This below is from the Meditation Expert blog. I highly recommend it along with his website! It has lots of great articles. This blog entry below is about shaking, something that often happens to me. IMO what is happening is that if you are shaking, you are likely progressing through to a new level of relaxation in the body. Since you aren’t used to it, the body shakes as the tension is released. It’s surprising to me how much tension the body gets used to. You have to give your body time to realize that it’s okay to be relaxed instead of tensed. I often feel that my body thinks that something is wrong when I try to reach a new level of relaxation. It seems to be saying to me “hey, what’s going on here?”
My Body Shakes From Meditation…What is That?
Simple…the chi is starting to go through your chi channels, and there’s a bit of friction going on. Nothing special, unusual, or serious. Nothing to be concerned about. Nothing special to you in the whole world. Nothing that hasn’t happened to thousands of other people.No, it’s not the devil shaking you. No, it’s not a demon. No, it’s nothing supernatural.
Boy have I heard all sorts of crazy explanations like that — even coming from monks!
Sometimes, of course, you could just be releasing pent-up nervous energy. In that case, let go, let it come out and relax. Don’t encourage or discourage it but let it express itself and then die down. Maybe you just needed a break for it to come out (in repressive societies/regimes/situations people sometimes need a release valve for their stress, and exert themselves in extra movements to effect that release).
People have a tendency to turn everything from cultivation into something mystical, mysterious or supernatural. Don’t — that could not be further from the truth. The reactions you experience from meditation - heat, cold, shaking, vibrations, etc. - all have scientific explanations. Don’t reach for the abnormal or superstitious. In spiritual cultivation, you cultivate wisdom and levelheadnedness.
To learn about all the reactions people can experience from advanced meditation efforts and their explanations, I’ve never found a better book than Tao and Longevity, by Wen Kuan Chu and Nan Huai Chin.
10 responses so far ↓
1 Chris @ Martial Development // Jul 10, 2007 at 3:24 am
I like his writing, but I would echo one common complaint about him: it isn’t very clear when he is speaking from his own experience, and when he is reciting someone else’s experience.
2 chessman71 // Jul 10, 2007 at 8:36 am
Good point.
3 Chad // Jul 10, 2007 at 10:40 am
There is an actual scientific explaination of shaking from sitting in one position for a long time. The muscle spindles and golgi tendon organs are essentially shutting the muscle on and off. Basically, if we hold a position for a long time and our bodies are not accustom to it, there will be a point where the GTOs will sense the tension being held to maintain the position and begin to inhibit the muscles, while the spindals will activate a contraction so the body will not be injured. After a while, the body will become accustom to the positions and adapt, increasing nueromuscular efficency and therre by making the process “effortless”.
4 wujimon // Jul 10, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I’ve had the shakes every now and then. I remember the first time I had it I was a bit perplexed until I read about it’s common occurrence in the Way of Energy book by Kam Lam Chuen.
5 james // Jul 11, 2007 at 7:54 am
i shook tonnes when i started doing standing meditation. Like almost dancing, wild shaking. My teacher told me to observe and ignore. Worked well. I still get it very occasionally now, if i have injured myself recently or am under a lot of pressure my standing tends to shake.
6 Casey // Jul 11, 2007 at 2:29 pm
This also happens to me sometimes. Even when I’m just doing qigong but not meditating per se, a muscle will start to tremble. In particular, it happened a lot and continues to happen to some extent when sinking qi to the dantian. I also just interpret it as your body being reluctanto to let go of tension. I think qigong kind of retrains your nervous system, so a few kinks are to be expected.
I also definitely agree one shouldn’t be in a rush to create supernatural explanations for any qigong/meditation occurence. Unfortunately, when you start reading about meditation in particular, it’s hard to find authors who can keep their feet on the ground and not start talking about “spiritual reality,” “veils of illusion” and whatnot.
7 thomas // Jul 12, 2007 at 6:44 am
Shaking only happens for me when I’m standing . . . on a stage holding a microphone . . . then one leg begins to twitch and ma hips begin to wiggle and all of a sudden there’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin on.
Thank ya . . . thank ya very much.
8 chessman71 // Jul 12, 2007 at 9:39 am
9 enokidake // Jul 15, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I’ve been a jikijitsu for zazen for many years in monasteries and temples and this issue comes up from time to time. The Old fellas from Japan, when they are on hand, refuse to give advice about “shaking.” (Shaking can mean many things from muscle spsms, to twitches, to violent shaking, to one fellow i saw having major contortions due to his “kundalini” issues!) After a while i began to understand why the old roshis didn’t address it. They were actually giving very strong advice. When you start shaking, (and we are talking seated meditation here because zhang zhuang is another matter) slowly and gently return to the focus of your meditation. If you are, for example, counting breaths, sink more deeply into the practice. When there’s no one left to shake, it shouldn’t be a concern any longer.
in otherwords, when you are dead, so will your wiggle be…unless ur elvis…of course.
10 john smith // Jan 7, 2008 at 4:20 am
hello fellas, i took a look at ur comments, but none of them seems to have involved my problem! i am pretty knowledgeable about many meditational techniques philosophys and psychologys, i know shaking when it happens in meditation, chi is opening new channeles, releasing blockages and tension…but!… my legs shake when i’m put in stressful and fearsome situations, that involve fight or flight, like the moment right before fighting, which makes me feel very weak dispite that i’m a great kick boxiner! it is strange, at that moment it feels like if te guy pushes me i would just fall down! so i act like a coward in a diplomatic way :-), i can not figure this , so can you help me?
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