Feeling Heavy During Meditation? My Experience With This

I was speaking with a friend today and he told me he’s been “feeling heavy during meditation” recently.

These sensations felt so real that it’s been bothering him.

When I asked him to elaborate, he said sometimes different parts of his body feels heavy. Like his head would feel too heavy to move, if he tried. Or his whole body felt like it was stuck to his bed (he meditates lying down).

It was interesting to talk to him about this because I’ve also had similar feelings before, but never actually spoke about it to anyone. Certainly not anyone who had also experienced heaviness while meditating.

So, I thought I’d share what we discussed here. Hopefully, some of this will resonate, and even help some of you better understand what you’re feeling while meditating.

Is It Normal to Feel Heavy or Grounded While Meditating?

It is normal, yes. By “normal”, I mean that it’s not that uncommon, so you shouldn’t freak out or feel like something is wrong.

Something I noticed is that I used to get these feelings a long time ago, and haven’t felt it for quite some time.

My friend who is experiencing these feelings is fairly new to meditating too, he’s been practicing for about a year.

So, I think it’s something that is likely to pass with time if that helps.

I discussed it with a meditation teacher at a mindfulness meetup we have in my local area here since speaking with him to see what he thought.

He told me it can often mean you’re activating your kundalini chakra, which can cause some powerful and profound feelings. So, that’s something to explore in more detail.

This is only one explanation though. There can be a number of reasons, most of which might relate to a person’s own physical and mental state at the time of it happening.

What Should You Do When You Feel Like This?

The key to meditation is not to focus on any feelings, sensations, or visions you have while you’re meditating.

This is the hardest thing to overcome for people new to meditating. I can hear you now, you’re asking, “how can I not focus on something that’s happening?”

This is the profound thing about meditation, you’re having these feelings because you’re not focusing on any one thing. Other than your breathing of course.

It takes practice, I know this all too well.

So, don’t feel bad if the first few times something that feels odd or new catches your attention.

Over time, you’ll naturally start to allow your body to take over during meditation, and whatever happens, will happen.

The best way I’ve heard this described is to observe what you’re feeling, not analyze it. In our day-to-day lives, we analyze everything and act on thoughts and feelings. While meditating, the goal is to observe in the moment.

What Other Sensations Do You Feel While Meditating?

If you’re meditating regularly and getting deeper into it, feeling heavy isn’t going to be the only feeling or sensation you experience.

Some of the other common feelings are:

Warmth, or even extreme heat – Make sure you’re breathing properly and regulating your temperature. Heat is often a good sign that energy is flowing freely around your body, although it can be uncomfortable.

Difficulty staying awake – Falling asleep is really common while meditating. After all, you’re lowering your brainwaves and falling into a deep state of relaxation. I covered this in more detail in the post below:

Related – How to tell if you’re meditating or sleeping.

Random pains – Often, when we feel pain it’s related to trauma in the past or relates to a blockage of energy and a specific chakra. You can find out a lot by investigating the area that’s in pain when you’re not meditating.

Floating feeling – Feeling like you’re floating is one of the more powerful and interesting feelings in my experience. I’ve literally felt like I’m levitating at times, and it lead me to explore this more; please see below if you’re interested;

Related – Why do I experience a floating feeling while meditating?

In Summary

If you’ve started experiencing feelings or sensations while meditating, it’s a definite sign that you’re connecting with your subconscious mind and making progress.

This doesn’t always help when you’re left feeling concerned or confused, however. You’re right to ask questions and explore these feelings further.

While there isn’t always a “right” answer, and everyone will have their own unique and individual experiences – I hope I’ve helped you better understand what your mind and body are going through while meditating.

Keep practicing, keep exploring, and keep making incremental improvements each day. I wish you all the best!

Resources

Image credits – Photo by Matteo Di Iorio on Unsplash