Stiffness in body during vipassana

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I cannot give any direct advice here because the Buddha or the Buddhist scriptures never teach what Goenka teaches.

I guess if one practices what Goenka instructs, the mind will become very stiff because the mind is always doing the same thing of directing its intent & energy 'downwards'; possibly suppressing the sankharas; causing the sankharas to get stuck in the body; rather than allowing the sankharas to loosen up, rise up & dissolve or depart. This would also make the body very stiff. Its like trying to pacify a bird in a cage; compared simply opening the door of the cage & letting the bird go to fly away.

The Buddha taught letting go of 'doing' in meditation. The Buddha taught (in SN 48.9; at the end of MN 118) that meditation depends on 'letting go' (vossagga). When the mind 'lets go', the mind becomes very flexible (mudubhūta) & flowing (kammaniya).

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In view of the symptoms described, I am sharing a technique in breath meditation that might be helpful. Please use the comment section if you have any queries.

After you are positioned comfortably (cross legged, lotus position or whatever as long as you are comfortable), do three slow and deep breaths through the nostrils. With the inhalation, feel the breath going all the way down and your abdominal expanding before exhaling completely. After the initial 3 breaths, just breathe normally (no need to force the air down or till your abdominal expand) but try to follow the in-and-out breath closely. Adjust your breath to make it soft and comfortable. Feel yourself refreshed as you inhale and all your body muscles relaxing as you exhale. For the next 5 to 10 minutes, keep doing this. I usually do a mental “Oooo…..” as I inhale softly to be in tune with the refreshing sensation and a mental “Yeaahhh…” as I exhale to feel my body relaxing totally. Once, in tune you can drop this mental noting and just focus on the soft in-breath and out-breath.

If you do it correctly, you should feel an increased saliva secretion in your mouth and a continuous sense of physical ease in your body. There are days when done well and proper, every in and out breath will be “delicious”. Again, if you feel any discomfort (like stiffness or pain) in any part of your body, softly and gently breath through those parts. Mentally, you are directing your breath energy to flow in and out through those parts as you breathe. Physically, it is relaxing the tensed-up muscles and improving the blood circulation in those parts. As you do so, the discomfort will gradually fade into the background (it may not disappear totally, just not enough to be distracting anymore). At any time, if you are not noticing an increased in saliva secretion or general physical ease, then it is not done properly, just keep adjusting till you are in-tune.

This is a really simple technique aimed at sensitizing ourselves to the breath and body with the side effect of being more aware of the mind. With Metta.

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