The walls are breathing!

[lo_ri_der]

OKay for almost as long as I can remember, whenever I have concentrated, or just looked at a flat surface, object, or anything, I have been seeing it move. It breathes in and out very slowly. At times I can make the entire room move away, or move closer to me. I have always thought these were halllucinations, maybe developing schizophrenia or something. Maybe it's my third eye, maybe not. I really cannot explain this. Has this ever happened to anyone else? What's your advice?

[MisterJingo]

This is an artefact of being aware of either visual processing or internal processing. A lot of information is usually filtered by the brain (We perceive the filtered version). Through act of will, it's possible to force yourself to take notice of what is normally bypassed. Whether this is desirable is up to the individual, as the more you focus on these things, the more it reinforces you want to notice them - and the greater the effects seem. Such as the movement – our eyes actually move in minute amounts when we think they are looking straight at an object, eyes themselves see in a very 'tunnel vision' way, but through this minute movement, we seem to se a greater area then we would otherwise. Through perception of this slight movement, it can make it look like objects are moving (sliding across the floor, growing, shrinking, distorting). This can be seen when we get really drunk and the floor judders as these small movements seem to become staggered as we lose motor control.

For example, a small percentage of psychedelic users notice a permanent after effect, such as seeing trails and walls moving. This condition has been classified as HPPD (I have this). It's also been recorded in people who have taken certain forms of medication.

If you no longer wish to see these things, ignore it as best as you can. Each time you see it, don't pay attention to it. Over time (it will take a while – years) the movement will get less and less as you reinforce the filters of not wanting to perceive this. Eventually you will hardly notice it at all – although because you have knowledge of this condition you might notice it occasionally.
For what it's worth, I wouldnt focus on these movements as they can get so pronounced that you start to feel disassociated from reality (like you are viewing life from a distance). I experienced this for a few years, and I would definitely not recommend it. Everything moved around 24/7, and with this I experienced everything leaving imediate imprints on my vision, trials off all objects (including the floors trailing into walls or my arms leaving trails, or lights trailing,  and the trail imprint on my vision such as when one stares at a bulb for a while, this would happen after just glansing at a light source) and I saw sparkly lights everywhere, and trails which left transparent colours on my vision. Being too aware of some processes can be a serious hinderance

[lo_ri_der]

Thank you Jingo, this now makes a lot more sense. I have heard of HPPD before, and I thought that maybe this is what it was. I have taken mushrooms twice, but the thing is I really cannot remeber if these hallucinations happened before those experiences or not. It actually does not bother me at all, in fact I think it is kind ofinteresting, and unique. But also, it seems to occur much more, and much stronger the days after I have been meditating (using brainwave mp3s). I guess it is because I am more relaxed.

Oh and also about feeling disconnected from reality, I have definitely experienced this. It is not fun. I feel extremely depressed, which is what I think helps trigger it. Actually it also happens whenever I use this certain brainwave technique called "third eye meditation" I downloaded off the internet. The combination of both was just much too much for me to handle. I stopped using that mp3, it somehow always makes me feel bad.

Anyway

Thanks a lot for your advice. It is very much appreciated.

[MisterJingo]

Thank you Jingo, this now makes a lot more sense. I have heard of HPPD before, and I thought that maybe this is what it was. I have taken mushrooms twice, but the thing is I really cannot remeber if these hallucinations happened before those experiences or not. It actually does not bother me at all, in fact I think it is kind ofinteresting, and unique. But also, it seems to occur much more, and much stronger the days after I have been meditating (using brainwave mp3s). I guess it is because I am more relaxed.

Oh and also about feeling disconnected from reality, I have definitely experienced this. It is not fun. I feel extremely depressed, which is what I think helps trigger it. Actually it also happens whenever I use this certain brainwave technique called "third eye meditation" I downloaded off the internet. The combination of both was just much too much for me to handle. I stopped using that mp3, it somehow always makes me feel bad.

Anyway

Thanks a lot for your advice. It is very much appreciated.

There are certain triggers which make this more pronounced. For me some are taking certain drugs, being tired, or suffering from sleep deprivation, meditation (or just experiencing other states of awareness - i.e. gained through binaural beat technology, meditation, trance work etc). Mood can also effect how much I notice it too.
It is there all the time, but unless I specifically look for it, I don't seem to notice it as much as I used to.

During a psychedelic experience we notice a lot of peculiar perceptions - and a lot of these are just exaggerated natural phenomenon that we usually take no notice of. But because we have been exposed to them, it is easier to notice these things when baseline. I know a lot of HPPD suffers don't agree with this, they are looking for signs of physical damage (which to my knowledge none has been found to date, even using the most detailed of brain scans). I know some brain activity scans have shown strange readings, but this is suggestive of nothing really (due to the nature of these scans and how frequently brain activity can change).
I think people just don't realise what power the mind can have on the functioning of bodily organs or our interpretation of perception.

[lo_ri_der]

Wow, good explanation for why HPPD happens. I never thought of it that way. You're right, I have always been afraid, like many HPPD sufferers that i have popped a nerve in my brain or something like that. I like your way of thinking about it better.

[Stookie]

The first time I did LSD I watched my entire living room carpet move in waves like an ocean. After that one experience, I could focus on floors or walls and make it do that. Like MisterJingo said, I think I just didn't notice these subtle visual imperfections before that.

[Sova114]

Sometimes if I space out and gaze at a carpet I can see waves of energy rapidly moving about. It's really trippy.. and I've never done any psychedelics, only weed and the drink.

[MisterJingo]

Sometimes if I space out and gaze at a carpet I can see waves of energy rapidly moving about. It's really trippy.. and I've never done any psychedelics, only weed and the drink.

Yup. Anyone can see these things if they look for them. Or if they notice them by accident it'll be easier to see such things in the future.

[Angeleyes]

I should start by saying I've never taken any sort of illegal substance in my life, so I can't attribute it to that. I've been doing some spiritual work lately and have had many weird things occur lately-- It's not unusual for me to experience strange things, but this latest series of events is even a little 'out there' for me. Okay, so that's the background. I was laying on my bed the other day, just relaxing, enjoying the day. I had my eyes closed. I could feel the bed moving up and down-- as if it was breathing-- Now, I've heard of this happening before, but under VERY different circumstances (there was a documentary about a demon possessing a family's house. A team of experts/investigators came to study and try to figure out if it was indeed a possession and they needed a priest exorcise the entity. They--the investigators and the family--slept on the floor in the living room on mattresses, which they noted to be "breathing"). This was not at all a negative experience, but it was odd, even for me, and I can't attribute it do drugs or anything like that so... am I just going nuts or what? I've been wondering about this since it happened.

[MisterJingo]

I should start by saying I've never taken any sort of illegal substance in my life, so I can't attribute it to that. I've been doing some spiritual work lately and have had many weird things occur lately-- It's not unusual for me to experience strange things, but this latest series of events is even a little 'out there' for me. Okay, so that's the background. I was laying on my bed the other day, just relaxing, enjoying the day. I had my eyes closed. I could feel the bed moving up and down-- as if it was breathing-- Now, I've heard of this happening before, but under VERY different circumstances (there was a documentary about a demon possessing a family's house. A team of experts/investigators came to study and try to figure out if it was indeed a possession and they needed a priest exorcise the entity. They--the investigators and the family--slept on the floor in the living room on mattresses, which they noted to be "breathing"). This was not at all a negative experience, but it was odd, even for me, and I can't attribute it do drugs or anything like that so... am I just going nuts or what? I've been wondering about this since it happened.

You're not going nuts . Depending on your state of relaxation, awarness of body can shift. As we become more relaxed, we start taking less notice of physical stimuli - the result is that the mind 'fills the gaps', it tries to compensate for this.
The effect can be strange sensations like you experienced, loss of awarness of the body, or even feeling your body stretching, distorting, or even body parts merging.
It can be taken as an indication of a deep relaxation / light trance. It's not bad in the slightest .

What was talked about in previous posts regards actually seeing things growing, distorting or moving physically. Everyone can see this if they put the time and effort in - but I can;t see a benefit of it, as it's very distracting. There are optical illusions which produce a similar effect. One contains 3 moving spirals, which when stared at, produce moving and distorting of the visual fields for a few seconds.

[Soulja_]

i had a similar experience when iw as young i though it was normal plus i felt i could see in long distance
i dont see like this anymore maybe because i ignore it while i grew up
now i would like to resseen like that but have no idea how to do it
any idea how to get back this thing visual?