Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
Piet de Vries
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Re: Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

Post by Piet de Vries »

I have had a similar thing. I know many others with a similar experience . The problem becomes big because of our strong attachment to nice meditation and therefore our aversions and fears get big as well. There are various ideas how to deal with this. I have had some serious discussions with a Dhamma friend who seriously disagreed with me. I think it has to do with your own character.

I will tell you how I overcame my problem. It is not for the fainthearted. My unpleasant feeling normally got strong when I got a good concentration going, preventing me getting into the ‘good stuff’. This caused aversion and trying to ‘solve the problem’.

This did not work for 4 years, miserable period.

Here is what I did: I used the principle of ‘radical acceptance’. Because I had a deeply ingrained aversion (strong attachment to nice meditation) I had to overcome this. Just accepting did not work. So I said to my ‘problem’, ok, show me what you have! And it got worse. i said to it: ok I can handle this, can you do worse? For 3 or 4 times it got worse, but then not anymore. It was pretty horrible, but I could handle it. I did not run away from it. I stayed with it. It could not get worse. All fear fell away. The problem fell away. Gone. It came back a number of times, but less and less strong. I still feel it so now and then but there is no fear, I look at it, allow it to be and develop into what it wants to be and it easily disappears.

Does this make sense? Do you want some more explanations ? I have written it with reasonable experienced meditators in mind, because it is a problem the more experienced meditators can encounter.
pardis1234
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Re: Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

Post by pardis1234 »

Hello man I’m not an expert but I have the same problem this is not our Sankara or any other non sense we are suppressing the mind while doing anapana there is only one way to solve this problem I have realized 1.not make the area of attention very small 2.using a word to direct the mind breathing in my body is calm breathing out my body is at peace and the most important is to not directly focus on the breath unfortunately in goenka the don’t talk about the right concentration and this is why after years of practice they still have anger and tension like when they go to 60 days retreat or sometimes in 10 days people shaking I mean they’re body this is no Sankara guys this is because the concentration is not a righteous concentration and also no one gonna give u a golden cup for not saying a word and do anapana in silence the only way is to practice with word because I have the same problem I also was having panic attacks at night and also my mind get locked in my breath even But for each individual it’s different even Buddha gave different techniques to people
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Kumara
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Re: Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

Post by Kumara »

pardis1234 wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 4:08 am Hello man I’m not an expert but I have the same problem this is not our Sankara or any other non sense we are suppressing the mind while doing anapana there is only one way to solve this problem I have realized 1.not make the area of attention very small 2.using a word to direct the mind breathing in my body is calm breathing out my body is at peace and the most important is to not directly focus on the breath unfortunately in goenka the don’t talk about the right concentration and this is why after years of practice they still have anger and tension like when they go to 60 days retreat or sometimes in 10 days people shaking I mean they’re body this is no Sankara guys this is because the concentration is not a righteous concentration and also no one gonna give u a golden cup for not saying a word and do anapana in silence the only way is to practice with word because I have the same problem I also was having panic attacks at night and also my mind get locked in my breath even But for each individual it’s different even Buddha gave different techniques to people
I believe this would be helpful to you.
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Dhamma Chameleon
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Re: Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

Post by Dhamma Chameleon »

Kumara wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:31 am I believe this would be helpful to you.
Thanks for that, Venerable. :anjali:
gumfun2
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Re: Pressure/tension in face/teeth during meditation

Post by gumfun2 »

Pondera wrote: Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:23 am
karunametta wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:54 am 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!

Common complaint. Switch to diaphragmatic breathing.

Ie. focus on your diaphragm - not your nostrils.

This is the proper method which will solve all problems.
Yes. This worked well, along with paying attention to the tension (although this makes it really tense. With consistent attention and time, the tension dissipates, but the diaphragmatic breathing is less "painful".) Also, yes, the "breathing in, feeling calm, breathing out feeling peaceful" helps me. Also after the tension became somewhat more moderate, my attention (not of my "doing") went to my third eye and felt like more third-eye concentration (I think concentration is the right word?). Then, some thoughts from like 12-16 years ago came back up. :)
Last edited by gumfun2 on Sat Nov 19, 2022 2:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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