One step forward, two steps back?

[astralspinner]

I've noticed a pattern in my meditation which is starting to really get on my nerves.

The trend is that I mediate (almost) every day, and gradually get better and better at it. Then I acheive 'the next level' and for a few days I get the thrill of being able to do something that I could only dream of just a few days ago.

And then it's like a switch is thrown, and suddenly not only am I unable to do that new thing, I can barely even manage to meditate at all. And I have to spend a week or two just trying to reclaim the simple ability to enter a trance, never mind trying to improve upon my skills.

This has happened time and time again - from when I first noticed I was consitently entering trance, to when I consistently was getting imagery during trance, right up to last week when I was able to induce and control the imagery to a certain extent.

And then by Friday, I couldn't even reach light trance, and only today have I managed to even see imagery. It'll be several more days, I expect, before I'm again able to call up imagery and start working on controlling it.

Does this happen to anybody else?

[MisterJingo]

What meditation techniques do you use? Also what is your aim? I ask these questions as it seems you put expectations on your meditation sessions, which will affect them.
When I meditate I have no expectations, I try to reach no state. I just focus on the meditation object and move my mind back to it if it wanders. If something bothers me, I acknowledge it, sencing its effect on my mind/body (passively) before letting go and returning to the meditation object.
I probably don't have to say this but for meditation to be effective long term, a daily routine is needed (even if just for 15 minutes a day.)

If I am doing OBE practice, my methods are very different to those I use for meditation. I learnt quite early that mixing meditation techniques with OBe techniques soon polluted my meditation sessions ie I have no interest in hypnogogic imagery when meditating - it is a distraction, but my mind had assocciated certain techniques with focusing/producing hypnogogic imagery.

[weeNinja]

Hey  

Yes this has happened to me. Im learning to conciousley remote view and try to meditate everyday, but every so often i'll hit a plateau. Then, even trying to get into a light trance is transformed into an incredibly difficult task. Cant explain it really, i just embrace it. I think because your conciousley using areas of your mind that you may have not used before means a period of re-ajustment is necessary.

MasterJingo has some good advice though, just let go of your expectations. Every time i meditate i experience something slightly different than before, so i just kind of go with it. Learning to remote view can be hard because to get to the right level of mind you have to let go completely, of everything! Then when you get there, youve forgotten what you came for . The act of trying brings you back to your concious\analytical state of mind (waking state or beta).

Finding the right time of day to meditate seems to be important also. Many people i have spoke to have noticed this. I find meditating in the evening when i might usually take a nap(hehe) is the best time for me, thats when i can go the deepest. So try shifting things about and see if that helps a bit.

[astralspinner]

What meditation techniques do you use? Also what is your aim?

My only aim when I meditate is.. well... to meditate! But imagery tends to be a useful sign that I've reached a fairly good level of relaxation, so I tend to go with it when it happens. If it doesn't happen but I still reach a trance state, I'm happy with that.

But it's actually one step forward, two steps back, three steps forward, etc.

Actually, I have noticed that. Altho I 'backslide' quite often, I do progress to better than I was afterwards.

I personally found that maintaining a detached attitude to progress is most helpful.

Indeed. In fact, I've found that even letting myself be aware that I could think in a non-detached way can be enough to end a trance state.

(Does anyone else find it really hard to put trance experiences into words? I keep a written record, and it can be impossible to get the ideas across sometimes!)

Anyway. . . Looks like it's not just me being intermittently bad at meditating, at least. It makes a certain amount of sense that reaching a new level results in needing some time to adjust to it afterwards. . .

[Tombo]

Yeah, I too experience this up/down thing, The others summed it up pretty well.
Expectations and meditation don't fit.........