Meditation: why am I so giddy

[silmarien]

I started meditating about a week ago. I've never done that before. I only meditate about half an hour a day (actually 20 minutes because it takes me 10 minutes to calm and slow my hurrying mind), usually in evening before sleep.
Everything seems good, but I've noticed that I'm feeling quite giddy and my head swims. Sometimes I even feel like fainting. Why is it so? Do I do something wrong or what?

[Jenett]

My first thought (without knowing exactly what kind of meditation you're doing) is to ask 'Are you breathing differently than you normally breathe?

A lot of people don't normally breathe deeply. And, over time, your body gets used to that. If you suddenly start breathing more deeply and taking in more oxygen with each breath, your body will respond by feeling slightly giddy.

If this is what's going on, you can try breathing deeply while you're not meditating, and see if you feel about the same. If that's the case, try focusing on your breathing at other points during the day - as your body gets used to you breathing like that, the giddiness will pass.

It might also be something relating to the kind of meditation you're doing, but we'd probably need more details to make suggestions about that.

[Rain Gnosis]

Do you count back up, and ground and center after meditation?

[silmarien]

Hmmm I wrote not what I wanted to say. The problem is that I'm giddy not during meditation but all the time, especially when the hour when I usually meditate is drawing near (seems that my brain starts relaxing too early...)

And yes, I breath differently - deep and slow.

I always ground and center after meditating. Usually in a quick way, but it's enough (I think).
But what do you mean by "counting back up"? What's that?

[Rain Gnosis]

Have you considered that maybe it's not? Grounding and centering is something done to help you balance and center your energy - you can ground excess or pick up extra if you need it - so if it's not helping you might try spending more time on it. You can also back it up by eating something a bit heavy to physically ground you. As far as counting, many people count down to get into a meditative state, and it's important to count back up again when you're done meditating. Helps subconsciously reinforce the idea that you're coming back to the physical/mundane world.

[grnpuffer]

I started meditating about a week ago. I've never done that before. I only meditate about half an hour a day (actually 20 minutes because it takes me 10 minutes to calm and slow my hurrying mind), usually in evening before sleep.
Everything seems good, but I've noticed that I'm feeling quite giddy and my head swims. Sometimes I even feel like fainting. Why is it so? Do I do something wrong or what?

You haven't explained what you are doing so here's the generic answer
boomerang effects after meditation (dizzyness, headaches, hyperactivity, halucinations, depression, etc) are often associated with one or more of the following:
1. unresolved mental or physical tension that is held in the body. Even when you think you're relaxed, you may be unaware of what is going on in your body. try spending 1o of that 30 minutes stretching or doing yoga. try focusing your mind using a breath mediation (explore qabalistic cross or microcosmic orbit).

2. pushing too fast/too hard/too early. If you find your mind straining or struggling you're probably pushing. this is another form of #1. Western mysteries schools that I am aware of all, with out exception would say that 30 minutes for a beginning beginner is too much/too long. BOTA tells it's students to limit meditation sessions to 15-20 minutes from beginning to end (including warm ups and cool downs) total for the first 6 months to a year. But then their meditations are pretty intensive. I imagine that if you are already regularly involved with some regular disclipline like music or sports, this is less important. Regularity and creation of habit is essential. so is the conscious building on process. duration isn't the point.

3. If you are breathing deeply by forcing the breath that is definately why you are having problems. never mind hyperventalating..... Forced or active breath is energizing and improperly used cand tip the balance of the mind and body

4. assuming the above are not the issue, evening meditations may not be the right time of day for your energy type. (for example, some practices in buddhist mediation prohibit new practitioners from meditating before bedtime). you might benefit from going to an energy worker/healer and getting a once over

5. your symptoms appear because you're looking for something/expecting something magical. A meditation disclipline isn't about Ooohh Aaaah fireworks. let go your expectations.

6. keep up the dislipline of meditation. the symptoms will pass

best advice..... if you're serious about making progress in your inner journey, link up with teachers or schools who have been through it and who can give you some constructive guidance. left to winging it may leave you in places that are pleasurable/interesting (which sometimes serve as traps against further progress), but they won't necessarily help you grow in a meaningful way.

good luck
G

[grnpuffer]

Ooops, forgot the most important bit on that last post....
If you're feeling dizzy after a meditation....
have something hot and sweet or starchy...
Hot chocolate, and lots of it!

[mothwench]

for what it's worth, here's a quick tip i learned once in yoga class:
true, most people breathe the wrong way. and then when they meditate, they simply breathe deeper and think their doing it right. the trick is the rythm: usually people inhale longer than they exhale. wrong way. you have to exhale longer than you inhale, if you know what i mean, it's hard to explain...
so, the giddiness has nothing to do with the meditation? or do you mean it started last week when you began meditation?
if you have problems with dizziness and blood circulation, go into the green room. there's lots of people who know alot about herbs. i have poor blood circulation, and i take whitethorn tea, which helps.

[silmarien]

What I do is just some basic meditation. I pick an image of something simple and concentrate on it and so reach the alfa state. I'm not going deep into my mind or something else because I'm only a beginner.

Now about how I breathe. Yes, I breathe a little differently than I normally do, but it comes naturally - I mean, anyone would slow his/her breathe if s/he sits realxed and not moving. I don't force myslef. But I'll try and see if some other way of breathing helps, I'll try to breathe as naturally as I'm doing it this moment.

Yesterday I grounded and centered myself fully after meditation but I can't be sure if it helped because I'm very sleepy today (only slept 6 hours - that's a tragedy) so I don't know what's going on in my head - it's all somewhere else anyway

Anyhow thanks everyone for your advice, I'll try everything you suggested and see if it works.

[Ben Trismegistus]

This is a long shot, but it almost might be the kind of meditation you're doing.

The Alpha State is the brainwave pattern for relaxation and creativity. It's a very heady state, relaxed, but not meditative.

What you're going for is the Theta State. That's the brainwave pattern for meditation, intuition, memory. It is the theta state that is often referred to as the "trance state", and is used in meditation and shamanic journeying.

Theta state resonates between 4-7 Hz, while Alpha state resonates between 7-12 Hz. Good luck!

[silmarien]

This is a long shot, but it almost might be the kind of meditation you're doing.

The Alpha State is the brainwave pattern for relaxation and creativity. It's a very heady state, relaxed, but not meditative.

What you're going for is the Theta State. That's the brainwave pattern for meditation, intuition, memory. It is the theta state that is often referred to as the "trance state", and is used in meditation and shamanic journeying.

Theta state resonates between 4-7 Hz, while Alpha state resonates between 7-12 Hz. Good luck!

Is it? The book I'm learning from said it was the Alpha state I was heading for. But I'll try to check in some other sources.
Then how does one reach the Alpha brainwave pattern? I'm not going to try that out now, but your advice might be helpful later...

[Ben Trismegistus]

Is it? The book I'm learning from said it was the Alpha state I was heading for. But I'll try to check in some other sources.
Then how does one reach the Alpha brainwave pattern? I'm not going to try that out now, but your advice might be helpful later...

Here's some info on the four brainwave states:

http://www.brainsync.com/about/4states.asp

Going deeper into relaxation, you enter the elusive and mysterious Theta state where brain activity slows almost to the point of sleep, but not quite. Theta is the brain state where magic happens in the crucible of your own neurological activity. Theta brings forward heightened receptivity, flashes of dreamlike imagery, inspiration, and your long-forgotten memories. Theta can bring you deep states of meditation. A sensation of "floating." And, because it is an expansive state, in Theta, you may feel your mind expand beyond the boundaries of your body.

[grnpuffer]

Yes, I breathe a little differently than I normally do, but it comes naturally - I mean, anyone would slow his/her breathe if s/he sits realxed and not moving. I don't force myslef. But I'll try and see if some other way of breathing helps, I'll try to breathe as naturally as I'm doing it this moment.
.

try using your breath with awareness (and don't waste an opportunity to learn about the power of breath). Make it work for you.
Try this simple but effective exercise. (it's a modified Taoist technique). It's sort of a chop wood, carry water thing, but if you use it daily, I think you will be surprised how much you learn about your own body, mind and energy.

Sit in a straight backed chair (like a kitchen chair) that will support your body so you can relax but not fall asleep. Relax as you always do. Imagine a glowing sphere projecting from the center of your abdomen (inside your body, just below the belly button) and come to rest around your body. Place your attention at the top of the sphere. On a slow, stready and controlled inhale, an arc of light travels down your front. at the end of the inhale, your attention should be below your body. Likewise with a slow, steady and controled exhale, follow the arc up your back and the exhale should end over the top of your head. When you're relaxed and not straining, add breath counts (inhale to the count of 4, pause count 2, exhale count of 4, pause, count 2, etc. choose a cycle that you can do easily without straining or getting breathless. eventually as you relax more, you'll find that you can increase or decrease the breath cycles. If you become breathless, you're straining or retaining tension. You will find that some are calming while others will energize you). REpeat for 10 cycles and then stop by visualizing the sphere withdrawing to the center of your abdomen again using a well controled exhale. Always end in your abdomen. start with 10 and only 10 cycles. eventually you can increase the repititions

This may seem simple, but it's doing some extremely important things:
teaching you proper breath control
helping you develop your visualization skills
deveopiing your capacity to focus with attention to detail (the "10 cycles and only 10" is an important step.... you can't do that if your mind and intent is wandering somewhere else. If you loose count, start over. this is teaching you to be calm but clearly present in the experience).
Reinforces your external energy body ("aura" or "shield")

as you continue to do this every day, you'll notice some reallly important things: the polarity of energy in your body (yin vs yang). it can be quite startling and powerful as it develops. you'll probably notice a diferent quality or temperature of energy flowing down your front vs back. If you become an energy healer or do anything (including magic and ritual) with energy, having the ability to draw on these currents in a controled way will be very valuable to you. With regular use, you will find that you can use the technique to balance out the highs and lows in your energy (great for self healing of mind and emotions). In tantra or any high voltage work, it protects your body (and mind) because regular use clears the accumulation of blockages. Of course your visualization skills will improve and this will help with many things.

Make it a regular habit to end your visualization in the center of your lower abdomen. this seems silly but as you experience more energy with the technique this becomes important. ending in your chest or head can lead to headaches, give you chest pains, disturb your sleep and other things including raising your blood pressure. Energy follows where your mind goes. end it in your abdomen where it can nourish you (and create that intent as you finish). The taoists don't really "ground" prana- it is, after all vital energy that isn't doing any good getting sucked into the cement. If you experiment with the technique, you'll learn how to use it to energize your or calm you down. I find that I can do this technique on the worse of days and 50 cups of caffeine in me and yet be sound asleep in 10 minutes.

the key is regularity. 10 hrs once a week wont give you the same results as 10 minutes at the same time every day.

I think the most valuable thing I learned from the technique is how to listen to the energy state of my body and how that energy changes with the seasons. I learned more about the manipulation of subtle energies from this simple exercise than any book I've read. Doing magic or ritual doesn't come from mumbling some lines and hand waving. It comes from precise control and manipulation of mind and physical energy. If you decide to explore meditation (or magic) in a serious way, you'll find that you'll start with some excellent tools. I can't think of a better place to start learning than with this technique.

If you've given this a try, have made some progress and want further development on the technique, send me a PM
good luck
G

[Calzaer]

Ground.

Center, if you feel like it.

But what you describe is a textbook case of being ungrounded. And I don't mean "having electricity running through you".

[silmarien]

Thaks everyone so much for your advice. It helped