What Does Meditation Feel Like? An In-depth Discussion

Hitting the pause button and kicking away all those stressful thoughts is important for your sanity. The daily chaos can make you irritable and fussy. You may be checking things off your to-do lists, but at the same time, you keep adding to your psychological burden.

Meditation is one of the best ways to tackle this situation before burnout. However, it’s normal for newbies to wonder what meditation feels like. You may feel doubtful about whether the practice is working or not. And sometimes, the overwhelming thoughts of it not being fruitful can encourage you to quit.

This article is meant to address all the concerns of new (and old) practitioners, followed by a quick insight into spiritual experiences of meditation and tips to do it well. Let’s begin!

How Do You Feel When Meditating?

Meditation feels different at every practice. Lots of factors can influence how you feel during a meditative state. For example, your feelings when you’re overworked and tired will be completely different than when you’re meditating during a picnic. On hectic days, it may take a bit longer to fall into a meditative state and get to a point where you’ve quieted the everyday chatter and stopped getting dragged into a train of thought.

To better understand the experience, let’s go over different meditation thoughts and states:

1. Active Thinking or Beta State: This happens at the start of meditation. You may feel active and restless in the beta state (1).
2. Relaxed Awareness or Alpha State: You shift into this state as you ease into meditation. It promotes relaxation and prepares the body for a deep meditative state (2).
3. Deep Meditation or Theta State: Next, the body goes into the theta state. This improves insight, creativity, and inner peace (3).
4. Advanced Meditation or Gamma State: Gamma state is achieved during the advanced stage of meditation. This phase features high-frequency brainwaves, which can trigger enhanced brain function and better concentration (4).

An additional state that comes after this phase is:

Deep Sleep or Delta State: You can enter the delta or deep sleep state at the most advanced state. It is characterized by profound stillness and awareness.

If you’re a beginner who is wondering how to meditate, you should consider enrolling in a guided meditation session. A well-rounded program can help you understand how meditation works and how to make sure you make the most out of it.

A quality guided meditation can make you feel warmth and light or cause vibrations throughout your body. If you can follow along with the instructor’s visualization, you may feel a burst of light or energy in your head or heart (5). You may also experience tingling sensations all over your body or in targeted areas.

Does Meditation Feel Like Falling Asleep?

Neurobiologists say that meditation can positively change the brain over time (6). However, if meditation is so good for you, why do some people struggle to stay awake when trying to meditate?

Meditation can feel like falling asleep, but it isn’t the same. Both states involve a deep relaxation state. However, you’re aware and conscious during meditation, while sleep makes you unconscious. So, the answer to the question “Does meditation feel like sleeping?” is – yes, it does FEEL like sleep, but is NOT actual sleep.

If you wish to reach into the deep crevices of your mind, take yourself out of the mental loop, regain balance, infuse yourself with optimism, and cultivate compassion – BetterMe: Meditation & Sleep app is exactly what you need!

Let’s look at it this way:

Meditation helps reduce your heart rate and lowers the stress hormone cortisol in your body, which is similar to what happens when you sleep (7). It can also create theta brainwaves, which are present when you’re starting to fall asleep. 

Here are some practical tips that can help you stay awake while meditating:

• Meditate while sitting up, rather than lying down. Lying down can make you feel sleepier.
• Avoid meditating in bed or near it as beds often make you feel more relaxed and sleepy. Try to find a more alert environment.
• It’s best to meditate in the morning when your mind is more awake, rather than at night when you already feel tired.
• If it’s not too cold, open a nearby window. Fresh air and extra oxygen can help keep you awake (8).
• Don’t eat a big meal before meditating – this can make you feel heavy and sleepy.
• Make sure you’re well-rested. If you haven’t had enough sleep, take steps to address this before you meditate.
• Try focusing on the top of your head to help keep your mind alert. Imagining the sun above your head can also help you stay awake.
• Some people wonder if drinking coffee before meditation helps keep you awake. While it’s not wrong, it can go against the goal of meditation, which is to be aware of your current state. Stimulants such as coffee can make relaxing harder, as they may make your body and mind restless (9).

Remember that everyone is wired differently. What works for one person won’t necessarily bring the desired outcome for another. So don’t search for a definite answer as to what meditation will do. Think about what you want to achieve through it.

These are just a few tricks that can help keep sleep at bay when meditating. If the problem persists and you keep falling asleep during your meditation sessions, you should consider talking to an expert to see what other approaches you may be able to take to meditate to be more successful.

Read more: 10 Seated Yoga Positions For Beginners

How Do I Know if I’m Meditating?

Once you’ve taken up meditation, remaining focused may seem like a task. Your thoughts may be all over the place and you may start to think you’re going in the wrong direction. The list of signs below can help you gauge your performance and determine if you’re on the right track:

• You’re Conscious That You’re in a Meditation

Meditation starts by directing your attention to an anchor point. This could be your breathing, body sensations, a mantra, or anything else. Beginners may find it difficult to be aligned to their anchor point. They find their minds wandering elsewhere and staying connected to the anchor becomes tough.

You should know that the anchor point is a reference for mindfulness meditation, rather than something to focus on intensely. During meditation, it’s normal to lose connection with it. The real practice is developing the awareness to notice when your mind drifts away, possibly even forgetting what you’re doing, and then gently guiding your attention back.

• Your Thought Quality Changes

When you meditate, your mind is dominated by thoughts about your instant environment. You may start to think about your current life, an incident that happened in the past, or interpersonal issues you are facing. Staying more in meditation can help to change your frame of mind.

A recent study from Yale University discovered that mindfulness meditation reduces activity in the default mode network (DMN) (10). This is a part of the brain that is responsible for mind-wandering and self-focused thoughts, often called the “monkey mind”. The DMN becomes active when you’re not focused on anything specific and your thoughts jump from one thing to another.

As mind-wandering is linked to feeling less happy, dwelling on the past, or worrying about the future, many people aim to quiet it down through meditation.

• It Works As an Antidote for Depression and Anxiety

A review study from Johns Hopkins examined how mindfulness meditation helps reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and pain (11). Researcher Madhav Goyal and his team found that meditation had a moderate effect size of 0.3. While this may seem small, it’s important to note that antidepressants also have an effect size of 0.3, which makes the impact of meditation look quite promising in comparison.

So far, it’s quite evident that meditation thoughts can vary as you progress into the practice. You may notice your thoughts becoming less invasive and feel more content when you consistently practice meditation. In addition, there will be other perks such as improved sleep and physical health, which will be discussed later.

How Do You Think While Meditating?

Knowing what to think during meditation sets the stage for a deeper and more insightful practice. Before understanding what to think, you should remind yourself to be kind and patient as you explore the inner workings of your mind.

That being said, here are five thoughts to focus on during meditation:

1. Emphasize how your breath moves – Breathing is the core of every exercise. Tune into the rhythm of your breath. Feel the cool air when you inhale and the warm air as you exhale.
2. Learn positive affirmations to enhance the practice – Words can be a powerful trigger. Select an affirmation that works for you and silently utter it in your mind. This can be anything that gives you peace or empowers you.
3. Concentrate on a vision that makes you feel calm – Activate your imagination by picturing peaceful, calming scenes, such as a quiet beach, a peaceful forest, or any place that helps you feel relaxed.
4. Pay attention to the physical sensations in your body – Focus on how your body feels. This could be relaxed, in pain, warm, or tense. Notice the support of the chair or cushion under you, the air touching your skin, or the rhythm of your heartbeat.
5. Emphasize being kind to yourself – Loving-kindness meditation is about sending positive thoughts and love into the world. Start with yourself, then reach out to loved ones, strangers, and ultimately the universe.

These are just a few pointers to help you get started with meditation. Don’t judge yourself, as that could stress you out. It’s common for the mind to wander during meditation. If you’re meditating to calm your mind but your mind still wanders, slowly return to focusing on why you started in the first place.

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How to Deepen Your Meditation Experience

The term “deep meditation” may evoke images of monks in robes. However, it should be noted that this experience isn’t only limited to individuals isolated from the rest of the world. People like me and you can also become advanced meditation practitioners and achieve profound well-being.

A recent study published in General Psychiatry suggests that consistent deep meditation may help balance the gut microbiome (12). It consists of the bacteria, fungi, and viruses that reside in the digestive system. The research revealed that the gut microbes of monks were significantly different from those of their neighbors. These specific microbes have been associated with a reduced risk of anxiety and depression, which highlights the connection between the gut and brain, known as the gut-brain axis (13).

In light of such studies, it is evident that every practitioner wants to achieve a deep meditative state. 

Some tips that may be helpful in this regard include:

• Set up a quiet and comfortable space where you can practice without distractions.
• Create a structured routine where you practice at the same time daily.
• Experiment with different meditation techniques – structured, guided, loving-kindness.
• Consider using props to support your body and enhance comfort during the practice.
• Focus on your breathing – notice each inhale and exhale.
• Slowly increase the duration of your sessions. Start with shorter sessions and increase the time when you think you’re capable enough.
• Allow yourself to experience different thoughts without any judgments. Then, focus on returning to the main reason why you started.

Meditation isn’t a static state. A person jumps from one mind frame to another as they progress into their sessions. According to Angela Lumba-Brown, a clinical associate professor and co-director of the Stanford Brain Performance Center, meditation is a focused practice that can improve awareness. This focus can influence brain neurotransmitters. Our billions of neurons can send 5 to 50 signals per second, which allows fast communication with the body.

Meditation increases levels of dopamine (pleasure), serotonin (happiness), and GABA (calmness), and with daily practice, these signals are sent more consistently (14). Achieving a deep meditative state can allow people to reach new psychological perspectives and ways of existing. The spiritual experiences during meditation may differ for individuals – different people hit the deeper states at their own pace.

However, reaching an advanced stage requires practice, patience, and persistence!

Read more: Tantric Meditation: Create More Intimacy in Your Life with This Ancient Practice

Is Crying Normal During Meditation?

It turns out that crying during meditation is quite normal. Although it’s touted as being a stress-relieving practice, it can also elicit different emotions among people (15).

Sometimes, some of your potent emotions emerge when everything goes quiet and you aren’t hammered with a workload. These emotions may have been stored inside and you coped with them by staying busy. Meditation is when these difficult emotions may start to reappear (15).

If you’ve cried during meditation and feel guilty about it, don’t! Instead, you can cope with your situation using the following tips:

• Tell yourself that crying isn’t a bad thing. It’s a form of stress release that can lower your cortisol levels (16).
• While crying, notice what you’re thinking. Are you noticing that you keep telling yourself to stop crying? Do you feel you’re being too hard on yourself for being emotional? What other thoughts are on your mind?
• When meditation brings up strong feelings, it can be helpful to take some time to think about what happened. You may want to talk to a friend or connect with a counselor or therapist to sort your thoughts and feelings.

Crying is a cleansing that could make you feel lighter and become a better version of yourself. Don’t shy away from it. Allow those waterworks to do the work they’re meant to so you can feel lighter!

What Not to Do During Meditation

Researchers studying neuroimaging and brain scans have found that practicing meditation for at least 20 minutes a day can have positive and lasting effects on our mental and physical health (17). However, it could be challenging to experience the benefits if you make these mistakes:

• Try too hard to keep your mind from thinking about random things.
• Expect too many benefits too soon.
• Be inconsistent with your sessions.
• Don’t follow a particular technique for a long time.
• Meditate amidst distractions.

Meditation won’t sparkle a speck of fairy dust over your problems and make them disappear after the first session. You need to follow a consistent pattern and avoid the aforementioned mistakes to maximize the benefits.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do people see things when meditating?

Experienced meditators often describe seeing spontaneous visual imagery, such as lights or other images, during deep meditation (18). These experiences are typically seen as “encounters with light” and are often given a mystical significance.

• Do you feel high after meditation?

After meditation, you may feel as if you’re high because it releases stress and anxiety. Meditation increases levels of dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter), serotonin (the happiness neurotransmitter), and GABA (the calmness neurotransmitter).

An increase in serotonin can interact with dopamine, which may boost the feelings of euphoria that are experienced during meditation.

• Are you supposed to think about things while meditating?

Thinking about a single subject can be helpful during meditation. Having a focal point during meditation helps keep your mind focused and prevents it from wandering.

• Is it OK to visualize while meditating?

Visualization is key in many meditation practices, such as mindfulness and loving-kindness meditations. It is particularly helpful for beginners who struggle to quiet their minds or focus inward.

The Bottom Line

You may be taken aback if you don’t get the desired results from your meditation. You may also wonder if you’re doing it right and what meditation is actually supposed to feel like compared to what you’re experiencing. This article clarifies that meditation allows you to bounce form from one train of thought to another – it isn’t a static process.

Some sessions may make you happier, while others may pull you into a think-tank. We suggest you keep following a singular pattern and embrace the thoughts that come along for the ride. For further assistance, seek professional help or join a guided meditation program to reap the most rewards.