Distracting visuals during meditation

Shared Left Border

Help Yourself
And Others

Notices

What's New on
AYP Plus?

AYP Retreats
Worldwide Listing

AYP Teacher Training

Local Contacts
Meditation Groups,
Training & Retreats

Key Lessons

Spinal Breathing
Pranayama

Spinal Bastrika
Pranayama

Heart Breathing

Yoga Nidra
Cosmic Samyama

Self-Inquiry
Jnana - Advaita

Modifications to
Baseline System

Teaching

Retreats

Enlightenment
Milestones

More Resources

audioicon1.jpg (812 bytes)
AYP on Radio & TV

International
Translations

Press Releases

Articles & Media

Promotional
Materials

AYP Public Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

AYPsite.org Forum

Discussions on AYP Deep Meditation and Samyama

Distracting visuals during meditation

New Topic

Reply to Topic

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

optic

Poland
3 Posts

Posted - May 15 2022 : 8:35:04 PM

Hi,

I've an issue with my practice. With my eyes closed, mind very quickly creates visual stories that suck attention in and the meditation goes downhill, I'm not really aware, but watching and reacting to a weird mental movie. Thoughts and emotions I can deal with easily, they arise and pass no problem, but this visual trance is something I struggle with.

I tried mentally drawing shapes over the ongoing visual scenery and focusing on them - something simple like a circle, or a figure eight and it kind of works, but there's still this focus on eye-space, I feel dissociated from body sensations.

Any ideas how can I deal with it? I noticed touch sensations very quickly turn to visual sensations. Maybe there's a reverse path, visuals to touch? I experimented with it and had some tingles near the edges of my eye sockets, but it's hardly stable.

Any ideas welcome :)

Christi

United Kingdom
4171 Posts

Posted - May 16 2022 : 10:14:03 AM

Hi Optic,

If you notice visuals appearing during meditation, that is fine. It is a normal experience in meditation. If you find that you are off the mantra and into the visuals, then simply favour the mantra again, over anything else going on. So, simply treat visuals as thoughts. The same goes for emotions, or anything else arising in the mind. If what is happening is so distracting that you cannot favour the mantra, then you can easily rest your attention with the experience, until you are able to return to the mantra again. This is discussed in these lessons:

From lesson 13

"Once you have gotten comfortable, slowly close your eyes. You will notice thoughts, streams of thoughts. That is fine. Just observe them without minding them. After about a minute, gently introduce the thought ...I AM... and begin to repeat it easily and effortlessly in your mind. If your mind wanders off into other thoughts, you will eventually realize this has happened. Don't be concerned about it. It is natural. When you realize you are not repeating the mantra, gently go back to it. This is all you have to do." [Yogani]

and from lesson 15 on what to do if the experience is too distracting to return to the mantra:

"...Just be with it for a while. Usually, this will dissolve the discomfort naturally. Once it does, go back to the mantra and continue your meditation until your time is up. Count the time you spent with your attention on the physical discomfort as part of your meditation time. If the sensation does not dissolve, lie down for while, until the sensation subsides. It is a good thing. A big obstruction is going. Let it go easily, naturally. The same procedure applies if you are overcome with a barrage of overbearing thoughts, which may or may not be accompanied by physical sensations. If you can't easily go back to the mantra, just be with the thoughts until they dissipate enough so you can easily pick up the mantra again." [Yogani]

Christi