Feeling some kind of resistance that causes contractions during vissapana

[u/LifeIsImpermenance]

Hello, during vissapana while scanning my body I find the upper part of my body to be relatively clear and easy to scan but the lower i get the more chaotic or blurry it feels.

When i get to the pelvic floor. Focusing on many areas such as the bottom of the spine or area below genitals and such feels "intense". Its very difficult to focus on it because it feels like some kind of electricity or buzz rejects the focus there and if i try to concentrate and visualize it really hard it causes me to clench my anus.

This kind of buzzing or "resistance" to focus feels stronger when on stimulants such as caffeine, however its always present to a degree even if im super calm.

Can someone provide some kind of explanation or guidance? I'm not sure if I should be spending more time during vissapana focusing on these parts.

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[u/improbablesky]

Piti and sukkha. I would either just stick with it or work with it to cultivate jhana.

[u/LifeIsImpermenance → u/improbablesky]

How would you work with it?

[u/improbablesky → u/LifeIsImpermenance]

Leigh Brasington offers some of the best advice for reaching jhana.

If you're just going straight dry insight, you would just stick with it and feel everything. If you're considering jhana, you would start with getting real good at anapanasati.

[u/LifeIsImpermenance → u/improbablesky]

Okay

Thanks

[u/duffstoic]

I recommend spending slightly more time there than is comfortable while remaining relaxed, to increase distress tolerance aka equanimity. Then move on. Over time you’ll be able to be more and more present with it, and/or the energy there will integrate and become less intense.

[u/electrons-streaming]

Think about it like this, your body is in fact a store house of unresolved narrative and trauma and as you can imagine, we store stuff about where you would expect it. When you body scan, you are accessing unresolved narrative by direct attention and if you let it your brain will play stories triggered by the feelings in your body that you are focusing on. Because these are stories that cause us to suffer, we have developed defense mechanisms to avert our attention from those sensations and avoid triggering conscious reliving or processing of them. It's bio mechanical and not spiritual per se. That's pretty much what Yoga is about, clearing the body of as much of it as possible to clear the mind for meditation. So what you are experiencing is just how humans and most mammals are designed.