There are always many things happening in the body, your mind is getting distracted trying to focus on everything.
You need to spend more time on your samatha (ex. anapana) practice, so that your mind can focus better on whatever object you direct it at in Vipassana.
> edit: there seems to be some confusion..this didn't seem like a
> distracted state; I was able to be mindful of multiple things
> happening at once all over my body. The normal areas where sensations
> occur that I'm only able to be mindful of one at a time i.e.
> sensations on my head, my arms, pain in the back, legs, I was nearly
> fully aware of all at once.
Apologies I misunderstood, then this sounds like Bhanga nana - knowledge of dissolution. The best way to confirm this is if sooner or later you start hitting the bhaya (fear) nana.
Note: Identifying the nana category with certainty is difficult for the yogi himself/herself, let alone for a third party, so don't take any nana diagnosis as correct until it is verified a few different ways.
http://www.buddhanet.net/knowledg.htm
What happens next? The meditator’s awareness and concentration
continues to develop. As a result, he now sees only the passing away
of phenomena. It is as if his awareness is so fast, it is faster than
the experiences he is examining, As soon as he places his attention on
some aspect of his experience, it disappears. This is the knowledge of
dissolution (bhanga-nana). In a weak aspect, this can take the form of
the meditator apparently losing his concentration. It seems like he
can no longer focus on anything; his attention keeps sliding off
whatever he tries to look at. It can be lie trying to grasp something
that slips out of your hand the moment you touch it. In a stronger
aspect, it can be like falling into the black hole of Calcutta.
Wherever you look, there is nothing - only blackness. The meditator is
shocked, because he used to be able to focus on anything. Now, it
seems, he can focus on nothing at all. All his good work has dissolved
into nothing.
I just want to add the excellent advice that the same page gives about the nana categories - there are an infinite ways to map this journey, and the 16 nana map is good, but may not identify every sensation you encounter. The only way to practice is to continue the practice undaunted, whatever the feeling.
The 16 nanas constitute another way to categorise our experience.
There are any number of ways we can analyse our experience; there are
a potentially infinite number of categories we can invent into which
we can classify our experiences. What is important is that we remember
the difference between category and experience, and avoid becoming
lost in the category. Our tendency is to get lost in the categories,
and in doing so, lose touch with experience. When we create a system
of categories we freeze the process of living experience and create a
solid something in which our experience must now conform. We now
divide our experience into two basic divisions: those experiences
which we can fit into our system of categories, and which is therefore
valid, real and useful; and those experiences which we cannot fit into
our system of categories. Of course, in the act of meditating, we put
more attention to our valid, real and useful experiences than we do to
the other type. In brief, we become stuck in attachment and aversion,
and instead of investigating our experience, we revert to manipulating
it. We take the practice of freedom and turn it into a prison. This is
inevitably the case when we project reality into the categories of
analysis - whatever system we use - and not into the actual, living,
stream of experience. Hence we must treat this system with great
caution. We must learn to use it, and not be used by it.
I'd also like to add something by Bodhipaksa, of Wildmind.org - it's more general advise, but I think you can make it work in your situation too.
Our meditation practice never changes in a constant, linear way. There
are always ups and downs. One day you’re sitting there and you
unexpectedly find that you’re blissfully happy and almost totally
without distraction. The next day your mind is all over the place.
This is normal, and it’s good to relax, and not be obsessed about
“getting somewhere.” Yes, it’s good to have the aspiration to move in
the direction of greater calm and happiness, but the expectation that
this is going to happen will bring us nothing but pain. Bearing in
mind the aspiration to move in the direction of greater calm and
happiness, we simply work with whatever arises, not worrying about
whether it’s a “good” meditation or a “bad” meditation.
