December 31, 2008

2:24 p.m.

Adventures in Meditation

Last night I tried listening to a new Theta-inducing CD before sleep. The music on this disc is exquisite, very listenable and soothing. I had two reactions that I've had before with the 400Hz: several minutes of a tightening sensation right between my eyes, followed by drifting off, returning to disorientation, an eerie floating sensation, and feelings of detachment from what I know as reality -- even though I was fully conscious, able to move and look around and make decisions. I held onto this for a bit longer than the other time it happened, but then turned the music off and took a few minutes to come back to relative center before putting it away and going to bed.

At no point was I incapacitated, but there was a certain amount of fear associated with the strangeness of the feeling. It was very bizarre. I didn't feel that it was harmful, though, but rather a passage to whatever is next.

Today I listened to the whole 50 minute track, first sitting as comfortably on the little sofa as I could, then eventually lying on the floor with pillows. There were intermittent sounds of shoveling and stamping from outside so no chance of really getting deeply in. However, it was very enjoyable, no unusual experiences but I did have a couple of little trains of thought regarding my fingers and the sort of road map that the eczema was reflecting.

It's kind of funny, after that, to return to this physical reality where we all agree that it's snowing and I have to go move my car.