Being in India, discussing about meditation for such a long time. I have never heard any body speak so beautifully on what happens during sitting for meditation. Great video ....🙏🙏🙏Thank you for such a great video.
wow! very interesting! Back in the '80s I was an artists' model. I could sit still for an hour and often found that parts of my body, like my hands, would feel disconnected from the rest of my body. i used to imagine i was a lizard, and my breathing used to slow down dramatically. I was often in bliss when it was over, and would have to physically pick up my arm with the other one. It was a strange and wonderful experience. I was in that job for 5 years.Now i know what was happening! Thank you so much for this informative video :)
Wow! This made SO much sense to me. I’ve always associated my freezing as a negative thing associated with only anxiety and trauma. So good to hear you explain this. Pulling back towards the medulla is something that works for me too, so cool! 🙏🙏
I absolutely love and benefit hugely from the detailed way you explain this stuff. Thank you so much... educators and their institutions benefit from making things difficult to understand. It’s criminal. Thank you for your openness.
You are an incredible teacher Forrest. I am grateful for all that I have learned from you and been able to put into practice within my life. Thank you for what you do. 🌱
I’ve definitely felt the numbness in my hands & feet, also that empty shell feeling with my energy zipping around inside • Thanks for the tips Forest 🌀🙏🏾🌀
You’ve helped me reach a new level. I was doing a meditation earlier today and was focused so much on resonance breathing. I get pretty incredible waves of bliss and pleasure. One thing I haven’t focused on as much is complete lack of movement. After my 40 minute meditation my arms were so heavy I could barely move them. It was so wonderful to be so calm. At peace and rest. I’m really into dr. Joe dispenza right now, and I’m seeing overlap between different practices. But I can clearly see you are onto something and it’s time to learn. Thank you.
Spot on Forest explains all the things down to a t!! But also helping me where I find I don’t get to the freeze state and longer breathe’s out thank will try it out now!! Much luv n respect to you
Thank you for such awesome videos! They are all meat and no fluff. This answers the question of why when I am sad I go out of my body easier. I felt that cold chill sweep across my body before and wondered what it was?
I have now enjoyed all of your videosForrest. Thank you for sharing. I think, for the first time, I intellectually somewhat understand “the path” of meditation. This understanding clears so much of anxiety regarding “doing it right”. I’m particularly amazed by your explanation of the journey from left (brain) to right. Fascinating.
Atma namaste sir heartfelt gratitude for this wonderful video such a simple explanation..its listening to your teachings are actually party and business..so amazing...God bless much love 🙏❤🙏❤
Theresa of Avila was floating in bliss and ecstasy. So wonderful that you use her as an example. It almost also sounds like the first and second Jhanas. I am an opera singer and yogi and artist. I have asked many people about the vagus nerve and meditative absorption because I am sure even Kundalini must be related to the vagus nerve somehow. Thank you Forrest! Really enjoying your channel.
This is so true. In my meditation both of my arms will start to get numb then eventually would seem like they have totally disappeared and this happens all the time i meditate. Thank you Forrest for sharing your knowledge about the freeze response. Namaste
Fascinating. I was surprised when you showed the image of the dorsal vagal nerve. I was recently diagnosed with somatic anxiety, and the map of the dorsal vagal corresponds exactly to the areas I have pain. My psychiatrist even had me doing a breathing exercise with a longer exhalation. Do you have any idea whether medication can prevent meditation progress?
When I'm meditating I feel a lot of tingling on the left side of my head. Sometimes I get scared and stop my meditation. In January, I started to feel the tingling along with tingling between my eyebrows. I do see faces, colours and shapes. I can also see auras around trees when I stare at them. Around the end of January, I was feeling the tingling on the left side and suddenly waves through my back. Then pounding in my chest but I wasn't moving, no pain. My whole body felt like it wasn't there like I was just brain, (my head was opened)heart and spine. I relaxed and just observed and I felt like I have expanded, a feeling of peace and then my whole body went quiet as if nothing had happened. 🙏
That's actually perfect. When you feel like there's nothing left and it's just you and your brain we call that the Krishna state. It's all very normal it's your freeze response and there are many meditators who have felt the same tingling. So you are in great company. Sometimes it makes us a little bit nervous and our heartbeat picks up and because we are so still and quiet it sounds very loud. there's a part of our brain that recognizes everything as a person so if you look in the clouds you might see a face in the clouds that's a part of your brain and when the yogi touches on this part of the brain he sees lots of faces.
Whenever I tried to go deep into meditation my certain body parts used to get numb especially legs... I thought I am not fit enough to sit for long durations... Now I'm hopeful... Thanks for the clear explanation... Much grateful...
Great! There's a normal "going numb" in our legs from loss of circulation. The "numbness" we talk about in the Freeze Response is very different. It is a loss of the body. The whole body may become numb, or we lose awareness of it, and it is not uncomfortable. It is wonderfully comfortable.
I enjoy watch all of your videos. I have been practiced Wim Hof 's breathing technique and would ask you for advice if I want incorporating both techniques into my daily practice. Can I use your technique for 30 breaths (in/out) and the 31st breath using Wim Hof's (exhale-1min. hold/inhale-15sec. hold)? your advice is greatly appreciated!
I understood everything you said. I understood what was that brief blissful feelings, which came sometimes in meditations, of course dorsal vegal nerve right? And yes, relaxing face is very important, sometimes it happens on its own which is very cool, clear feeling, and that's when we go into pratyahara if I remember correctly. And yes, I definitely feel some parts of my body differently, sometimes kind of numb, and the body parts distortion I have felt in my younger ages also without meditation, when one part feels to be abnormally bigger, or my head going up, ect. Thank you for this great video.
To-day is a New Moon day, and in Vedic astrology this Moon is in Capricorn - how appropriate this teaching. Short and deep. Just like me! Ha Ha! Thanks FK
Hi Forrest, Thank you so much for your videos and your advice and techniques are so helpful! I have made a lot of progress recently. So I start with the breathing, Hong Sau and my hands get warm, body numb, then mind is focused on the area of the third eye and then it seems to go to a space of restful calm, velvety darkness of eyes closed. Sometimes thoughts, images and words come up from the subconscious, dream-like. I need to add in Kriya now, and I need to review the details, so please advise on the next video to watch. I am SRF. Thank you so much and I am so happy with progress!
Dear Mr.Knutson - I’ve been searching everywhere for this freezing of my face that happens while meditating. Thank you for making me feel that I have come to a milestone in my meditation. for me first it happens in upper jaw then nose then head if I stay long enough or fortunate. Wha to want to know is my upper jaw and nose have started freezing when I read a book or type in a laptop or smart phone. I figured if I don’t move my face it happens. Is this also a side effect of the meditation. Thank you.
Thank you for this great video, Forrest. I’m practicing Kriya and HRV breath down to 15 inhalations/15 exhalations per min. What if my hands never get “hot”? In fact they are really cold. Also, I’m normal circumstances my hands tend to be cold quickly. Maybe it’s connected somehow with the meditative cold-hands state.
Before your next meditation, rub your hands together for a minute, to bring extra sensation and blood flow. Make sure the room is warm. Then see if you get any HHH sensations. Even a little.
Nice! Thanks. Love the mullet analogy hahaha Sometimes I get this experience that I'm sitting on a 45 degree angle. It's really strange, when open my eyes I'm sitting up straight. Would you say this is a sign of the freeze response?
I got an unrelated question. From your experience is there anything scientific about crystals. I currently started working with shungite and soapstone and can feel slight sensation in my hand while holding them. Can't say anything significant happening besides increased sensation because of me having more awareness of my hand due to holding them. Just wondering if crystals could possibly have effect on brainwaves directly or if it's just intention based. I probably worked with crystals 2 years now and can't say that any major improvement in my life is directly attributed to them. One thing I do know I enjoy collecting them even if they don't help because they are very beautiful either way.
Thank you for sharing this information. Very interesting how the parasympathetic and sympathetic responses work with our vagal tone. Sometimes I get the feeling like I am falling (like what happens sometimes when you are falling asleep, but I am still awake and fully aware). Any idea what might be causing this sensation and what it means? If it doesn't startle me out of my reverie I tend to go into a very deep meditation when this happens. It almost feels like a lucid dream, but for the most part I am completely aware, although sometimes it does get a bit surreal.
@@ForrestKnutson Thank you for you response! Sometimes I am able to maintain awareness, whereas other times it feels more like a void, which is usually very brief but these are the times it feels more dream like...
@@osanatural2228 Thanks for the Info, thats what I'm aiming for. I want to get in the Void to access all posibilities, like lucid dreaming, astral travel and so on. I think this freeze is like sleep paralysis, and if you can be conscious you get into a WILD or Astral body or Void. All this youtubers speak about sleep paralysis, but no one can explain in detail whats truly the cause and how to get step by step into it, they only want you to be still and wait till it will happen, that can be very frustrating if you lay down completely still for hours without success :) Now with this explanation from Forrest, I have high hopes, he was the first after thousands of videos that has a real step by step solution.
Thank you so much for the deep explanation. When I meditate I experience spontaneous Kryias and spontaneous Pranayama during exhalation which feel absolutely blissful. And although my arms/ head/ torso are moving I feel frozen. Is there an explanation for this?
Because you are deep in the subconscious, their movements take expression in your body. If you ever want to quiet it down, just talk to your Unconscious Mind before you sleep, and ask it to go ahead now, and quiet down your meditation and deepen your bliss.
Thank you so much for your answer! I heard that there are two explanations for spontaneous kryias ( english is not my first language and I apologize for my mistakes). The first one is a release in trauma and these kryias are not coordinated and can include sudden movement, or shaking etc.. The second explanation was that when kryias are harmonious and refined it is Shakti dancing through the body. Could you please shed some light on this?
Thank you Forrest! Your videos helped me understand more of what's going on with me during meditation. May I know what do you think is happening when even if I'm not meditating , even if I just close my eyes to sleep, I'd see the same purple and sometimes with green swirls of light?
Oh great to hear that Forrest and thank you again 😊 Sometimes I see these too even when my eyes are open! When I'd just stare at walls or ceilings..then it's there.. Does seeing the spiritual eye explain that the other chakras been cleared? Sometimes when I meditate lately I'd hear your instructions and words like Lahiri Mahasaya..thank you 💖💫
Just a question. About a year ago I started meditating at a very old church with lots of colorful symbolism around. Helped me enter a deep meditative state, enabling me to see a golden circle what I believe is the cave of honey you mentioned, which then transitioned between short bursts of extremely vivid imagery of 3-5 seconds periods, flying over forests, diving into water and swimming with fishes and so much more. So vivid and real that I felt the need to blink even though my eyes were already closed and I was not able to tell if my eyes were open or not, which was the only annoying part of it, otherwise it was wonderful. But it also got me worried, because it is not mentioned anywhere, even though I researched intensely, except a Quora post that stating it could lead to a psychotic experience, and visuals during meditation should be avoided. I disregarded that, and in fact, I had a psychosis not much later after gaining this ability, and had to quit entering that deep meditative state. Could you please shed some light on this? Is the golden circle that I saw was something else than what you have mentioned? Have you heard anything about vivid imagery during meditation? Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your teachings.
Awesome, Kerem. Yes, that was the spiritual eye. Once we've slowed down that much we can get in touch with very slow brainwaves such as the Theta brainwaves. In that state we can have a waking dream. So, you're essentially awake while dreaming. That's when you'll have images such as this. You could go deeper than this Theta, and start reflecting the Gamma brainwaves, and then we will receive information. I call this the download phase, and my Guru calls this "Googling God." Many meditative systems ask you to stay away from images, since an awake dream isn't exactly the point of meditation. However, the download phase is a wonderful thing that we do want in meditation. Makes sense?
@@ForrestKnutson It's wonderful that you know all this! I've been in the dark about this all this time, and I truly, truly appreciate you even further for your guidance. I wish I had found this channel earlier, so I wouldn't be tormenting myself all this time thinking I broke my processor, lol. It really felt like receiving chunks and chunks of data, maybe it was too much information to decode for my brain at the time? I believe I just wasn't ready, and the excitement of it all, and the lack of guidance got the best of me. Even though I explained it to my doctor later, he was utterly confused of what this is and just couldn't give me any valuable knowledge so just made no comment on it. It actually progressed a bit further than that, maybe into the theta waves, which makes much more sense now. Sorry if this is so verbose but I just wanted to put it out there for anybody who could be interested how it could be like. It would always start with the spiritual eye. Then it got a bit more sophisticated than those Gifs. I would think, "ROAD", and find myself in sort of a mental village of wild-west type and tried to walk around and attempted to enter the houses around. At first it was like a game in a development stage, the ground just wasn't supporting me, I was falling down into the darkness under the pavement quite a lot, it would require concentration to go back up. I would just bungee jump up and down, until I got that right and the pavement was finally holding me up. Then I tried entering the houses, trying to open the doors caused a huge wave of disturbance in my meditation and would make fall back down and shoot up in the sky the very same way. I don't remember ever having that much fun though. But after some time, managed to enter some of them, some rooms and doors would trigger a fear response and kick me right out of the meditative state. Nothing that I saw there had made any immediate sense, and all that progressed from no experience to that, within just a couple weeks for me, and after a while I felt that my brain was burning up. I just had to slow down, and give it more time to digest. Now, after about a year I feel fully relieved of depression since my teenage years. I am creative and full of stable energy, resolved a lot of issues with my upbringing, and firmer connection to my family and friends even inspiring them to do and feel better. I wish I would do better at projecting this into people around me, but it's good to take it slow. Forrest, I know you feel the same way, wanting to spread all this wonder into the world, so much love and respect to you my friend. I've a lot to learn, and long way to come.
It's been so hard to focus lately... I feel like not a plateau but just a brick wall... cant even focus long enough to get close to any proofs. I persist and yet each time I'm like scrambled eggs. Maybe I need to get out of the hood for a away. Away from the city. The lights and wires and cars etc... sigh
Thank you for this amazing information and sharing with us bless you.I have intense flow in the front now and my messages have stopped coming through. Please can you tell me how to balance the front and back as it seems the back flows now its the front. have all these sensations for long now but this front energy is like when you pull a tooth and the healing feeling from it. Is very strong. I hope I am making sense.
Hi Debra! Try some long outbreaths, and feel the spine. Feel into it as if you are peeling layers. Blow breath and OMs into it, so that the front layers dissolve. Try that, and let me know how it goes.
What a knowledgeable video thanks a lot genius 👏. Need one advice while practicing HRV i face this problem quite often that saliva use to come inside my mouth and beacuse of that i need to swallow it and advice to fix this?
Hi Forest I've been watching your videos lately and you breakdown all these things so clearly and I'm really grateful to you about that. However I just have this doubt that isn't it important for people who are stuck in freeze response or freeze response caused by trauma or suffering from dissociation to get out of it. Wouldn't meditation using hrv be a contraindication for such people. Wouldn't they be doing more damage if they just stick to meditation.Many programs like TRE exercises are designed to get trauma sufferers out of the freeze response to lead a more connected life.
That may well be the best path for some. However, there have been some meditation teachers like Richard Miller who have taken those with PTSD and freeze problems through meditation, and in the process of "just be here" have slowly healed themselves of their freeze irregularities. I should do a video about this.
One doubt.. If body image is interrupted how to maintain focus between eyebrows?? Sometimes during meditation I totally can't make out the point between eyebrows
Relaxation of the facial muscles is very important for meditative absorbtion and perhaps one of the hardest parts to relax. Also the body distortion is now constantly there when I close my eyes. Also my left eye seems to be very tight for some reason and I have to consciously try to relax it, not sure why it's so tight but it can feel quite disturbing.
This is the second time I am watching this vid. I would just like to ask, is it possible to have this feeling in two places at once? I have experienced heat in the hands and face, then intense tingling in my jaw, pulsing throughout my body. On a couple of other meditations, I got the jaw tingling plus tingling from my backside (lol) and pulsing from both.
That's absolutely possible. I've often felt the entire body tingling and having cool sensations all at once while my hands were hot and heavy at the same time.
Sorry for my bad english, i'm french 😅.... Thank you so much for this méditation 😇🙏🙏🙏 I have a question, during this méditation, my entire spine become warm like lava, did you know what that means ? And another question, what we are supposed to do during méditation when the 4 proof are realized ?? What the next step to proceed or to get more deep ?
That's great Cedric! As the immune system is activated, the body, or the "spine" can heat. It's most likely the blood in the main artery which is heating. Once you have all of the proofs, check the Breath States and see if you have the deepest Breath State.
@@ForrestKnutson ok ! Thank you so much 😇🙏🙏🙏... At my deepest state, my body moves like à snake in front of flute 😅... I'm going to check your breath state vidéo. I wish you a wonderful evening 😁😊🙏🙏🙏✨✨✨✨✨✨
Forrest, i used to lose myself on meditation and could go for hours without discomfort. But i wasnt getting positive results. I would get duller and tend to get depressed. Why is that?
When we are permanently disconnected it is because of built up negative emotions and limiting decisions about our life. The best thing we can do is make a long list of all of those and go through them with timeline therapy, with the timeline therapy walkthrough that's on my channel. Go through them one by one and begin to weed them out until we feel comfortable in our own life.
Yes, that's recommended for disassociation. You can also just be with yourself. Just be with your body, or become aware of your intelligence, and aware of your consciousness operating your intelligence. If you are in disassociation, then you will hit a wall or mist of uncomfortabliity, or emotional content. That's progress! That's what you want to head into in order to come back to being "at home and comfortable in yourself."
Hey Forest, in one of your videos, it might have been this one, you talked about the freeze response. You said that we know about it because of Saint Teresa of Avila she would be praying very deeply that she would become frozen in place. So frozen that the nuns would lift her out of her kneeling posture and go place her in bed because she would be there in samadi for hours. And you said the yogis of India as well become frozen in samadi. Have you heard about stasis beings - beings that have been alive for a long time that have been found in a stasis state found in sarcophaguses or stasis chambers. I've seen articles about them before, don't know if they're real or fake. And Corey Goode claims there are stasis chambers all over the world with beings in them in a stasis state still alive. One article said they used technology to preserve their bodies in this stasis state using crystals. So maybe not the same thing. But I heard there was a yogi in India once that let them bury him in a coffin or something and he went into a stasis like state. He told them to dig him back up in a month or three months (can't remember how long it was) but when they did he was still alive. So is this frozen state that these yogis and Saint Teresa experience in samadi the same thing as being in a stasis state? And I was wondering, when this happens to these people does the heart and brain stop? Does their breathing stop?
Yogananda actually went around with an Italian performer, who would bury himself. He had one technique, which would slow him down enough, that he could be buried. His wife freaked out every time, and he would come out of it hours later looking blue and purple. Not exactly healthy. In that case, he's probably getting as close as you can to actually stopping, before it begins to damage the body.
I get to a state of awareness during meditation but it then quickly seems to progresses to a state of unawareness. I am unaware but I don’t think I am asleep. When I spontaneously come out of it, I am fully alert and relaxed but not sleepy. So I am not sure what it is.
There is a state in meditation, in which you enter into Absorption, but you lose all the benefit, because you lose your awareness, as if sleeping. That's the part that is to be avoided. If you are still aware, but you notice you're not thinking in words as you usually do, then that is perfect.
I believe I am getting to the freeze response. My whole body tingles and I feel bliss. But then I go to a “void” where I do not remember anything and have no sense of time. Is this what it is supposed to be or am I supposed to be aware the whole time? Thank you for any insights ❤️
@@MWilderdyke perfect, so you are in "true" meditation at that point, and you are touching on the right hippocampus. We call that Absorption. Or the beginning of Absorption. So long as you are not "sleeping" and losing awareness.
@@MWilderdyke well, it is necessary to be "awake and aware". That awareness will be different from normal waking awareness, but we will not be "asleep" and without awareness. You see?
@@ForrestKnutson I am disassociated I don't feel any hunger as digestion collapsed and I have no sadness or joy no pain feel like a walking nothing. So if I go further into freeze should I come out into sympathetic anc then dorsal
@@cherylwilsherlimberlife7210 so in this case we don't necessarily want to put you deeper into a freeze response because you are already doing that quite well. but you are not balanced as you're not able to flow in and out of it. However meditation absolutely can help by learning how to be at home with yourself. Imagine you want to sit with yourself until you melt the ice. Men for example often stuff down their emotions and poor concrete over the top so that they don't have to face them. Sometimes there's something about ourselves which we are not comfortable with and so we bury it deep inside. In this way we become a stranger to ourselves we become dissociated. So the past to health is to learn to be okay and at home with ourselves at home with our own emotions at home with all of our natural instincts. Does that make sense or resonate at all?
Im just curious ...my friend has the SRF lessons .They are also all over the internet .That Kriya breathing exercise and what not .And they are not all that great .In fact the tantra kriyas in my opinion are alot better and more powerful .What am i missing ???Or is SRF and Yogananda not for me???The spinal breathing that tantra teaches is "A thousand times more savage"!!!
I'm in a separate lineage from Yogananda. What is your end goal? If samadhi happens during the most tranquil moment of your life, are you certain you want something savage? While you practice a savage tantra, are you awakening the parasympathetic or the sympathetic system? Something to think about. ;)
Well ....i love ya man ..but i thought about your little proposal ....and i think i would rather be A SAVAGE !!!💪💪💪💪😁😁😁😁😁🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🇮🇹BUT ...YOU ARE A GREAT WELL RESPECTED AND LEARNED MAN !!!I MUST SAY ...I AM IMPRESSED !BUONA FORTUNA .WE WILL SPEAK AGAIN PERHAPS
@@albertoanacletti7817 that is totally cool. As I said it really depends on what you're looking for so some practices will work well for some kind of results and other practices will work well for other kinds of results. 😉
Relaxing the facial muscles is a very powerful technique. Just doing that one simple thing changes the entire internal energy environment.
Absolutely Philip! Well said!
So true!
Being in India, discussing about meditation for such a long time. I have never heard any body speak so beautifully on what happens during sitting for meditation. Great video ....🙏🙏🙏Thank you for such a great video.
Thank you Kashi! 🙏
wow! very interesting! Back in the '80s I was an artists' model. I could sit still for an hour and often found that parts of my body, like my hands, would feel disconnected from the rest of my body. i used to imagine i was a lizard, and my breathing used to slow down dramatically. I was often in bliss when it was over, and would have to physically pick up my arm with the other one. It was a strange and wonderful experience. I was in that job for 5 years.Now i know what was happening! Thank you so much for this informative video :)
Wow! This made SO much sense to me. I’ve always associated my freezing as a negative thing associated with only anxiety and trauma. So good to hear you explain this. Pulling back towards the medulla is something that works for me too, so cool! 🙏🙏
Awesome Taylor! 🙏🙏
Fantastic, have been waiting thirty years for an explanation, of the nervous system and breathwork
Amazing, Rose! If you read my new book, it will explain in more detail! Blissings!
You're a Blessing Forest, thank you .
I absolutely love and benefit hugely from the detailed way you explain this stuff. Thank you so much... educators and their institutions benefit from making things difficult to understand. It’s criminal. Thank you for your openness.
Thank you Steve! My pleasure!
Very concise explanation. You are solving the puzzle, Dear Forrest.
Thank you, Doctor!
Your greatest transformation will always happen when you are at your most still.
Perfect, Charles!
You are an incredible teacher Forrest. I am grateful for all that I have learned from you and been able to put into practice within my life. Thank you for what you do. 🌱
That’s powerful. The emphasis that you put on the singular importance of “make the outbreath longer” Thanks
I’ve definitely felt the numbness in my hands & feet, also that empty shell feeling with my energy zipping around inside •
Thanks for the tips Forest
🌀🙏🏾🌀
That is awesome!
You’ve helped me reach a new level. I was doing a meditation earlier today and was focused so much on resonance breathing. I get pretty incredible waves of bliss and pleasure. One thing I haven’t focused on as much is complete lack of movement. After my 40 minute meditation my arms were so heavy I could barely move them. It was so wonderful to be so calm. At peace and rest. I’m really into dr. Joe dispenza right now, and I’m seeing overlap between different practices. But I can clearly see you are onto something and it’s time to learn. Thank you.
So awesome!! Congratulations!
Thank you Forrestji, this explains some things I've experienced. As usual, very perceptive, insightful, and genuine. Peace to you dear one.
Thank you Janna, that's perfect!
I actually retreated when this first happened to me. I had no idea I was doing hrv. It really is an incredibly intuitive process. Thank you.
Wonderful, Erin! Well, I hope my videos give you the confidence to continue.
Spot on Forest explains all the things down to a t!! But also helping me where I find I don’t get to the freeze state and longer breathe’s out thank will try it out now!!
Much luv n respect to you
Perfect Nick!
Thanks for this explanation I had always wondered why it's so hard to me to speak after meditaton. Now I understand. Thanks
Perfect, Norma!
This is wonderful, answered lot is my questions related to freeze response. Thank you!
Fantastic Venuvijay!!
Thanks for the 7 steps playlist!
I've already started.
Excellent! That's one of the best!
This is very helpful... Thank you!
greetings from Peru, I follow all your advices and I'm progessing a lot thank you for share the light for those who are far away from a master
Gherson that's fantastic! Congratulations!
Thank you for such awesome videos! They are all meat and no fluff. This answers the question of why when I am sad I go out of my body easier. I felt that cold chill sweep across my body before and wondered what it was?
Exactly right!
Sometimes my body feels is gone and am just pure awareness , Thank You Forrest !
So perfect!🤩🤩
Thank you for such a clear and enthusiastic explanation.
Awesome, Charles!
I have now enjoyed all of your videosForrest. Thank you for sharing. I think, for the first time, I intellectually somewhat understand “the path” of meditation. This understanding clears so much of anxiety regarding “doing it right”. I’m particularly amazed by your explanation of the journey from left (brain) to right. Fascinating.
Erry! That's amazing! Did you go all the way back to the beginning? Bravo!
Meditative island...I want to go! What a perfect video
Haha! Thank you Joshua! I think you made it to the island already! Haha!
@@ForrestKnutson hahaha
So help full, I now understand from symptoms on the front plane ventral that's in freeze shutdown
Thank you so much.. tranquil breath equals a happy life♥️♥️♥️
Great explanation. Some day I will get there hopefully. Thanks a million Forrest Guruji
Atma namaste sir heartfelt gratitude for this wonderful video such a simple explanation..its listening to your teachings are actually party and business..so amazing...God bless much love 🙏❤🙏❤
Party and business! Haha! I love it! Thank you Vimala! God bless you and yours!
@@ForrestKnutson Thank you so much for your kind reply sir loads of love ❤❤❤❤🙏🙏🙏🙏
Theresa of Avila was floating in bliss and ecstasy. So wonderful that you use her as an example.
It almost also sounds like the first and second Jhanas.
I am an opera singer and yogi and artist. I have asked many people about the vagus nerve and meditative absorption because I am sure even Kundalini must be related to the vagus nerve somehow.
Thank you Forrest!
Really enjoying your channel.
Fantastic Karine, yes it is related!
This is so true. In my meditation both of my arms will start to get numb then eventually would seem like they have totally disappeared and this happens all the time i meditate. Thank you Forrest for sharing your knowledge about the freeze response. Namaste
That is so fantastic! Well done!!
Thank you Forrest. 🙏
Thank you Jolly!
Fascinating. I was surprised when you showed the image of the dorsal vagal nerve. I was recently diagnosed with somatic anxiety, and the map of the dorsal vagal corresponds exactly to the areas I have pain. My psychiatrist even had me doing a breathing exercise with a longer exhalation. Do you have any idea whether medication can prevent meditation progress?
Thanks alot forrestji 🙏
Thank you Arash!
When I'm meditating I feel a lot of tingling on the left side of my head. Sometimes I get scared and stop my meditation.
In January, I started to feel the tingling along with tingling between my eyebrows. I do see faces, colours and shapes. I can also see auras around trees when I stare at them.
Around the end of January, I was feeling the tingling on the left side and suddenly waves through my back. Then pounding in my chest but I wasn't moving, no pain. My whole body felt like it wasn't there like I was just brain, (my head was opened)heart and spine. I relaxed and just observed and I felt like I have expanded, a feeling of peace and then my whole body went quiet as if nothing had happened. 🙏
That's actually perfect. When you feel like there's nothing left and it's just you and your brain we call that the Krishna state. It's all very normal it's your freeze response and there are many meditators who have felt the same tingling. So you are in great company. Sometimes it makes us a little bit nervous and our heartbeat picks up and because we are so still and quiet it sounds very loud. there's a part of our brain that recognizes everything as a person so if you look in the clouds you might see a face in the clouds that's a part of your brain and when the yogi touches on this part of the brain he sees lots of faces.
Whenever I tried to go deep into meditation my certain body parts used to get numb especially legs... I thought I am not fit enough to sit for long durations... Now I'm hopeful... Thanks for the clear explanation... Much grateful...
Great! There's a normal "going numb" in our legs from loss of circulation. The "numbness" we talk about in the Freeze Response is very different. It is a loss of the body. The whole body may become numb, or we lose awareness of it, and it is not uncomfortable. It is wonderfully comfortable.
I enjoy watch all of your videos. I have been practiced Wim Hof 's breathing technique and would ask you for advice if I want incorporating both techniques into my daily practice. Can I use your technique for 30 breaths (in/out) and the 31st breath using Wim Hof's (exhale-1min. hold/inhale-15sec. hold)? your advice is greatly appreciated!
Great Brother....🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you Raam!
Thank you very much for explaining this. It helped a lot.
Excellent Albie!
I understood everything you said. I understood what was that brief blissful feelings, which came sometimes in meditations, of course dorsal vegal nerve right? And yes, relaxing face is very important, sometimes it happens on its own which is very cool, clear feeling, and that's when we go into pratyahara if I remember correctly. And yes, I definitely feel some parts of my body differently, sometimes kind of numb, and the body parts distortion I have felt in my younger ages also without meditation, when one part feels to be abnormally bigger, or my head going up, ect. Thank you for this great video.
That's really fantastic! I'm so glad it all clicked so well!
To-day is a New Moon day, and in Vedic astrology this Moon is in Capricorn - how appropriate this teaching. Short and deep. Just like me! Ha Ha! Thanks FK
Haha! Fantastic Joy!! Short and deep! Perfect!
This also seems similar to flotation tank, where I get into deep states of rest - also enjoying your videos, thanks.
Absolutely! Thank you Paul!
So helps with visuals for me!
Wonderful, Cheryl!
thank you
Excellent advice!!! As ALWAYS...........Thank you FK. "BE STILL AND KNOW, I AM GOD" RAMANA MAHARSHI said this was THE F O R M U L A
Yes it is! Thank you Doug!! You're exactly right!!
Hi Forrest,
Thank you so much for your videos and your advice and techniques are so helpful! I have made a lot of progress recently.
So I start with the breathing, Hong Sau and my hands get warm, body numb, then mind is focused on the area of the third eye and then it seems to go to a space of restful calm, velvety darkness of eyes closed. Sometimes thoughts, images and words come up from the subconscious, dream-like. I need to add in Kriya now, and I need to review the details, so please advise on the next video to watch. I am SRF. Thank you so much and I am so happy with progress!
Dear Mr.Knutson - I’ve been searching everywhere for this freezing of my face that happens while meditating. Thank you for making me feel that I have come to a milestone in my meditation.
for me first it happens in upper jaw then nose then head if I stay long enough or fortunate.
Wha to want to know is my upper jaw and nose have started freezing when I read a book or type in a laptop or smart phone. I figured if I don’t move my face it happens. Is this also a side effect of the meditation. Thank you.
Thank you for this great video, Forrest. I’m practicing Kriya and HRV breath down to 15 inhalations/15 exhalations per min.
What if my hands never get “hot”? In fact they are really cold. Also, I’m normal circumstances my hands tend to be cold quickly. Maybe it’s connected somehow with the meditative cold-hands state.
Before your next meditation, rub your hands together for a minute, to bring extra sensation and blood flow. Make sure the room is warm. Then see if you get any HHH sensations. Even a little.
Nice! Thanks. Love the mullet analogy hahaha
Sometimes I get this experience that I'm sitting on a 45 degree angle. It's really strange, when open my eyes I'm sitting up straight. Would you say this is a sign of the freeze response?
YES! Exactly right Bradley! That's the same kind of experience.
The facial muscles are difficult to relax. I'll work on it some more. Thanks for the tips Mr. Forrest🙂
My pleasure!
What practice you would suggest if a person is stuck in freeze response and how to back to normal and more connected to life?
I got an unrelated question. From your experience is there anything scientific about crystals. I currently started working with shungite and soapstone and can feel slight sensation in my hand while holding them. Can't say anything significant happening besides increased sensation because of me having more awareness of my hand due to holding them. Just wondering if crystals could possibly have effect on brainwaves directly or if it's just intention based. I probably worked with crystals 2 years now and can't say that any major improvement in my life is directly attributed to them. One thing I do know I enjoy collecting them even if they don't help because they are very beautiful either way.
Thank you for sharing this information. Very interesting how the parasympathetic and sympathetic responses work with our vagal tone. Sometimes I get the feeling like I am falling (like what happens sometimes when you are falling asleep, but I am still awake and fully aware). Any idea what might be causing this sensation and what it means? If it doesn't startle me out of my reverie I tend to go into a very deep meditation when this happens. It almost feels like a lucid dream, but for the most part I am completely aware, although sometimes it does get a bit surreal.
That's one of the possible sensations at the beginning of Absorption. It also happens as the muscles lengthen.
@@ForrestKnutson Thank you for you response! Sometimes I am able to maintain awareness, whereas other times it feels more like a void, which is usually very brief but these are the times it feels more dream like...
@@osanatural2228 Thanks for the Info, thats what I'm aiming for. I want to get in the Void to access all posibilities, like lucid dreaming, astral travel and so on. I think this freeze is like sleep paralysis, and if you can be conscious you get into a WILD or Astral body or Void.
All this youtubers speak about sleep paralysis, but no one can explain in detail whats truly the cause and how to get step by step into it, they only want you to be still and wait till it will happen, that can be very frustrating if you lay down completely still for hours without success :) Now with this explanation from Forrest, I have high hopes, he was the first after thousands of videos that has a real step by step solution.
Thank you so much for the deep explanation. When I meditate I experience spontaneous Kryias and spontaneous Pranayama during exhalation which feel absolutely blissful. And although my arms/ head/ torso are moving I feel frozen. Is there an explanation for this?
Because you are deep in the subconscious, their movements take expression in your body. If you ever want to quiet it down, just talk to your Unconscious Mind before you sleep, and ask it to go ahead now, and quiet down your meditation and deepen your bliss.
Thank you so much for your answer! I heard that there are two explanations for spontaneous kryias ( english is not my first language and I apologize for my mistakes). The first one is a release in trauma and these kryias are not coordinated and can include sudden movement, or shaking etc.. The second explanation was that when kryias are harmonious and refined it is Shakti dancing through the body. Could you please shed some light on this?
Thank you Forrest! Your videos helped me understand more of what's going on with me during meditation. May I know what do you think is happening when even if I'm not meditating , even if I just close my eyes to sleep, I'd see the same purple and sometimes with green swirls of light?
Well, you've developed that internal sight, so when you close your eyes, the skill is there. It's the spiritual eye. I have several videos on this.
ua-cam.com/video/bPozad2gJbA/v-deo.html
Oh great to hear that Forrest and thank you again 😊 Sometimes I see these too even when my eyes are open! When I'd just stare at walls or ceilings..then it's there.. Does seeing the spiritual eye explain that the other chakras been cleared? Sometimes when I meditate lately I'd hear your instructions and words like Lahiri Mahasaya..thank you 💖💫
Just a question. About a year ago I started meditating at a very old church with lots of colorful symbolism around. Helped me enter a deep meditative state, enabling me to see a golden circle what I believe is the cave of honey you mentioned, which then transitioned between short bursts of extremely vivid imagery of 3-5 seconds periods, flying over forests, diving into water and swimming with fishes and so much more. So vivid and real that I felt the need to blink even though my eyes were already closed and I was not able to tell if my eyes were open or not, which was the only annoying part of it, otherwise it was wonderful. But it also got me worried, because it is not mentioned anywhere, even though I researched intensely, except a Quora post that stating it could lead to a psychotic experience, and visuals during meditation should be avoided. I disregarded that, and in fact, I had a psychosis not much later after gaining this ability, and had to quit entering that deep meditative state.
Could you please shed some light on this? Is the golden circle that I saw was something else than what you have mentioned? Have you heard anything about vivid imagery during meditation? Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your teachings.
Awesome, Kerem. Yes, that was the spiritual eye. Once we've slowed down that much we can get in touch with very slow brainwaves such as the Theta brainwaves. In that state we can have a waking dream. So, you're essentially awake while dreaming. That's when you'll have images such as this. You could go deeper than this Theta, and start reflecting the Gamma brainwaves, and then we will receive information. I call this the download phase, and my Guru calls this "Googling God." Many meditative systems ask you to stay away from images, since an awake dream isn't exactly the point of meditation. However, the download phase is a wonderful thing that we do want in meditation. Makes sense?
@@ForrestKnutson It's wonderful that you know all this! I've been in the dark about this all this time, and I truly, truly appreciate you even further for your guidance. I wish I had found this channel earlier, so I wouldn't be tormenting myself all this time thinking I broke my processor, lol. It really felt like receiving chunks and chunks of data, maybe it was too much information to decode for my brain at the time? I believe I just wasn't ready, and the excitement of it all, and the lack of guidance got the best of me. Even though I explained it to my doctor later, he was utterly confused of what this is and just couldn't give me any valuable knowledge so just made no comment on it.
It actually progressed a bit further than that, maybe into the theta waves, which makes much more sense now. Sorry if this is so verbose but I just wanted to put it out there for anybody who could be interested how it could be like.
It would always start with the spiritual eye. Then it got a bit more sophisticated than those Gifs. I would think, "ROAD", and find myself in sort of a mental village of wild-west type and tried to walk around and attempted to enter the houses around. At first it was like a game in a development stage, the ground just wasn't supporting me, I was falling down into the darkness under the pavement quite a lot, it would require concentration to go back up. I would just bungee jump up and down, until I got that right and the pavement was finally holding me up. Then I tried entering the houses, trying to open the doors caused a huge wave of disturbance in my meditation and would make fall back down and shoot up in the sky the very same way. I don't remember ever having that much fun though. But after some time, managed to enter some of them, some rooms and doors would trigger a fear response and kick me right out of the meditative state.
Nothing that I saw there had made any immediate sense, and all that progressed from no experience to that, within just a couple weeks for me, and after a while I felt that my brain was burning up. I just had to slow down, and give it more time to digest. Now, after about a year I feel fully relieved of depression since my teenage years. I am creative and full of stable energy, resolved a lot of issues with my upbringing, and firmer connection to my family and friends even inspiring them to do and feel better. I wish I would do better at projecting this into people around me, but it's good to take it slow. Forrest, I know you feel the same way, wanting to spread all this wonder into the world, so much love and respect to you my friend. I've a lot to learn, and long way to come.
It's been so hard to focus lately... I feel like not a plateau but just a brick wall... cant even focus long enough to get close to any proofs. I persist and yet each time I'm like scrambled eggs. Maybe I need to get out of the hood for a away. Away from the city. The lights and wires and cars etc... sigh
That's a great idea even if you only get out into the park.
I had numbness on my leg, my feet and i started to feel pain so I come out from the meditation. What should I do about this
Thank you for this amazing information and sharing with us bless you.I have intense flow in the front now and my messages have stopped coming through. Please can you tell me how to balance the front and back as it seems the back flows now its the front. have all these sensations for long now but this front energy is like when you pull a tooth and the healing feeling from it. Is very strong. I hope I am making sense.
Hi Debra! Try some long outbreaths, and feel the spine. Feel into it as if you are peeling layers. Blow breath and OMs into it, so that the front layers dissolve. Try that, and let me know how it goes.
@@ForrestKnutson Thank you god bless you.
You're like the Bob Monroe of yogis💓
Awe, thank you!
What a knowledgeable video thanks a lot genius 👏.
Need one advice while practicing HRV i face this problem quite often that saliva use to come inside my mouth and beacuse of that i need to swallow it and advice to fix this?
That's normal. As you keep going it will tone down, or the body will learn to deal with it.
@@ForrestKnutson thank you so much 🙏
Hi Forest
I've been watching your videos lately and you breakdown all these things so clearly and I'm really grateful to you about that. However I just have this doubt that isn't it important for people who are stuck in freeze response or freeze response caused by trauma or suffering from dissociation to get out of it. Wouldn't meditation using hrv be a contraindication for such people. Wouldn't they be doing more damage if they just stick to meditation.Many programs like TRE exercises are designed to get trauma sufferers out of the freeze response to lead a more connected life.
That may well be the best path for some. However, there have been some meditation teachers like Richard Miller who have taken those with PTSD and freeze problems through meditation, and in the process of "just be here" have slowly healed themselves of their freeze irregularities. I should do a video about this.
One doubt.. If body image is interrupted how to maintain focus between eyebrows?? Sometimes during meditation I totally can't make out the point between eyebrows
Do you have a email where people can correspond with you?
🙏
Thank you Alok!
Relaxation of the facial muscles is very important for meditative absorbtion and perhaps one of the hardest parts to relax. Also the body distortion is now constantly there when I close my eyes. Also my left eye seems to be very tight for some reason and I have to consciously try to relax it, not sure why it's so tight but it can feel quite disturbing.
Thank you that's a great confirmation!
This is the second time I am watching this vid. I would just like to ask, is it possible to have this feeling in two places at once?
I have experienced heat in the hands and face, then intense tingling in my jaw, pulsing throughout my body. On a couple of other meditations, I got the jaw tingling plus tingling from my backside (lol) and pulsing from both.
That's absolutely possible. I've often felt the entire body tingling and having cool sensations all at once while my hands were hot and heavy at the same time.
Sorry for my bad english, i'm french 😅.... Thank you so much for this méditation 😇🙏🙏🙏
I have a question, during this méditation, my entire spine become warm like lava, did you know what that means ?
And another question, what we are supposed to do during méditation when the 4 proof are realized ??
What the next step to proceed or to get more deep ?
That's great Cedric! As the immune system is activated, the body, or the "spine" can heat. It's most likely the blood in the main artery which is heating. Once you have all of the proofs, check the Breath States and see if you have the deepest Breath State.
@@ForrestKnutson ok ! Thank you so much 😇🙏🙏🙏... At my deepest state, my body moves like à snake in front of flute 😅... I'm going to check your breath state vidéo.
I wish you a wonderful evening 😁😊🙏🙏🙏✨✨✨✨✨✨
the last few days while meditating i'm noticing the muscles just above one of my knees flexing/twitching on my exhales. i wonder what it means?
Forrest, i used to lose myself on meditation and could go for hours without discomfort. But i wasnt getting positive results. I would get duller and tend to get depressed. Why is that?
Please respond i am always stuck in frezze response even after meditation i will anxiety and disconnect to the world what to do
When we are permanently disconnected it is because of built up negative emotions and limiting decisions about our life. The best thing we can do is make a long list of all of those and go through them with timeline therapy, with the timeline therapy walkthrough that's on my channel. Go through them one by one and begin to weed them out until we feel comfortable in our own life.
I think I've heard I need to let the freeze response come then get into the sympathetic system in order to get back to ventral
Yes, that's recommended for disassociation. You can also just be with yourself. Just be with your body, or become aware of your intelligence, and aware of your consciousness operating your intelligence. If you are in disassociation, then you will hit a wall or mist of uncomfortabliity, or emotional content. That's progress! That's what you want to head into in order to come back to being "at home and comfortable in yourself."
@@ForrestKnutson I will keep trying thank you
Hey Forest, have you been able to do Hrv while exercising or doing daily mundane things and still keeping hrv?
Yes, because I've done so much, my body tends to rest at a lower breath rate.
@@ForrestKnutson oh thanks 🙏🏾
Hey Forest, in one of your videos, it might have been this one, you talked about the freeze response. You said that we know about it because of Saint Teresa of Avila she would be praying very deeply that she would become frozen in place. So frozen that the nuns would lift her out of her kneeling posture and go place her in bed because she would be there in samadi for hours. And you said the yogis of India as well become frozen in samadi. Have you heard about stasis beings - beings that have been alive for a long time that have been found in a stasis state found in sarcophaguses or stasis chambers. I've seen articles about them before, don't know if they're real or fake. And Corey Goode claims there are stasis chambers all over the world with beings in them in a stasis state still alive. One article said they used technology to preserve their bodies in this stasis state using crystals. So maybe not the same thing. But I heard there was a yogi in India once that let them bury him in a coffin or something and he went into a stasis like state. He told them to dig him back up in a month or three months (can't remember how long it was) but when they did he was still alive. So is this frozen state that these yogis and Saint Teresa experience in samadi the same thing as being in a stasis state? And I was wondering, when this happens to these people does the heart and brain stop? Does their breathing stop?
Yogananda actually went around with an Italian performer, who would bury himself. He had one technique, which would slow him down enough, that he could be buried. His wife freaked out every time, and he would come out of it hours later looking blue and purple. Not exactly healthy. In that case, he's probably getting as close as you can to actually stopping, before it begins to damage the body.
Everyone seems to enjoy the freeze response..but I feel uncomfortable when I get it during meditation..pls tell.me.why its so
I get to a state of awareness during meditation but it then quickly seems to progresses to a state of unawareness. I am unaware but I don’t think I am asleep. When I spontaneously come out of it, I am fully alert and relaxed but not sleepy. So I am not sure what it is.
There is a state in meditation, in which you enter into Absorption, but you lose all the benefit, because you lose your awareness, as if sleeping. That's the part that is to be avoided. If you are still aware, but you notice you're not thinking in words as you usually do, then that is perfect.
If my digestion is shutdown and I feel numb should I not do long out breath and do long inbreath
I would concentrate on your 3rd chakra and chant OM into it. That's what I would teach you to do, in this specific case.
Forrest is there anything we can do for people with PTS ? Meditation ?
When the person is very ready to let go of the negative condition. When they really feel like they are over it. Then timeline therapy works perfectly.
@@ForrestKnutson Thank you very much Forrest.
Hmm..that's interesting
I believe I am getting to the freeze response. My whole body tingles and I feel bliss. But then I go to a “void” where I do not remember anything and have no sense of time. Is this what it is supposed to be or am I supposed to be aware the whole time? Thank you for any insights ❤️
That's fantastic! Do you "kind of fall asleep" or do you just "trance out"?
I think I am in a trance because I am not sleepy and I am sitting up and do not have the urge to lay down. Am I actually meditating?
@@MWilderdyke perfect, so you are in "true" meditation at that point, and you are touching on the right hippocampus. We call that Absorption. Or the beginning of Absorption. So long as you are not "sleeping" and losing awareness.
Oh, wow! Thank you! I have wondered for so long what this was! So it is not necessary to be aware during meditation. Thank you so much for your reply!
@@MWilderdyke well, it is necessary to be "awake and aware". That awareness will be different from normal waking awareness, but we will not be "asleep" and without awareness. You see?
I'm in a state where I feel constantly disappeared.. help
You could be disassociated?
@@ForrestKnutson I am disassociated I don't feel any hunger as digestion collapsed and I have no sadness or joy no pain feel like a walking nothing. So if I go further into freeze should I come out into sympathetic anc then dorsal
@@cherylwilsherlimberlife7210 so in this case we don't necessarily want to put you deeper into a freeze response because you are already doing that quite well. but you are not balanced as you're not able to flow in and out of it. However meditation absolutely can help by learning how to be at home with yourself. Imagine you want to sit with yourself until you melt the ice. Men for example often stuff down their emotions and poor concrete over the top so that they don't have to face them. Sometimes there's something about ourselves which we are not comfortable with and so we bury it deep inside. In this way we become a stranger to ourselves we become dissociated. So the past to health is to learn to be okay and at home with ourselves at home with our own emotions at home with all of our natural instincts. Does that make sense or resonate at all?
Im just curious ...my friend has the SRF lessons .They are also all over the internet .That Kriya breathing exercise and what not .And they are not all that great .In fact the tantra kriyas in my opinion are alot better and more powerful .What am i missing ???Or is SRF and Yogananda not for me???The spinal breathing that tantra teaches is "A thousand times more savage"!!!
I'm in a separate lineage from Yogananda. What is your end goal? If samadhi happens during the most tranquil moment of your life, are you certain you want something savage? While you practice a savage tantra, are you awakening the parasympathetic or the sympathetic system? Something to think about. ;)
@@ForrestKnutson Ive read your posts ...you always give us something to think about ...you are a great and learned man !!!
@@albertoanacletti7817 awesome! 🤗
Well ....i love ya man ..but i thought about your little proposal ....and i think i would rather be A SAVAGE !!!💪💪💪💪😁😁😁😁😁🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🇮🇹BUT ...YOU ARE A GREAT WELL RESPECTED AND LEARNED MAN !!!I MUST SAY ...I AM IMPRESSED !BUONA FORTUNA .WE WILL SPEAK AGAIN PERHAPS
@@albertoanacletti7817 that is totally cool. As I said it really depends on what you're looking for so some practices will work well for some kind of results and other practices will work well for other kinds of results. 😉
In fact how do you even get hong sau from ham sah???Anyways ..just sayin
It's the sound of your breath. That's it.
🙏🙏
Thank you! 🙏🙏