Acharya Shree, what does the body feel during meditation?
Is a good question.
The meditator sometimes they are very confused because body begins to react abnormally.
Like sometimes biologically if a body is healthy, it seems like the feets are warm, head is cold.
That's the biological terms about the healthy body. But in the spiritual aspect or when a person meditate it can be different kind of feelings in the body. Maybe sensation in your hands.
Maybe sensation in your head. Maybe sensation of in your feet or legs. Or belly. Sometimes body is very cold. Sometimes body is very warm.
It depends on the individual. There is a very popular sect in India. It is called Baavalaa sect. The actual word in Hindi it is called Baavalaa sect. Baavalaa means crazy.
That they go street to street and singing. Unfortunately that sect is disappeared from India now.
And they were creating aura. Good energy everywhere. Male and female.
Sometimes they will go under one gown and they sing beautiful and they create the beautiful aura. People used to call them Baavalaa.
Means crazy. They are crazy. In meditation these things happen. That's why if you want to meditate you need guidance.
Like usually just I said sometimes you will feel that your head is very warm. And when it is...head is warm...and it happens because energy begins to flow from downward to upward.
When energy flows from first chakra to second to third to fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh it is Brahmarandra here. It is called Sahasrara.
Is a...energy moves there. It is like head becomes very hot and it can make a person sick.
So sometimes in meditation they have feeling of sickening. They have feelings of like they are getting sick.
But don't worry, get courage. Or ask for guidance to the live teacher. That "Why my head is getting hot? Why I am getting this sickening feeling?"
So they will guide you to stop right away and you need to clean your all the channels first. Then it won't bother you.
Because somehow your energy got blocked in your channels. There are three channels in the body - main channels: Sushumna, Ida, Pingala. Ida is left nostril when you breathe through and Pingala is right nostril when you breathe through right nostril.
And Sushumna is the central part of the body or the backbone. That is called three channels. If three channels are not clear, the energy will get stuck somewhere and that part of the body will get really hot.
And it could make you sick. Let me tell you the real truth. If the real meditator - in the end they will get sick, they will die sick. Did you ever notice Maharishi Ramana, he died sickly.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa he died with the cancer. Jain Tirthankara Mahavira he died really sick. Buddha died very sick. Why? Because that was their last body.
When it was the last body, it begins to deteriorate. And it is the ending body. It has to get sick because the energy is all the way up.
And that part of the body is very hot. Gets sick.
So you don't have to worry about it. When you feel that kind of heat in the body it is natural. Sometimes people have different kind of feeling.
They see their bodies getting enlarged. They are crossing over the stars and moons everywhere. So these are the symptoms. But sometimes people get it is very scary.
Unless you are enlightened. It doesn't scare you anymore. But if you are just a practitioner of meditation, it will be very scary to you. To anyone.
So that's what if you want to meditate you need guidance. Be under guidance of a live teacher, otherwise it will be, it can be very disturbing. And it could be very disturbing not to the society, to your family.
After you. So be careful. Meditate can happen gradually. If you try to jump, it's very dangerous.
It happens with many people. Because it is like deathlike experiences. Sometimes in meditation in happen your breath stops.
Your heartbeat stops. Your whole body seems like icy cold. And you don't feel anything. These are all symptoms in meditation.
But they are good symptoms. But you don't know how to handle it. That's why teacher is needed. If master is available, if you have meditation under his or her guidance, you will get lot of courage, tremendous energy.
Because in meditation energy is not consumed, energy is stored. And it has to, it is forced to flow upward because you don't want to flow your energy downwards.
Because it is a...it's nature to flow downwards. But when you understand the reality, the truth, your energy begins to flow upwards. That's what it happen.
Energy gets stuck somewhere because the channels are not clear. That's what I was talking. So I will give you kind of breathing exercise. It is called Nadi Shodhana.
If you purify your nadis - means those channels by breathing, alternate breathing - it's called Anulom Vilom. If you will do that or if you will just do Kapalabhati, it will going to help you. Both.
These are ancient terms in the yoga system. And then you will not have those kind of feeling like sickening feeling. At least you will be not too much afraid.
So that's what the point is. So if you're under guidance of someone - live teacher, live master - so you will have courage. You will feel kind of that you are protected.
So, don't worry about it. These things going to happen. And those are the all whatever I mentioned...these are the symptoms of meditation.
You can begin to see maybe colors. Maybe different kind of lights. There are many things can happen. It is depend on individual, what kind of individual person you are.
And what is your ideology is. So it is going to happen according to your ideology. That I will recommend strongly have guidance, seek guidance. Without guidance you will be failure.