People report different sensations while meditating. Some people get very hot while others feel chilled to the bone. Why is this?

While meditating or practicing chikung, people will feel different sensations ranging from hot to cold, achy to dizzy, floating to daydreaming, and sleepiness among others. However, the sensations we get from our physical movements in chikung and the meditation portion of our practice will be different. Feelings and sensations arising during our meditative state tend to be relatively superficial feelings while those arising while practicing movement chikung are more transforming or purifying in nature.

The sensations during meditation are responses to the feeling of our brain system which may be trapped or its perceptions distorted by external stimuli or by minor physical changes within the body, including the significant power of emotional reactions. All of these reflect a change in our consciousness or subconsciousness. We can better understand this if we think of the feelings we observe during meditating as a radar emiting waves and receiving back the echoed signal to create an image or feeling. This image or feeling is like a Buddhist illusion of reaching the state of prajna or absolute emptiness.

The sensations we get from practicing movement chikung are related to the restructuring process of our body using our creation power. These are of a transformative or purifying function triggered internally from within our organs, meridians, chakras, and so on.

Only when you have a sound body will the forces work automatically from within the deepest part of your body and what we feel will be related to the actual situation reflecting the physical condition and the regulatory changes of energy in different parts of our body. This means you will have a better ability to proceed on your way to enlightenment. This is why the traditional form of Zen Buddhist training required those at the at the beginning stage to start with the perfection of their body prior to working on their mind.

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Chi Kung Culture Society of TAIPEI