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Welcome! I'm new here too though I've been lurking for some time. There's a lot of great information and everyone seems very friendly.

Owl, I received my copies of the first three books in the series and I just finished the first, Anastasia, last night. I liked the book very much and I sincerely want to believe in the existence of Anastasia but, like you, I feel that some or the claims made in the book are a little difficult to believe.

I really don't think the effects this book has had on people are that much different than those of Thoreau's Walden Pond, or the "back to the earth" movement of the late 60s. I know I was swept up in the movement after reading Walden and being exposed to The Whole Earth Catalog, Stephen Gaskin's The Farm concept in Tennessee, and communal living in general. After experiencing the hardships inherent in such a lifestyle I quickly fell away from it though I didn't give up the dream that such a lifestyle was possible. I think this book has introduced, and reintroduced, a lot of people to the idea.

I've read some accounts that claim the author made everything up and other claims that say the author is merely trying to protect Anastasia's privacy. As she's quoted a saying in the book, "I exist for those whom I exist".

Whether she exists or not, the book has apparently sparked a primal urge in a lot of people who aren't happy with their overly complicated lives and who are longing for something simpler and better for themselves and their children. They see that technology and industry have brought us pollution, over crowding, and materialism and have moved us away from our spiritual natures. I have to say that I agree. 

I too get the whole body jolts you describe, and always when I'm in a state of deep relaxation nearing sleep. But then I've always had them for as long as I can remember. I sometimes get the arm and leg jolts as well during meditation. They're not frequent but always unexpected.

I haven't had the head pain for a couple of months or more, and the facial twitches stopped as well and I haven't really thought anything about them. I will certainly get it looked at if they return.

After about 35 years away, I began meditating again several months ago using the Monroe Gateway series. I immediately noticed some physical side effects that were somewhat puzzling. I began getting facial twitches and I started having brief, fairly intense shooting pain in my head.

I figured the twitches were a result of the Hemi Sync sounds since my fingers, hands, arms and legs would, and still do, twitch during the early part of the meditation. The shooting pains would occur frequently throughout the day - like at least once every 30-60 minutes. They were always in the same place - laterally on the upper right side of my head in a narrow band running from back to front and nearly to the eyebrow. The pains lasted only 5-10 seconds and felt like "brain freeze" that you get from ice cream. The head pains and facial twitching lasted about 3-4 weeks and stopped as suddenly as they began. I almost forgot all about them until I read another post about someone having headaches and it jogged my memory.

Has anyone else experienced similar physical sensations? Does anyone have any ideas or theories? I thought that perhaps the sensations were caused by the sudden use of a part of my brain that hasn't received much exercise in the past 35 years, but what do I know?

Thanks, I'll be watching my mailbox!

Have you read them owl? I ordered the first three from Amazon and I'm still waiting on their arrival. What did you think?

Hi everyone. I'm a "seasoned" male who isn't quite eligible for retirement yet. I was very interested in spiritual matters and a counterculture lifestyle when I was younger and was even involved in an Eastern "cult" for a while (I grew out of that pretty fast) before marriage, children, and work focused my mind on other matters. Now, nearly 40 years later, I'm once again moving back to where I left off all those years ago. I'm working my way through the Gateway recordings, trying my best to spend about 45 minutes a day meditating, and generally feeling my way around. I'm visiting a few forums, reading a few books, and generally trying to expand my awareness. I've had a few lucid dreams and some very relaxing meditations but that's about it so far. There's no support or group of like minded people in my small community, at least that I'm aware of, so I hope to find folks with similar interests on line.

Thanks for reading and I hope to learn from all the knowledge on the forum.

Summersoltice