Challenges with sparking a positive sensation in the body
Some meditators sit down, close their eyes, and instantly feel a warm glow in the chest or a pleasant buzz along their spine. For others, the body remains flat, numb, or neutral – no matter how many times they’ve heard the instructions to “generate a pleasant feeling in the body.”
As part of a broader inquiry into which factors correlate with jhana access, we surveyed and interviewed a group of retreat participants (n=58) to better understand why some people have different experiences in their jhana practice.
Some differences between groups didn’t surprise us, such as one’s self-reported relationship to social media and phone (dependence is negatively correlated with jhana access). Other factors didn’t show clear correlations with jhana access, such as prior meditation experience, prior use of psychedelics, and number of hours meditated on retreat.
One discrepancy that stood out for us in particular: we asked a subset of participants (n=32) which part of the instructions they found more challenging – sparking a pleasant sensation in the body, or amplifying that sensation. Those who struggled with the first part – while a smaller group overall – were noticeably less likely to access jhana by the end of the retreat.
Responses to question: “Between these two aspects of getting into jhana – ‘sparking’ a pleasant sensation versus ‘amplifying’ it – which did you find more challenging?”
| Accessed jhana | Did not access jhana | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparking a sensation | 43% (n=3) | 57% (n=4) | 7 |
| Amplifying it | 84% (n=21) | 16% (n=4) | 25 |
In other words, while sparking a pleasant sensation is a less common challenge (versus amplifying), it appears to be a bigger barrier to jhana access. This suggests that learning how to spark a pleasant sensation is a more critical milestone for meditators to address, before they can attempt to amplify it.
At this stage, we can only hypothesize as to why this is, or what the underlying causes might be. In some cases, it seems that people were unaware of the emotional signals they were receiving from their body, combined with a limited ability to find them. Other times, habitual resistance of negative emotions seemed to have blocked off access to their full spectrum of emotions.
While the causal mechanics aren’t yet fully understood, we have frequently heard in our interviews about a useful intervention for addressing this challenge: forgiveness meditation.
What is forgiveness meditation?
Forgiveness meditation is a style of meditation where one intentionally focuses on releasing emotions like anger or resentment towards oneself or others. It may sound rather niche, but it’s the one technique that we’ve consistently heard retreat participants report to be useful in reducing barriers to jhana access – more so than e.g. breathing techniques, smiling, or guided meditations, which vary in effectiveness depending on a meditator’s individual needs and preferences.
Emotional tension can make it difficult to attain a state of fluidity that facilitates jhana access, both in terms of being able to feel the emotions somatically (meaning: in the body, rather than thinking about them), and training one’s attention on those emotions so that they deepen and grow (meaning: not being distracted by self-talk, disruptive mental narratives, or “bracing” against the emotion).
Struggling with summoning a pleasant sensation can manifest differently in different people. For example, we interviewed two meditators who reported that their biggest challenge was sparking a pleasant sensation. Neither participant accessed jhana during the retreat. But the challenges they described were different:
Participant A reported having trouble tapping into their emotions. They felt unaware of how feelings like joy or happiness affected their body, nor how to move their attention from “thinking about” to “sensing” bodily sensations.
Participant B was more aware of their limitations. While they also struggled to spark a pleasant sensation, this seemed to be the result of distracting, negative emotions that arose during practice, rather than lack of emotion whatsoever.
Despite these differences, forgiveness meditation – to the surprise of both participants – was reported to be especially useful for unblocking their emotions. Participant A reported it was their peak experience of the entire retreat. Participant B felt that it helped them address, and release, negative emotions so that more positive ones could shine through.
Forgiveness meditation can be helpful for those who struggle with amplifying positive sensations, too. Oftentimes, challenges with amplifying take the form of an overactive inner dialogue, such as getting frustrated and self-criticizing, or being anxiously aware of one’s thoughts. Though it wasn’t the most common strategy, several meditators we interviewed mentioned that forgiveness meditation helped them let go of feelings of guilt or self-judgment when distractions arose, making it easier to “surrender” to the pleasant sensation and let it grow.
How forgiveness works
Forgiveness, as a deliberate act, is a powerful way to dissolve emotional blocks, which can in turn be replaced by more fluid states like empathy and compassion. Think of this process like nuclear fission: just like an atom splitting apart, breaking up tightly-held emotions in the body releases an enormous amount of energy, which can then be redirected to other, more positive mental pathways.
There is a substantial body of evidence that suggests that forgiveness has positive effects on wellbeing. Dispositional forgiveness is associated with interpersonal adjustment and psychological well-being,1 while a lack thereof is associated with anxious personality traits and poor processing of stressful events.2 Forgiveness has been associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, stress, as well as lowered blood pressure and heart rate.3,4 One study of patients experiencing chronic pain found that their intensity of pain was negatively correlated with forgiveness.5
Researchers have also found that mindfulness is positively associated with forgiving tendencies, and that there may be a bidirectional relationship between mindfulness and forgiveness.6 Developing one’s ability to forgive, just like learning to be mindful, may therefore be a critical component of meditation practice.
What forgiveness is not
It’s important to emphasize that forgiveness is a conscious decision to change how one processes a relationship or experience, which requires letting go of tension (often manifested as anger or resentment). Forgiveness does not require:
Condoning or excusing harmful behavior
Avoiding taking responsibility for one’s actions
Reconciling a relationship (forgiveness is about changing how you subjectively relate to an experience, and doesn’t require others’ input)
Repressing difficult emotions (it’s okay, and even encouraged, to feel anger, grief, and other strong emotions in the process of forgiving – remember that this is about releasing tension!)
That forgiveness is valuable does not make it easy, nor that you should rush yourself. Instead of seeing forgiveness as an act of will that requires effort, it may help to see it as a feeling or release that happens when the conditions are right. Like jhana, we can think of forgiveness as something we cultivate, rather than create, which can help take the pressure off of practice.
Tips for practicing forgiveness meditation
If you’re curious about forgiveness meditation, here’s how to try it yourself.
If you have something specific to forgive:
Gently call up the loose sense of the memory, noticing and relaxing into any pain, anguish, or feeling of resistance that arises
As you feel the memory, gently and periodically repeat a phrase like:
“I forgive you/myself for not understanding.”
“Please forgive me.”
“I’m sorry.”
Feel free to experiment to find a phrase that works best for you.
If you don’t yet have something specific to forgive…
Relax and repeat these same phrases as above, while keeping your awareness soft and open, and see what comes up.
If at any time, a painful or uncomfortable feeling arises that draws you away from forgiveness, try to relax that feeling.
If you find yourself struggling with a difficult memory, it can sometimes help to imagine what fear, sadness, or suffering somebody else may have been going through, which can help encourage a compassionate response.
