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I've always been that way, gotten restless when I can't move my torso or hips around a lot. But it comes and goes. Yesterday I was fine. So I'll just keep at it!

I noticed that about interruptions not really interrupting it that badly, and that it's really about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. One of my goals is to be able to be deep into it while out and about, being able to sense things I ordinarily wouldn't.

Quick question - does this also happen when you just try to go to sleep? If not what do you think makes it different?

I think I'm not as relaxed when I go to sleep, so I can get to sleep. I do toss and turn frequently, but I don't think the feeling of having to move is nearly as intense when I'm sleeping.

I didn't used to get it, but lately when I'm listening to one of the Gateway CDs or getting to focus 10 on my own, after long enough like 20 mins I get that strong anxious feeling like I HAVE to move. I try to let the feeling go, but it just hangs on and it turns into a matter of willing myself to continue for longer until finally I can't stand it any longer and I have to jerk my whole body violently. Then it still doesn't help and as soon as I'm still again the feeling comes back. The feeling is intense enough that I can't get deep into the meditation and it's all I can do to just keep myself from moving for another second, then another second, until I start trembling and gasping for air, hoping the extra air will somehow help, or as if I'm being starved of oxygen despite the fact that I'm breathing.

Any help?

I don't drink caffeine, and my sugar and starch intake is pretty low. I exercise almost every day. But it might be an emotional issue.

On a sort of related note, I also tend to stop breathing often until I'm gasping for air, and it interrupts my process. I start visualizing or doing whatever, and I have a heck of a time remembering to continue to breathe. Like I can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

Thanks for the welcome!

Normally I don't think I see stuff, just feel it. Or if I see something maybe it's close to reality but a little off. It's probably just based on the feeling.

I haven't really tried making a wall to block things out. I guess I just practice imagining the wall, putting it up and taking it down?

Hello!

I have meditated on and off for years without much progress and am currently working on the Gateway Experience CDs. I'm also reading The Nature of Personal Reality, by Seth.

My whole life I've had issues with being overwhelmed when I'm around too many people at once, and I'm starting to believe it has to do with receiving more data than I know how to handle. I sense things like what someone is about to say, who is at the other end when the phone rings, accidents that are about to happen, someone having a baby on the way, etc. Or when I'm alone in a secluded or wilderness area I sense when someone else is approaching, and maybe what kind of person it is. When I'm in a crowd the different sounds of voices are overwhelming, and I think it isn't just their voices but emotions from them too, because even in silence it feels noisy.

Anyway, I'm working on being more conscious of anything and everything I can think to "look" for so that it isn't all just noise and I can identify and handle things with more elegance and be able to function better and be able to think. And I think learning to meditate better will help too by learning to be more focused and notice things better without my own mind producing noise too.

And now that I think about it, I think I've met other people with this issue. That would be neat if I could develop enough to be able to help other people make sense of it and be more in control and not feel like there's something wrong with them.

So that's the gist of it. That's where I'm at right now. Happy to be here!

The reason I find the article by Ashes to be so helpful is I've meditated on and off for years, with some results like quieting my mind a little, but not much success in exploring anything while meditating. I had a hard time getting deep enough into it, and when I did I felt lost, because I didn't have any frame of reference. So him pointing out a bunch of things that can happen is really helpful for me, because I've experienced almost all of those things he describes as in or around Focus 10 at one time or another but I forgot them or discounted them as unimportant. I do understand that Focus 10 is an arbitrary term for a state that can be different depending on the will or capabilities of the person, but I think sometimes a sense of structure is important for feeling in control, safe, and having a sense of where I am.

Wow, no kidding, that post was a great read! I'm excited with everything he cleared up for me. I've experienced enough of it (though briefly each time, and while feeling lost) recently or in the past that I totally get what he's saying. Reading this was perfect timing for me.

I'm using the Gateway Experience CD set. I'm on Wave 1: Discovery. I got the original CDs, so I have the manuals, but the manual linked from here is more complete. Anyway, neither one totally answers my question.

What are some good ways of knowing when I'm in Focus 10?

I can pretty quickly get to a point where I'm comfortable, still, and most of my body has a sort of soft, soothing vibration, the way my body feels when I'm having a lucid dream and can check for that soft vibration from my body to be able to tell if it's a dream or I'm awake in physical reality (I had gotten the idea to check for that feeling on my own, because it's just something I noticed). Is that a sign of Focus 10, or something else?

That vibration comes and goes as perhaps I lose focus or whatever, slipping back towards Focus 1 (wide awake). And then occasionally I'll feel like I slip somewhere else and lose all sensation for a moment, but it comes back as soon as it faded, and my memory of how I got there is gone. Is that what they call "clicking out"? I'm under the impression that no time passes when I do it, but I have no way of knowing.

One reason I'm unsure about whether I'm in Focus 10 is while I do have a change in awareness I could also at any time instantly jump back to Focus 1, open my eyes, and stand up without feeling disoriented. The whole thing about how I have to wiggle my right finger or focus on the number 1 to bring myself back seems unnecessary for wherever I'm at.