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So I've been doing vipassana meditation more regularly after my second 10 day regularly. I try to do 1hr to 1.5 hr per sitting and meditate as much as possible during my commute.

I've been feeling many more sensations lately as well as having a deeper feeling for where they reach in my body. I've also had strong emotions regularly coming up and I've had some things that have been happening as well.

I try my absolute best to be equanimous but at times during my meditation my body will automatically tense up And twitch. My main concern is my neck / throat area. Lately when I swallow, I don't feel a bump per say but I feel a spot of tightness which even feels like a ridge that I have to get over when I swallow sometimes. It only happens sometimes.

I've been feeling a ton of tightness in my neck and I've never felt this before since the neck sensations are fairly new. Could it be that something is arising which is causing a shift in the state of my body like increased neck tightness and constriction? Generally after meditation this feeling gets much better so I'm not sure if it's a sort of transitioning state.

I'm not sure. Saw a doctor and they couldn't find anything after feeling my neck. I don't smoke. I am active and a healthy weight.

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  • Could be due to, pressure between upper & lower teeths/jaws; sitting on hard surface leading to pain resulting in feeling of tightness in neck & backbone area; already pain exist somewhere in body & one tries to switch directly from pain spot to head; Meditator going through some tensed atmosphere in daily-life, if going through tension, better try anapaan by lying down & remember to get-up & meditate in dreams as you tend to sleep ,in this way ,may u start meditation in dreams too.Have Metta session with fellow meditators & stop increasing mind-pressure through audios/videos(spiritual too)
    – user17220
    Nov 7, 2019 at 11:33

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It could possibly be stored mental tension arising.

It could possibly be the body adjusting; so breathing & mental energy can flow via a more optimal route.

It could be due to poor sitting posture, such as sitting cross-legged with a hunched back or forcing oneself to unnaturally sit cross-legged (but this would obviously not happen when commuting).

You should soften your awareness around the neck/throat area.

I assume you are practicing the Goenka method. While I personally do not know how the Goenka method is actually practised; you probably should stop any active body sweeping/scanning when the tension arises and simply just sit with an aim of simply relaxing the mind, face, eyes, jaw & the body.

If the neck tension remains of physical concern, consult an acupuncturist who appears competent & knowledgeable about meditation & breath ('prana; chi'). Note: there are often vast variations of knowledge & skill between acupuncturists and other complementary medicine practitioners, such as osteopaths.

Things like faulty or excessive yoga practise can also cause subtle physical abnormalities and distortions. Subtle displacemnts/distortions of hip flexor muscles, for example, from yoga or forced cross-legged sitting can affect the diaphragm & neck and block the naturally flow of subtle breathing in the throat/neck.

To summarize:

  1. Focus on relaxation of face, jaw, eyes, mind & body and stop any active method

  2. Consult an acupuncturist or otherwise gentle osteopath.

  3. Be cautious towards forced crossed-legged sitting and strong yoga asana (such as 'Iyengar' & 'Pattabhi Jois Mysore Ashtanga' methods).

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Past sankhara and sanna create bizarre experiances when meditation. Don't get alarmed, just look at the sensations and keep meditating.

To rule out any sensations due to medical issue, it is also best to see a doctor when pain or tightness arise. If there is no medical issue then don't fret about it too much and do meditation as usual.

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Even I have undergone tightness around my neck and I have been equanimously observing it and it gradually dissolves

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