Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

[karunametta]

Hello all,

I know there are some similar topics on this, but I couldn't find anything that was directed towards my situation.

So I've been doing a lot of anapana-sati meditation lately (~3-4 hours a day) and now that i've been keeping to that schedule consistently I'm constantly experiencing pressure/tension from my '3rd eye' area down to my top row of teeth. This happens while in meditation and often throughout the day just from gaining momentary awareness/concentration. I've been experiencing this now for about a week or so, maybe a little longer.

About my practice: I focus on the sensations of the breath passing on the underside of my nostrils and above the upperlip. I don't feel as if I'm "forcing" the concentration or doing anything different from my previous practice that would cause this tension/pressure. I'm approaching the point where I'm just beginning to see some nimittas that are for sporadic, almost like a strobe light at high frequency. They'll only last for a split second as I get distracted from the breath haha. The pressur ein my head just feels like at my forehead someone is pumping air into my third eye as if to expand it. It's kind of the same for my nose area but more like sinus pressure, but all the way down to the bridge between my nose and mouth. My top row of teeth feels like I have braces again and they were just adjusted lol.

Not sure if information helps, but I feel as if this tension/pressure is getting in the way of allowing myself to fully relax into the breath and I'm starting to develop the slightest aversion to it that I think it's creating a hindrance. The aim of my practice is towards developing the first jhana.

Any advice? Sorry if this is too vague, I can happily be more specific. The pressure in my third eye is making it hard for me to write/think clearly...

Thank you!

[Cittasanto]

Not sure if information helps, but I feel as if this tension/pressure is getting in the way of allowing myself to fully relax into the breath and I'm starting to develop the slightest aversion to it that I think it's creating a hindrance. The aim of my practice is towards developing the first jhana.

Any advice? Sorry if this is too vague, I can happily be more specific. The pressure in my third eye is making it hard for me to write/think clearly...

Thank you!

maybe this is a tension you are just becoming aware of due to the tranquillity you have cultivated? maybe you need to relax this tension?
try a body sweeping technique to relax all the areas and this may help, but I have never experienced this sort of thing I could associate solely with the practice, so this is my best guess.

[Ben]

Hi karunametta,
In addition to Cittasanto's excellent advice...
If anapana-sati is your primary technique then I would advise you to maintain unbroken awareness of the touch of the breath. As you develop concentration, increasingly more subtle phenomena will become noticeable and at times become a source of distraction.
If however you are using anapana-sati in conjunction with the observation of the anicca characteristic of sensation, then it maybe time to avert to vipassana practice.
Wishing you all the best,

Ben

[Rui Sousa]

Not sure if information helps, but I feel as if this tension/pressure is getting in the way of allowing myself to fully relax into the breath and I'm starting to develop the slightest aversion to it that I think it's creating a hindrance. The aim of my practice is towards developing the first jhana.

Any advice? Sorry if this is too vague, I can happily be more specific. The pressure in my third eye is making it hard for me to write/think clearly...

Thank you!

maybe this is a tension you are just becoming aware of due to the tranquillity you have cultivated? maybe you need to relax this tension?
try a body sweeping technique to relax all the areas and this may help, but I have never experienced this sort of thing I could associate solely with the practice, so this is my best guess.

Hi karunametta & Cittasanto,

As I was reading through karunametta's post, I was thinking exactly what Cittasanto wrote

The same thing happened to me, by placing my focus on certain parts of the body I realized I had a lot of pain points in my body. After being conscious of those physical pains in meditation It felt like they were enhaced during the day (not pleasant). Try to make that an opportunity to practice Vedananupassana, focusing on how pain causes aversion.

Another suggestion, as Cittasanto mentioned, try to focus elsewhere on your body. If you want to stick to breathing as your object of meditation, try focusing on the belly movements instead of the nostrils area (Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw has many guides based on noting the belly movement). Or try Metta as a way of developing Samaddhi, because you focus away from your body, and because Metta can be very relaxing and compensate the discomfort you feel.

Metta

[Cittasanto]

At least my advise wasn't complete gibberish as I thought it may well be, not having the specific issue

[befriend]

i dunno, but maybe you grind your teeth in your sleep, if your jaw is sore, and it hurts to bite down it might be that. thats what i have.

[marc108]

if you are at the point where you are sitting for 4 hours a day you should give serious consideration to finding a teacher because many issues are bound to arise.

that being said, you can try breathing in to that spot and making a conscious effort to relax/diffuse the tension on the out breath... or breath in where ever you normally do, on the pause place your awareness in the tense area and make a conscious effort to diffuse/relax on the out breath. you can expect that energetically active areas like this are going to experience some discomfort and strange sensations, the area about 4 inches behind the center of the eyes (3rd eye) running down through the roof of the mouth is a main channel for the somatic energy to flow.

[Kamran]

Ajahn Lee's method 2 (below) discusses relieving pressure in the head (headaches/tension) by moving your focus from the nostrils to the abdomen. Focusing on the nose causes headaches and tension for some people.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/inmind.html

Thanissaro Bikhu's online talks ( http://dhammatalks.org/ ) also mention dealing with head pressure by using body scans to spread your awareness through the whole body in order to create a centered, but broad focus.

[karunametta]

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate the feedback and advice.

I'll give these techniques a try. I find that with metta I get a very strong third eye pressure. I've tried relly more on walking meditation as of late as ive found it benefocial in relieving the pressure.

Any advice/techniques for consciously relaxing the tension? I've never really tried to do this before.

I'm actually living at a Thai Buddhist monastery this summer, but ironically it's more of a lay dedicated temple and the only monk that teaches meditation doesn't have any experience in this area. (only temple near me that can ordain monks). He gave the suggestion to focus on the abdomen which helps a little.

Thanks again everyone. I'll try to record any progress for tr benefit of any future practicers who run into similar problems.


Greg

[Cittasanto]

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate the feedback and advice.

I'll give these techniques a try. I find that with metta I get a very strong third eye pressure. I've tried relly more on walking meditation as of late as ive found it benefocial in relieving the pressure.

Any advice/techniques for consciously relaxing the tension? I've never really tried to do this before.

I'm actually living at a Thai Buddhist monastery this summer, but ironically it's more of a lay dedicated temple and the only monk that teaches meditation doesn't have any experience in this area. (only temple near me that can ordain monks). He gave the suggestion to focus on the abdomen which helps a little.

Thanks again everyone. I'll try to record any progress for tr benefit of any future practicers who run into similar problems.


Greg

Try to differentiate the feelings and what you do, noticing any calming/relaxation/spaciousness.

[Rui Sousa]

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate the feedback and advice.

I'll give these techniques a try. I find that with metta I get a very strong third eye pressure. I've tried relly more on walking meditation as of late as ive found it benefocial in relieving the pressure.

Any advice/techniques for consciously relaxing the tension? I've never really tried to do this before.

I'm actually living at a Thai Buddhist monastery this summer, but ironically it's more of a lay dedicated temple and the only monk that teaches meditation doesn't have any experience in this area. (only temple near me that can ordain monks). He gave the suggestion to focus on the abdomen which helps a little.

Thanks again everyone. I'll try to record any progress for tr benefit of any future practicers who run into similar problems.


Greg

When you feel the pressure, thy to tell yourself that it is just a distraction ond go back to the object of meditation.

If your objective is a single pointed mind, you have to let go all distractions.