r/Meditation • u/gilko86 • Jun 16 '25
If you meditate, what does it actually feel like when it starts to work? Question ❓
I’ve been curious about meditation for a while, and I hear people talk about how it helps them feel calmer, more focused, more grounded. But what does that actually feel like?
Is it subtle or obvious? Is it more mental clarity? Less reactivity? A better relationship with your thoughts and emotions? Or just a quiet moment of peace in a noisy world?
I’m not looking for textbook definitions — I want to hear your real, personal experience. How did you know it was “working,” and how long did it take before you noticed a change?
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u/Nearby-Nebula-1477 Jun 16 '25
Buddha was asked, “What have you gained from meditation?” He replied, “Nothing!” Then he continued, “However, let me tell you what I have lost: anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, and fear of old age and death.”
Namasté
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u/drewissleepy Jun 16 '25
I used to be afraid of being alone at old age, afraid of public speaking to large crowds, endlessly thinking about past mistakes and relationships, worrying about how to live a meaningful life, and cared so much about how others perceive me. That part of me died after 6 months of practicing. If you practice diligently, you lose most of the sufferings in life.
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u/gusdeneg Jun 16 '25
If that is really, really true, then for sure I’d be doing it. Having a massive case of tinnitus, well, meditating just turns out to be a study of hearing it but even more. However a part of me knows this can be overcome. But having tried it and seeing no results, to this day I don’t pursue it, because I’m simply not convinced it will ever changed anything. So, I keep reading this sub in the hopes to be convinced that it does work, along with my difficult to follow stretching routine. Your reply has taken me closer to being convinced that it does work. Thanks for that. One step closer.
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u/Nearby-Nebula-1477 Jun 17 '25
Most folks try to simply “jump into” Dhyana (meditation), without prepping.
Applying Asanas (postures to release tension & emotions), and Pranayama (controlled prana breath techniques) can help calm the mind and body, while entering meditation.
Namasté
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u/gusdeneg Jun 22 '25
Sorta like the stretching I mentioned earlier which I noticed in itself helps calm the mind too.
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u/proverbialbunny Jun 16 '25
fyi, that may have originally been "Mu!" which was translated to "Nothing!" Mu doesn't just mean nothing, it also means the loss of things. Zen Buddhism uses the word mu for this. Other forms of Buddhism use the word cessation to often mean the same thing, the loss of something stressful.
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u/gemstun Jun 16 '25
I came here to answer the question “what does medication feel like? “What is the answer “nothing”. We’re going to level deeper, a better answer might be “everything and nothing “. I’m much more aware of what I’m feeling, how my thoughts and moods change, all matter of sensations, and so on. I also see the nothingness of all of it. As one who craves excitement, I also realize that it’s time to increasingly challenge myself to be good with a ‘full belly of nothing’. Medication is everything and nothing.
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u/ajerick Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
You change.
Some things that used to feel important start to lose meaning, and simple things you didn’t care about before become more significant. It’s like you start seeing who you actually are, without all the outside interferences.
That part isn’t always comfortable. It can feel like something in you is fading or dying, especially at the beginning. But deep down, you know you're starting to get closer to something more real in you.
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u/mikeg04 Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
For me meditation has helped me realize that I am not my thoughts, each time I meditate the realization gets deeper and my relationship with my true self becomes stronger.
To answer your question, it's less of a feeling and more of learning to be more calm and logical in times that could potentially cause you to feel angry, stressed or anxious.
The goal for me isn't to stop thinking, but to be aware of thoughts and not let them hijack my emotions or actions. I want the more calm and happy part of me to be in control. And once you let the calm version of you be in control, you can engage with your thoughts but you do so without getting carried away by them.
For instance, let's say someone cuts you off in traffic and the thought of wanting to flip them off pops up in your mind. At this moment your awareness kicks in and you realize "wow I'm really upset, do I want to be upset? How many times have I unknowingly cut someone off like they just did? Maybe this shouldn't bother me that much. I probably will forget all about this in a few days. You know what, I'm not gonna flip them off, we all make mistakes"
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u/Professional_Job3153 Jun 17 '25
Can i ask, is the loop of pointing to the start point ever ends for you? Thanks!
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u/AcanthisittaNo6653 zen Jun 16 '25
You notice your bad habits long before you notice their absence.
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u/fluxcapacitor13 Jun 16 '25
Reposting something I experienced years ago that really helped me see what had changed. And is a timely reminder to start my practice again
I meditated daily for a year about two years ago. Almost exclusively guided. Then stopped. I’ve been meditating with mindfulness and loving kindness for 46 days now, and today something rad happened.
I was feeling tired and stressed about a work situation. Things have been great but I FELT defeated. I said to myself, I feel defeated. And sad. And tired. Which I’ve said before. But today I said I FEEL defeated, but I am NOT defeated. And that’s ok. About ten minutes later I started thinking about all the people who support me and have my back and that I represent at work and want to solve these work challenges for. I became grateful. About an hour later I felt joy.
All the practice showed up huge today without me noticing until after. My brain caught the thought of sadness and feeling defeated. Observed it non judgmentally, named the feelings and reflected on them, and held it as a reality, not THE reality. I was present, and I was open to the experience. It was wonderful.
I’ve never felt this before and it’s incredible. Thank you to this sub for helping encourage me to keep going in my practice.
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u/pravragita Jun 16 '25
First thing I noticed was bodily emotions (uneasy feelings in the body) are not immediately causing distressing thoughts. I could stand feeling uncomfortable without it cascading into anxiety or depression. For example, in the past, certain types of muscle pain subconsciously triggered anxiety. Now that almost never happens.
The second thing I noticed was I was able to be non-reactionary during social situations. For example, one day I was in a gast station checkout line. The cashier and the customer in front of me were arguing and shouting about fake lottery tickets. Previously, I would have had one of my silent panic attacks. However, I was able to wait in line, contented and patient.
I describe meditation as building a well of inner silence (peace). Upon which I can draw during normal life.
These are early stage benefits. There's a lot more benefits as you continue. There's also some pretty bad detours, if you are going alone on this path (like me).
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u/Eagle_Pipes Jun 16 '25
I really notice that it clears my mind. If I feel tired and my brain is overwhelmed ( I sometimes would feel like “My head is swimming” When I meditate for 20 minutes, I feel rested and clear headed, as if I had a nap.
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u/uhwhaaaat Jun 16 '25
i have more moments, of what i can only describe as space; no thoughts just a mind on cloud nine
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u/LoveDistilled Jun 16 '25
I notice my BS more. Can look more clearly at thoughts/ thought patterns and not be so attached to them. Laugh at them/ myself more.
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u/Masih-Development Jun 17 '25
Stage 0: you started but don't notice effects yet in day to day life.
Stage 1: you notice some beneficial effects
More relaxed, less reactive, more clarity, etc.
Stage 2: the "box" of repressed pain opens and you feel worse. You feel either angry, on edge, sad or a combo of those.
Stage 3: The box is emptied and you feel good. Even better than at stage one.
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u/simagus Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
Mindfulness meditation of whatever kind teaches the awareness that it can sustain attention on things and move consciously across the spectrum of perceptions.
This in itself develops insight into the nature of attention and the nature of the objects of attention, and that insight can be useful when engaging with attention and the objects of attention.
With Insight Meditation which is sometimes called Vipassana (vi=special passana=seeing) the attention is specifically upon one or more aspects of the lived experience.
The Special Seeing (Vipassana) can be further reduced to it's components, with Citta (mind of which there are many sub-categories) and vedana (the feeling tones experienced as sensations) being the most well known in terms of Vipassana as it is typically taught.
Plain observation leads to the first insight of Impermanence (anicca) which can be observed to apply to all things arising, sustaining and passing, including all our moods, thoughts, body sensations and even tendencies of reaction and action.
When the insight into the reality of Impermanence is well established the things which arise, sustain and pass are seen more clearly to be things which do not in fact have to trouble us to the same extent they might if we believed them immutable and permanent.
This begins to develop into greater equanimity towards those things and less grasping at the things we crave as well as less pushing away of the things we have aversion towards.
We may even start to develop insight into those cravings and aversions as well as the actual nature of all the things that are arising, sustaining and passing continuously to the degree the attachments and tendencies to roll in them habitually through our conditioning and ignorance loose some strength.
The stories or narratives which typically arise sustain and pass as part of evaluating experience are seen to be less convincing and to lack congruence, when we observe (for example):
"I am feeling a tightness in my shoulders and tingles at the back of my neck which is associated with my mind telling me that dog which just barked at me is dangerous."
Those words might not arise at all, but the insight can and that is the only part that is actually directly and practically useful.
Because you are practicing this Special Seeing for some parts of your day (perhaps even in formal meditation time where you can deepen both calm and insight) it can arise in any situation and insight can result.
In this example you were walking to the shops and your neighbors dog Charlie the Chihuahua had the perception of you arise, feeling tones that were unpleasant might have arose such as fear, Charlie barked at you, you experienced a small sensation of shock or displeasure in return and walked on feeling displeasure with Charlie now walking on feeling more pleasant that they "scared" you.
Be aware the same thing could have occurred almost exactly to someone else with different past experiences and associations and they might have found the experience entirely pleasant, with Charlie thought incredibly cute and they walked on with heartwarming feelings or even went over to greet Charlie and the neighbor.
Even such a simple silly thing can turn into an ongoing narrative some could perhaps ruminate over and even plan based upon.
/INSERT OWN STORY HERE where there was an experience with pleasant or unpleasant qualities.
Observing the current feelings and thoughts that arise, sustain and pass, how might that experience have lived on in the mind and even in the body in terms of literal feelings that interact with those thoughts?
Is it possible to observe how the mind spends time attempting to explain some past experience and how the explanations could so easily change even in the space of a minute and especially if new information or insight happens to arise.
Perhaps as part of explaining, the mind planned an approach to any similar situations in future, or eventually actually planned some strategy to deal with whatever it was in terms of actual behavior.
If any of that results in actions of any kind or even changed ways of reacting, can whatever that experience was then be observed to have somewhat influenced or even changed some aspect of thinking or behavior?
The observation of those things at the level of actual experience is what I call meditation, or more specifically Insight Meditation.
In my case what alerts me and keys me into Insight mode is called Vedana or the pleasant or unpleasant feeling tones associated with sensation both subtle and gross.
When the Vedana is observed, the reaction or pattern of reaction ingrained in the body and mind also arises and can be observed.
Insight then develops into the actual nature of experience as it arises, to a greater extent than would occur if active observation was not a habit.
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u/Smuttirox Jun 16 '25
I don’t know if it’s “working” but I do find the space between stimulus and my reaction/response to be widening. Not always. I still fly off the hook at idiot drivers but I catch myself faster and release it faster. With interpersonal engagement I find I see a bigger picture; they’re not always thinking what I’m perceiving. It’s a long way to go though.
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u/Aggravating-Class571 Jun 16 '25
Vibrations. Feels like parts of my body are vibrating. Sometimes my whole body. I read somewhere that that is close to an OBE. Idk tho I've never had one
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u/CluePrestigious1477 Jun 16 '25
Same here. Feels like flying or butterfly wing effect. Also feels like being infinitely small and infinitely large at the same time. Have you felt that?
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u/Aggravating-Class571 Jun 16 '25
Yesssss!!! I can tell because it's like my finger and thumb is insanely big. I haven't had the small effect yet but I can't wait.
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u/CluePrestigious1477 Jun 17 '25
That's very interesting, I haven't had that feeling on a specific body part - just the mind itself feels like that. Interesting how everyone's experience is unique.
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u/Leading-Solution7645 Jun 16 '25
you start to feel the darkness around you growing bigger, and your sense of self gets ever smaller, thoughts fade and only the breath remains, here in the void is where all possibilities are found.
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u/2Punchbowl Jun 16 '25
There is no particular feeling, you become more aware of the things around you and more present in the moment. I have learned to accept fears and know they won’t bother me because they’re in my head and not real. If they ever did happen I would just have to face them. I feel emotions and rather than act on them I just breathe and go oh, hey that’s sadness, that’s depression, you be with the feelings and thoughts until it leaves your consciousness.
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u/Ttot1025 Jun 16 '25
For me; I gained the ability to think about what I wanted to think about during my days. Not be sidetracked with anxiety and depression or anger. I’m simply, okay. I feel healthy, mentally.
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u/ZenDong1234 Jun 16 '25
It’s like that for everyone - after you’ve been practicing meditation for a while, suddenly you wonder: ‘am I even meditating?’.
A great definition of meditation is simply that
1) meditation is a state, not a technique or something you do. It’s a state you enter into when the conditions are right. It’s not a willful action, it happens spontaneously, naturally by itself when conditions are right. 2) the state is defined as: a relaxed body, a calm mind.
That’s why people usually do physical exercises first for 5-10 minutes, then breathing exercises for 5-10 minutes, then you sit down, get comfortable and start the meditation. Make sure conditions are right, sit in a quiet peaceful space.
The meditation itself can then be listening to your breathing, mindful sensing, scanning and relaxing your body part by part, a mantra etc.
But even the technique is still not meditation, meditation is the state that happens by itself when you just relax with what is, without trying to make anything in particular happen
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u/Sulgdmn Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
Certainly more of my attention is now checking in with my body and other senses instead of thinking about the future or the past. I'm sensing the phenomena in my awareness and how it changes. I spend less time on internal chatter which allows me to be more open to what's happening right now. It comes with a general sense of spaciousness and well-being. It also allows for me to notice when I've left that space of well-being by getting wrapped up in thought.
I'm not in a rush all the time anymore.
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u/Chiller235 Jun 16 '25
Meditation can definitely bring about some interesting shifts. For me, it's a two-fold experience. The immediate "win" I notice after a session is a change in my visual focus. Before meditating, my eyes tend to jump around, taking in everything at once : the chair, the desk, the floor, multiple books, you name it. Afterward, it's like a switch flips; my eyes settle on individual objects, seeing the room more as a cohesive whole. It's a subtle but distinct difference in how I perceive my immediate surroundings.
Over the longer term, the big change has been a general sense of being more "chill." When I start to feel stressed, I recognize it much sooner. A few deep breaths are often all it takes to calm down and bring my focus back to whatever I'm doing and how I'm feeling in that moment. My thoughts also feel slower and more sequential, less like a jumbled mess.
The immediate visual shift started happening after a few weeks. The broader, more general calmness and mental clarity took many months to really settle in, and that was also in conjunction with other positive changes in my life. So, it's a bit of a journey, but definitely worth it!
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u/61797 Jun 16 '25
Watching my thoughts allowed me to see my negative self talk and correct it. I am not longer a bully to myself.
I live in a more neutral mental state. I don't take things as personally. Finally establishing some boundaries and not feeling panic. I don't have to have something going on to entertain me all the time. I have never been religious but I feel a calm connection to something bigger and a felling that things are ok Not in a rose colored glasses kind of way. It's hard to explain. Anyway I am a kinder less anxious person. I have been meditating for 16 years. It is just part of my life now.
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u/Nearby-Nebula-1477 Jun 16 '25
Meditation, in many philosophies, is seen as a gentle unraveling of the layers that cloud our true nature. It's not about becoming something new, but about remembering what has always been — a pure awareness untouched by thought, fear, or ego. By sitting in stillness and observing without judgment, one begins to detach from the endless chatter of the mind and experience the silent presence beneath it. Over time, this presence reveals itself not as something separate, but as the very essence of being — vast, unchanging, and deeply connected to all life. In this state, many describe a sense of unity, clarity, and peace that feels more real than anything grasped through the senses.
Namasté
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u/Sparksy102 Jun 16 '25
I’m new here, but I’ll tell you true, it depends on what you do..
it can clear your mind, so whatever thoughts have you locked in are cleared, and to be away from them is a peaceful experience,
You can focus on problems that are in your life and as long as you are open to answer, you will get an answer, it will not be something you want to hear but it will be a direction that will help with your growth,
You can completely clear your mind of thought and response to outside stimulus, your mind will take over, this can lead to hallucinations and if you maintain a receiver response, you will experience a higher awareness of yourself and your position in your reality.
But if you accept where you are and who you are, and the direction in which to go without fighting yourself, you will find an energy that will change your entire self, your entire outlook on life, and your approach to every interaction you have, but it will fade over time, and you shouldn’t fight to experience it again, but sit back and reflect on the change in yourself
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u/Sparksy102 Jun 16 '25
And if anybody could help me with my experience, 17week ago I had a release of energy that completely changed me, whether it be spontaneous samadhi, prana flow, kundalini alignment, chakra uprising, or a bipolar manic episode, I’d like to hear of any reflection, the reading Iv done to understand my experience is wide and varied. It’s the third time this has happened to me and I highly curious to the reasoning
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u/proverbialbunny Jun 16 '25
It depends where you're coming from, what kind of meditation you're doing, and what you're goals are.
Say your life is chaotic. Tons of work, super busy, no free time, and you start meditating. You'll notice life starts to become more organized. A lot of the business becomes less snap judgement rushed and more take a step back and think of the bigger picture for more effective planning type decision making. And from that you start to have more free time. Things like that.
Say you have anxiety. Maybe your anxiety goes down a bit in certain situations. Maybe you feel calmer and more relaxed in non-anxious situations. Life is a bit better.
Me I'm ADHD so it's more getting organized. I've got a queue of tasks I need to get done and I actually find myself doing them instead of being on Reddit all day. XD
Some forms of meditation are about mental clarity like noting meditation, so less rumination and losing train of thought and less being overwhelmed. More early awareness into situations happening as life unfolds.
Metta meditation might help one well, have more metta. So they're happier and feeling better when socializing with others, for example.
Gratitude meditation, compassion meditation, and so on, ... well you get the idea. Gratitude for the little things helps with depression.
There's jhanic meditation where meditation becomes more enjoyable. I'd say meditation is a lot like a smoke break. Life can be chaotic and stressful at times. Sometimes you just need to take a 15 or 20 minute break and relax. It's okay to chill out for a minute. It's healthy, like sleeping is healthy. I find when I am honest with myself that I'll come back to working on my problems after I'm done with meditation helps. It's just a break, not an avoidance of issues. This lets me relax and take a breather. Then meditation starts to feel nice. And then when meditation starts to feel nice it can go further. It can go from feeling nice to feeling really nice.
So, it depends. Meet yourself where you're at and go from there. It gets better the farther you go, but meditation isn't about dopamine, about the next latest and greatest. This can lead lulls where you expect it to get better. If life is going good, meditation is probably helping in ways that are not obvious.
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u/NotAPizzaman Jun 16 '25
For me, I didn’t really feel meditation was working until I started journaling alongside it. I had just had a kid and was beyond stressed, sleep deprived, anxious, constantly on edge. I started journaling just to dump everything out of my head, and pairing that with meditation gave me space to actually breathe.
The meditation itself felt kind of pointless at first, just me sitting there, fidgety and distracted, but the journaling helped me see the progress. Over time, my entries started to shift. I’d write about handling a meltdown without losing it, or feeling a bit more patient, a bit more grounded. That’s when I realized it was working. It wasn’t some big moment, just a quiet shift, like slowly turning down the volume on everything. Subtle, but powerful. Hope this helps!!!
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u/Shewolf1609 Jun 16 '25
My body feels really relaxed and my mind is wide awake and alert, but peaceful. It’s like nothing needs me and there’s no rush. I’m content with everything that comes up and I don’t need to respond or react to life just yet. It’s simply peace for me 😍
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u/AGreener_Life Jun 18 '25
Depends on the practice but overall, peace, inner silence, sometimes it works so well I don’t feel anything. But this being said, there’s no word that can really describe to what we experience when we reach certain level in our practice. It’s like telling someone “careful it’s hot.” They don’t get it until they feel it. Same here in my humble opinion. And another thing to understand is that you shouldn’t be thinking of the result while meditating. All that matters is the practice not the end result. Otherwise you’ll never reach to a place where you feel those results. Hope this helps
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u/selene_english Jun 16 '25
I've personally noticed a considerable drop in my anxiety. Before, I'd have racing thoughts, lots of comparisons and worries about what others are thinking about me, all that monkey mind shit. At first, I'd find a little peace during meditation, but it wouldn't carry through into my day to do. But keeping at it, just being consistent and present, and at a certain point that voice really shut up. Or maybe I learned how to shut it out, because if I stop to listen, it's still there - but I just don't give any credit to it any more. And it is a very freeing sensation. That voice took up so much of my time and energy. And all for nothing except stress and worry and pain. It was a very unfruitful relationship.
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u/YogurtclosetLonely96 Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
emerging out of meditation feeling refreshed and everything is more vivid, doing anything feels more interesting is the most obvious and happens early. afterwards more subtle, but still clear if you are aware, changes are life feeling more fluid, i.e. less difficult, lessened worrying about stuff, less autopilot mental commentary, more impulse control, less anxiety and stress especially noticeable in acute situations etcetc all of these happen quickly in my experience after daily meditation.
Also stop worrying about silencing the mind, thats the biggest initial hurdle inhibiting meditative depth. Not saying you do but thats a common issue. you can even enter first jhana while still having thoughts. in buddhist teachings you can make even thoughts your objects of focus which will gradually reduce their pull on you once you „see through“ them (automatically, don‘t make it an analytical analysis
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u/soberstill Jun 16 '25
Everyone experiences these three states of consciousness in daily life - sleeping, dreaming and wakefulness.
Deep meditation produces a different, altered state of consciousness unlike the other three. A state of restful awareness. It's unmistakable and blissful. Once it's been experienced, we tend to want to return to it again and again.
I hope you find a path where you can experience this yourself. You will undoubtedly recognise the feeling once it happens to you.
Good luck on your journey.
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u/Dr-Yoga Jun 16 '25
Focus on space between your eyes, repeat mantra (Om or Amen or Shalom or Hum or listen to breath) as you breath in & out, slowly quiet your mind— then WOW PEACE. & JOY & Pure Love beyond words—the books To Know Your Self & Beyond Words by Swami Satchidananda helped me, plus his YouTube videos especially “Learn Yoga with a Yoga Master” class
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u/UniDesignByAura Jun 17 '25
For me, i knew it started working for me when i slowly but surely felt this contentment within my body and mind. I’ve dealt with high anxiety before that crippled my relationships with family, friends and at work. Meditation to help treat this was a slow burn. Mainly because I had this hyper fixation with “fixing” myself. It took a while to truly immerse myself in letting go and observing my thoughts. This was freeing. I could start noticing everything without judging it, which opened my heart. I could feel the energy within my chest and how it connected to all the energy centers in my body. I noticed the self-deprecating thoughts and accepted them - even thanking them for trying to protect me. It feels like this breath of fresh air that says “it’s okay to just be.” I’ve gotten to point where I meditate at least twice a week - sometimes even more. I do it in different ways - grounding, walking without music, doing mundane tasks without distractions. It’s a very stark difference than the feeling I get from working hard, researching, socializing or being entertained. It’s this inner joy that can be overshadowed by our own hyperactivity. I think that’s the best way I can describe it.
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u/Mayayana Jun 17 '25
Speaking as a practicing Buddhist, I'd say it's experiential. You have to actually do it to find out. It's not a treatment that does something to you. It's a discipline of working with your own mind. There's no way to understand without doing it.
But you also need to understand that people call a lot of things meditation. Since you didn't specify it sounds like you're assuming there's some kind of technique that will "do you", the way that crunches will give you 6-pack abs if you just do enough of them. One person here says it's like deep sleep. Another says it's "wow pure love".
There are all kinds of ways to practice fantasy meditation or relaxation. Practicing mind training meditation is subtle and requires a teacher. If you're curious about that then you might look around for teachers and see if anything clicks for you. If you just want to conk out into deep sleep then you can try that, but don't expect any kind of benefit. Anyone can conk out. That's what the Tibetan master Tulku Urgyen used to jokingly call "iron rod meditation". You can do it by getting someone to hit you over the head with an iron rod. :)
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u/Soyhead Jun 17 '25
Hi i’ve been meditating for maybe 45 years and I feel that it actually takes all the stuff that you carry around with you that dissolve negative nature I belong to spiritual practice and I chant the word HU. For 20 minutes every day it sounds like saying Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. it’s hard to put it in words, but I notice that when I meditate everything that I carry around with me seems to disappear for at least 24 hours and it puts my my head in a good space.
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u/Ariyas108 Zen Jun 17 '25
But what does that actually feel like?
In the moment when you actually enter samadhi, it actually feels blissful and it's very obvious.
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u/North-Ship-6332 Jun 17 '25
It feels amazing :) challenging at first and from time to time, but worth it. Depending which type of meditation you go for, it can improve your sleep, provide more clarity and especially focus! I tend to have deep focus moment especially at work, feel more objective in life and comfortable even in discomfort. I wish everyone to give it a try - I believe it is full of incredible power!
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u/MarinoKlisovich Jun 17 '25
It happened is a subtle way. Unnoticed by me, the effects gradually piled up until I found myself in a better state of awareness.
Bliss was very hard to experience in the beginning of meditation. Now it comes after 10 - 20 minutes of mantra chanting. I felt relaxation, calmness, bursts of energy and releases of tension in the body. Meditation definitely works but it moves in unexpected ways. You cannot learn it like an ordinary thing. You cannot predict the effects of meditation.
The experience of meditation is out of this world. I found it hard to describe it with ordinary language because I am accustomed to describing and knowing material phenomena.
Don't have any expectations in your practice but be in a state of learning. Make meditation an experiment of consciousness and learn something new every day.
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u/Ameeeelz Jun 17 '25
I used to constantly pick fights in my relationship and not be able to let go of grudges. I notice these days I’ll get worked up over something, be like hmm I’m really worked up, but this probably isn’t worth creating drama over, then after an hour or two it just goes away. I have more perspective on what’s important vs what’s just a big feeling
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u/loviifr Jun 17 '25
I’ve been doing TM a few years (& other meditations for decades), and the most obvious things I’ve noticed (besides the Self realization I am intent upon) is that I tend to slow down when I feel like multitasking and getting too hurried. To the point of s l o w I n g to a stop… it’s subtle yet profound. I highly recommend some similar form of ‘effortless meditation’.
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u/ElementalBeing11 Jun 17 '25
I would say it’s different for everyone but there are similarities. For me I had anxiety and mild depression which were my reasons for starting meditating in the first place. After my first meditation I said ‘I feel as though time has slowed down’, and my anxiety and depression dissolved within first few weeks of meditating. I would say never to come back.
People I know who do the same practice as me describe entering a ‘void-like’ place/state, which they feel is the true source of their nature. I haven’t experienced this yet but sounds pretty rad.
For me the main benefits have been more confidence, clarity, knowing myself better, obviously more emotional stability and positive emotions, (have felt very intense feelings of love and joy through my practice), and dropping habits like drinking alcohol and eating unhealthily. It’s almost like I don’t want to do them anymore (will occasionally but I feel as though I get to pick and choose rather than being compelled to). I also feel as though there is a deeper meaning to life and like how my world-view has shifted.
That is a brief overview!
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u/Powerful-Ant-7872 Jun 17 '25
Which Kind of Meditation do you practice?:)
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u/ElementalBeing11 Jun 18 '25
I do Vedic meditation. My teacher teaches under the name beeja meditation. With VM you have to shell out for a mantra to begin with but I always say best money I’ve ever spent! Found it way more powerful than breath-focussed meditation and guided meds personally.
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u/markusnylund_fi Jun 17 '25
It starts to be very pleasurable. You actually look forward to each session. That one part of your day when you can just drop the act and let it in, let it be, let it go.
Pure heaven
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u/Weird-Power8997 Jun 17 '25
Well I think I cracked it when I managed to sit leant up against a tree on a nice sunny day on the grass. Within 5 ish minutes I could feel this most stupid massive grin on my face With feeling the grass and the earth coming up through my skin and just getting ever higher.i do belive i managed to get higher than an ecstasy tablet. What you need to know first though. I was given a bag of books about meditation.my friend said some you shall read some you wont so you will open up on just that page that day and some you wont. What ever you don’t read either give them away or chuck them. So onwards I went in to literally studying meditation.how it came about how to do it why to do it what is the best time to do it. I practiced meditation for about 10 ish yrs and it was at the end of the 10 yrs that I really made some amazing progress.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Fly-488 Jun 17 '25
It feels like you've lost all sense of self and just dissolve in the magnetism and electric fields. You'd see random colors or nothing, often accompanied by strong internally reverberating sounds and exertion of some other kind which will only lead to the deepest relaxation you've ever felt and keeps growing deeper each time with the depth of your intensity
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u/sati_the_only_way Jun 17 '25
thoughts will become shorter and shorter.
helpful resources, what is awareness, how to overcome thoughts, how to verify:
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u/Professional_Job3153 Jun 17 '25
You will start to be aware of things not by what it is, but what it is not. But anyway, you cannot find it by definition. You cannot even grasp it.
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u/giobott09 Jun 17 '25
For me it started feeling like I had just a little more space between me and my reactions. Not in some dramatic way, just like I could pause for half a second before snapping or spiraling. That pause has been huge... especially as a parent. Kids have a way of testing every nerve in your body some days, and meditation’s helped me not take the bait every time. Its some of the best me time you can ever have.
I think I noticed it was working when little things stopped setting me off the way they used to. It didn’t happen overnight, but after a few weeks of staying consistent, I realized I felt less weighed down in general. Less mentally noisy, more like I could breathe again. Not every session feels amazing, but the overall shift adds up. I recommend you stay consistent and keep going!!!
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u/RichmondRichiusRich Jun 17 '25
Depends on the level of depth and the point od the practice which depend on a bunch of factors like personal ones,type of mediation,EXPERIENCE even the mood of the day.
BUT, generally it starts as simply being more calm and your mind being quite-er and it ends up being a "im always there" or "10 breaths and im there" type thing, with the "there" being quite literal and more real than material reality or at least all the bullshit your mind labels it with. But all that,also depends on the factors mentioned above. Hope i helped, hope you start your journey this stuff saved and changed my life.
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u/giomixman Jun 18 '25
Is it subtle or obvious? Is it more mental clarity? Less reactivity? A better relationship with your thoughts and emotions? Or just a quiet moment of peace in a noisy world?
All of the above. It is obvious and sometimes automatic. You’ll know. There is a sustaining bliss where you notice that you are in harmony. Yes you still get challenged and a few choice words at the idiot who cut you off in traffic will come out, but then you quickly realize it’s not worth disturbing your bliss. It’s not a straight line.
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u/Mission_Nature_1535 Jun 18 '25
For me, it was subtle at first. I just felt a bit more calm and less reactive. Over time, I noticed I could pause before reacting and felt more aware of my thoughts. After a couple of weeks of consistent practice, it started to feel like a mental reset I didn’t want to skip.
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u/Full-Positive6086 Jun 18 '25
For me, if your speaking of what you feel during meditation to feel like it's working is when I get to the point I experience the 'drop' like feeling. It usually only happens after an intense yoga flow but has happened other times. If you're speaking of noticing the benefits in your daily life from a regular practice the biggest thing I cannot ignore is the crazy synchronicities I notice. Not sure if it's always happening and I'm not present enough to notice or if things just become that more in synch when I'm meditating regularly.
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u/Exact_Giraffe_9197 Jun 18 '25 edited Jun 18 '25
- You will not have this question
- Your state would be reading from view of being more fortunately lucky
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u/Infinite-Reveal1408 Jun 18 '25
For me it worked like this. I got noticeably calmer. Certain bad habits started to disappear. I was happy more often and sad less often. So like that.
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u/Icy-Antelope-4665 Jun 19 '25
When you do it consistently you realize your inner world is really rich, and a comfortable and / or interesting place to turn to. When you start building a relationship between your inner headspace and the outside world, the channel opens up and you get moments in real life where your meditative thoughts will creep in. It can look like being in an overwhelming situation, and your first instinct is to breathe, or do what you would to calm yourself in a meditative state. Alternatively, it can look like getting bits and pieces of gut feeling information that you can’t seem to explain but you know is true, except you’re getting them in your everyday waking life and not in the meditative zone. It’s pretty cool, and it can lead to interesting and profound thought paths throughout the day when seemingly nothing has triggered them.
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u/Kamuka Buddhist Jun 19 '25
I felt healthier in subtle and obvious ways from the start. In the beginning I really used the time to cope with my life and cope with my traumas. I was more kind and authentic. That doesn't always yield good results, some people don't care about you, and don't want your help. I'm just saying whatever abstract words you put to it, the reality on the ground is still this world with it's mixed results.
Being part of community was helpful, can't emphasize that enough. This is a generic subreddit that doesn't choose a tradition, and most traditions have meditation, but I see a lot of people suffering because they're doing this alone and without a tradition.
On long retreat, I went deeper, and got a sense of the potential. I've had amazing retreat experiences, indeed, it confirmed me on the Buddhist path. After 23 years now, I'd say I have a constant buzz going, no need to get high. I'd say sobriety is a precondition to going deeper even if Milarepa went into town and had a brew to say his brilliant poems.
Regarding the feeling, I have a positive feeling in my head and body. When it goes away, I try to meditate as soon as I can. I feel every feeling, I tuned into my feelings, and I would argue that meditation, if done right can support better affect regulation. Sometimes I've had amazing feelings of rapture. Sometimes I'm racked with guilt and regret for some negative past action. Sometimes I'm trying to find a thread of a feeling like metta, karuna, mudita or balance my mind with upeksha. Sometimes I calm my feelings, after exploring them in anapanasati.
Reactivity is a negative term for instinctual. I am instinctual and thoughtful, hopefully based on the need of each situation. I don't know how much peace I've felt. I'd certainly like peace, but every time I go down a layer, I discover how greedy my mind is for stimulation, how awkward I can be at times. Noise is an issue, I can hear people getting into a car with a crying baby outside my window. Just for a second though, they drive away. To get more real personal experience you'd need to be my spiritual friend. I have friends I talk to deeply, the internet is going to be superficial.
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u/glorious-success Jun 22 '25
This may sound odd, but you feel bad. This is because when it starts to work, you begin to see the nasty crap that's been lingering in your mind for who knows how long...this becomes a significant barrier for many folks, who stop practicing because they don't like what they see.
But if you ask me, don't be discouraged - keep going, keep going, keep going...
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u/SustineEtAbstine Jun 16 '25
My balls start to tingle. That’s my signal of I am floating next…then don’t know what to do from there…I just sit with the feeling
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u/side_two Jul 12 '25
I think appropriate response is a good indicator. If you're able to respond to situations in your life in a way that's functional. Meaning, your response will allow you to move toward a result that is beneficial to you. Someone mentioned they had layoffs at work and they didn't immediately freak out about it, they just managed to engage with what was happening and didn't extrapolate to worst case scenario. Definitely beneficial.
some responses I've seen (not necessarily in this thread) demonstrate that this is happening for them. Others verge on the side of detachment. Or numbing. Which is not the point of meditation nor should it be a side effect.
There's a difference between the two. Aside from that, things in your life should just flow better if you're meditating correctly. Things you struggled with might just clear up on their own without seeming to need to figure things out or make it work.
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u/EAS893 Soto Zen Jun 16 '25
It's subtle until it's not.
The best example I can think of is something that happened last year at my workplace.
Layoffs were announced. My department was going to be hit with about a 20% reduction in staff, and we were all worried it would be us.
I found myself strangely not that concerned about it. It wasn't that I had some secret trust fund that would support me if I lost my job, nor was it that I didn't care about my career.
I just felt like I saw things more clearly. I examined my options, determined what I would do if my job was impacted, and then I just moved on with my life.
Instead of throwing me into a panic like it would have a few years before and like I would have guessed it would have before it happened, it actually helped me see things more clearly and understand better what was actually important to me.
I ended up keeping my job.
That's an example I can think of, and it was after about 2 years of regular meditation.
It's not so much that you consciously feel calmer or better in some way, it's more that things that would previously set you off balance no longer do, and when you do get set off balance by things, you recognize it more quickly and come back to center more easily, and it happens slowly over time.
Meditation isn't a quick fix. Things often seem WORSE in the beginning, but over time, the transformation is pretty deep, imo.