new to Vipassana

[theUnknown]

i'm not new to meditation but am new to Vipassana. I noticed that when i meditate my breathing became very soft and i felt as if floating on air and neither sad nor happy. when i quit a meditation session the feeling remained sometimes for hours. what is this feeling? recently i noticed that i could enter this state almost at will. is this a normal phenomenon experienced by meditators? how can i progress further? any help is greatly appreciated.
thanks

[mtnmed]

I am not sure that I can answer your question per se, but having taught yoga for many years and newly learning meditation, the softness of breath was one of the first things that I noticed. Yoga teaches ujiya breathing which to me is more harsh and loud. When I meditate I get the same sensation as you describe, I for one love it! It may not produce that same physical strength and power as ujiya but does give intense clam and peace.

[Matthew]

theUknown,

Welcome,

When you say "meditate" and "Vipassana" what do you mean? There are many variations and what you are experiencing could be a number of things.

Warmly,

Matthew

[theUnknown]

Hi The Irreverent Buddhist,
thank you for your reply. the term "Vipassana" in my mind means, mindfulness mediation. the feeling that i experienced came during my practice of mindfulness mediation... being aware of the body, feeling, mind and mental objects. I guess that that feeling was a product of the mind being calm and settled. I'd just like to know how to progress further in my practice of mindfulness meditation. thanks!

[kidnovice]

TU, here is some advice:

1) Keep practicing. Again and again. More and more.  You won't feel "calm and settled" all the time. Accept that now. But its a wonderful thing that you feel calm and settled early on. Look for ways to deepen that and return to it. 

2) Look for aspects of your meditation that are comfortable and pleasant. Don't be afraid to tune in to that, see if it can spread.

3) Develop your concentration. With a mind that is gentle, forgiving, and even playful, try to extend the amount of time that you can keep your awareness on a single object (like the breath). Learning to do that will take you far.

4) Stretch your capacity for being calm and settled. This means learning to be present for difficult experiences as they arise: physical and emotional discomfort. But you have to be skillful. Remember, you are stretching. There are surely areas where you are more flexible than others. So, be honest with yourself, and get to know how far you can push. But don't stretch too far, too soon. You can hurt yourself if you over do it. You might even pull your groin or something. (metaphorically speaking). But if you do it right, you can also expand your capacity for happiness.

Those are my tips to you AND me. 

KN

[Matthew]

Hi The Irreverent Buddhist,
thank you for your reply. the term "Vipassana" in my mind means, mindfulness mediation. the feeling that i experienced came during my practice of mindfulness mediation... being aware of the body, feeling, mind and mental objects. I guess that that feeling was a product of the mind being calm and settled. I'd just like to know how to progress further in my practice of mindfulness meditation. thanks!

theUnknown,

Sorry if I am boring. Can you say more about how you meditate. Did you learn in a particular school or tradition? Do you follow the breathe? If so where? At the nose? In the belly? throughout the body? Specifics are very helpful.

Matthew

[theUnknown]

The Irreverent Buddhist,
i learn how to meditate by listening to instructions available online by Gil Fronsdal and Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. I follow my breath throughout the body (most of the time... sometimes at the nose/ belly . i'm still experimenting). Thanks for responding.

[maybeiam]

Hello theUnknown,

Thanks for sharing info,
I also started my meditations online with Gil and audiobooks by Kabat Zin.
It is always good to keep following or having dharma talks, I think it complements the meditative state that we chose to follow.

For me the belly gives me more bliss , more tranquility, the nose gives me more concentration, I've been reading " I think in this forum , it can also be a bit of a self hipnosis" and i guess this is a little bit right to. maybe depends how we focus in the nose for example in my experience if i focus only above my lips like goenka technique , I will lack other expanded meditative ways, but I feel more sharped doing the technique we requires.
Anyway I must say that I would like to experience something more open than Goenka technique which lacks allot of dynamism.

[James206]

Hi theUnknown,

Have you come across the idea of "access concentration" in any of your reading. Bhante H. Gunaratana talks about it at length in "Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English". It's the point at which you can let go of a specific object of concentration like the tip of your nose or your belly and just concentrate on... your concentrated hindrance-free mind. When you talk about soft breathing - almost to the point of no longer being aware of your breathing, it reminded me of this "access concentration" state. You might be on the cusp of entering into the first jhana. There are some good books on the subject. "Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English" mentioned above, and on the reading list for this forum is one. Ayya Khema's "Who is Myself" was also helpful to me. What has surprised me over and over is that even the most seemingly esoteric meditative phenomena you may experience has most likely been experienced by thousands of others over the last 2500 years and has had some very illuminating helpful things written about it. And with the internet, much of it is readily available.