virtual reality goggles on. It was scary and now I'm getting used to it. But colours are so rich, and shapes and definitions, and flower colours are taking my breath away as well. Is this normal after meditation or during  mindfulness. It's really powerful. If I fix on a tree branch and slowly go down the trunk and then back up I can feel the trees growing energy and it's age, and how much it took to grow so tall. It's exciting but freaking me out a lot. Anybody else experience this kind of thing? Tbh it's a relief for a bird flying across my line of sight to distract me. I can see everything in such tiny detail. Wierding me out, but I love it

It's a side effect of mindfulness practice. It works, in that you get to see stuff that would normally just be background information. The brain cannot cope with information overload, so normally just makes assumptions about what is happening around you. In a way it's a coping strategy that you undermine at your peril. Goofaholix has some good advice on this strand. We have thousands of years of experience of such practice to call on and need to take advice from time to time. Small steps and not let your new way of looking at things become distracting, fun though it is. We should be in this for the long haul, looking forward to a lifetime of practice.

[Emoint]

Thanks Goofaholix and Stillpointdancer, yes i'll check them out. Sorry what i have not explained is I do mindfulness from the emotional intelligence web site, So know nothing about the links provided by goffaholix's mindfulness. I've finally been coming to terms with the past, and once my aunty died, it was a road block that was lifted, and enlightenment of simple relief and trying to figure out the why,what and really happened memories of the past. So will check out those links you kindly put up for me by Goofaholix, gotta lot of awareness to catch up on.

[Emoint]

Goofaholix,
There are so many descriptions of what is true and false mindfulness. So much explanation I can't keep up. But thanks for spending the time to post your advice it is appreciated.
Still point dancer I think my own path is taking me away from Vipassana. I am looking forward to a life time of practise, but my imagination does not relate to your imaginations version of meditation. I feel very wierd at the moment, i don't know/believe what meditation is anymore in the context of vipassana, lets all enjoy our journeys.
Peace

[Dhamma]

Goofaholix,
There are so many descriptions of what is true and false mindfulness. So much explanation I can't keep up. But thanks for spending the time to post your advice it is appreciated.
Still point dancer I think my own path is taking me away from Vipassana. I am looking forward to a life time of practise, but my imagination does not relate to your imaginations version of meditation. I feel very wierd at the moment, i don't know/believe what meditation is anymore in the context of vipassana, lets all enjoy our journeys.
Peace

Vipassana is the main meditation technique used in the Buddhist world in a very general sense, in addition to zazen (shikantaza) in Zen and the visualizations/Dzogchen done in the Tibetan traditions.  Not all Buddhists, then, do vipassana as it is understood in the Theravada traditions. They use vipassana techniques, too, in Tibetan schools, but not so much in Zen, as far as I know. All that said, my point being that you Buddhism is just not vipassana meditation, although it's the meditation technique most widely used to achieve greater enlightenment (and quite effective, too!).  But it may not be for everyone on the Buddhist path.

As for me, I am currently only doing zazen (Shikantaza). It is a little different than vipassana.  It is simply a "do-nothing" meditation - we neither attempt to watch our breaths at the nostrils, or watch the rising of falling of the abdomen.  We just sit and be, as if our minds our a movie projector and we are watching it. If we think about breath, etc. while doing that in zazen, that is perfectly fine, but it is not the goal or intent, as we have none. We just don't cling to it, and let the movie go onwards.

Maybe you should try different Buddhist meditation techniques, dear friend.

[NewPathForward]

Goofaholix,
There are so many descriptions of what is true and false mindfulness. So much explanation I can't keep up. But thanks for spending the time to post your advice it is appreciated.
Still point dancer I think my own path is taking me away from Vipassana. I am looking forward to a life time of practise, but my imagination does not relate to your imaginations version of meditation. I feel very wierd at the moment, i don't know/believe what meditation is anymore in the context of vipassana, lets all enjoy our journeys.
Peace

Try not to get too wrapped up in the definitions.  Just practice and be open to learning.  I can over-complicate anything, and it often ends up with me being self-critical because "I'm not doing it right, dammit!". 

Meditation is like exercise.  If my version of exercise is jogging, and your version of exercise is lifting weights, it's not so fair for me to approach you and say "You're not exercising correctly.  Put down the weight, start running and get your heart rate up.", now is it? 

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with us exploring each other's practices.  Maybe you can show me how to properly lift weights and I can show you how to properly jog.  I hope this makes sense 

Now, let's illustrate Vipassana as jogging here.  If I see somebody who seems to be jogging frequently, making progress, going longer distances, etc, and I am feeling stagnant and unable to increase my distance, there is nothing wrong with me coming to him and asking "Would you say I am doing this correctly in your eyes?" and being open to advice. 

I guess my final note is that if you are seeing progress on your path, pursue it.  If you are feeling that you're getting nowhere or headed backwards, talk about it with others.  Weigh each piece of advice you get against your own personal experience and do what truly seems to work best for you.  You seem to be doing great