top of page

Maṇḍapa | Public Forum

Public·1998 members

Ricardo Cunha-AcevedoRicardo Cunha-Acevedo
Ricardo Cunha-Acevedo

Involuntary movements during contemplative practices

Hey everyone, I need your input.

Seated meditative practice became incredibly challenging in the first half of this year when I started experiencing strong involuntary movements during my sessions. The movements started when I was experimenting with ajna and vishuddha breathwork, which was before I became interested in Dr. Sthaneshwar's content around June. The movements are rocking, swirling and jittering. A lot of times my body becomes very upright and lifts my face upwards. Meditation has always been challenging because of my lower back problems, but the disruptive movements are what discouraged me from exploring meditative practices and the Sarvamanya path, as it's impossible to stay focused. What are your thoughts as to what's going on and as to whether this can be resolved? I wanted to note that the involuntary movements also happen at other times, like for example when I'm doing somatic processing work, which is contemplative in nature. If…

26 Views
Yuko Yano
Yuko Yano
8 minutes ago

Hi Ricardo,


Thank you for posting this. I have not yet received dīkṣā either, and I have also been experiencing strong involuntary movements, so I was very interested to read about your experience.


In my case, they have continued for about two and a half years. They began with movements such as rocking, swirling, and trembling, and have also included spontaneous breathing, vocal sounds, movements of the tongue, gestures resembling worship, and movements in which my hands trace geometric forms.


These movements occur during almost the entire time that I am awake, rather than only during meditation. I can suppress them briefly, but not for several tens of minutes, so seated practice, intentional breathing exercises, and visualization are difficult for me.


I hope that someone with experience in this tradition can help us understand these involuntary processes and how people in this condition can proceed with practice.


I would also be grateful if anyone could tell us whether, after receiving dīkṣā, it would be possible to receive personal guidance from Acharyaji regarding such a process.

NYC Meetup

Hey Kula, any of us who are in NYC want to get together for practice and social? I just moved and would love to engage with you guys in person!


Jai mai!

158 Views

We're actually planning a gathering this Sunday afternoon in Brooklyn. Email me if you're interested: my.name@gmail.com

📚Wonderful class

I completed Chapter 4 - Verses 1 to 11 - Kashi Retreat!

272 Views

I wish to apply for a course's scholarship but I haven't received any response yet.

I recently applied for the scholarship for the Yogasutra course. It's strange that it's free access has already ended, the description says otherwise—till December 2026. I was already enrolled into the course when it was live and I had attended all of the classes of the 1st section. I couldn't attend any further because I was busy with some exams. Now, I wish to apply for scholarship due to certain financial restrains as an undergrad student. So far, neither did I receive any response from the admins nor is there any available email through which I can contact them further. Any solutions for this? Admins?

185 Views

Namaste Shreyash, technically the courses are only supposed to be free until it ends, but that doesn't always happen, for the same reason it's not always easy to get communication...because the entire site is run by sadhakas as seva. Did you try emailing through the "contact" tab at the top of the page? If so, they will get back to you. We try to stay on top of this, but the same volunteers who manage the site are also writing publications, editing manuscripts and lecture videos, and many other things...so this does fall behind. 🙏

Vimarsha Foundation

San Diego, CA, USA

  • Youtube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X

Disclaimer:​ None of the activities of the Vimarsha Foundation are intended to be "psychotherapeutic" or to treat active or latent emotional, physical, or mental disease. Members participating in the activities of the Foundation should be aware that they do so as fully responsible adults for the sole purpose of spiritual development.

©2024 by Vimarsha Foundation.

bottom of page