Why do some people shake/twitch during intense prayer/meditation?

Shaking, quaking, jerking is one aspect of religion/spirituality I find very mysterious...

It seems to be a phenomena in Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Yoga practitioners, ans probably most religion.

Quakers ans Shakers in Christianity got that name because of people shaking during intense prayer.
St Vitus is a catholic saint who also seemed to be shaking during his religious practice.

In Islam, mostly in Sufi practices it's attributed to "The invisible world of Noor".
They say everything that we can see is just a manifestation of the Noor.

In Yoga practice it seems to be called "kriya" involuntary body movement/twitches.

In probably most religion and spiritual practice, the shaking is present and is linked to the presence
of God/Noor/ Holy spririt.

“…yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor and I retained no strength.” Then, afterward, “a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.” (Daniel 10:9-10)

Please let me know your opinions on this subject., and excuse my low level english, it is my 4th language,
Thank you

Saint Vitus
Involuntary kriyas/twitches

Maybe because they are so deep into their experience that they lose some control of their muscles. Each new feeling or image or thought or message during the meditiation could cause them to mentally "twitch" with excitement, so their body does too.

Interesting that you brought this up. I had a lucid dream where I was following wind currents to practice flying. I found myself (in my dream) wondering if my physical body was practicing flying, too.

reply to post by ottobot


Thanks for your input in this thread.

Here are some videos of intense involuntary movements.





And it seems to be the energy behind the movements of Whirling Dervishes

Dramatic effect.

Ever been to a baptists church and take in some stomping? A sight to see.

Grown men running in circles stripping off their clothes.

Maybe I'm just lacking the "spirit" or whatever but it all seems terribly contrived to me.

It is not the simplest question to answer but I will try my best based on my own experiences. I want to start off by saying in Yoga practice Kriya is not the word for twitching/movement (voluntary or not). Kriya in sanskrit means "to do" it is related to the root word in Karma. Also ego is known in sankrit as "ahamkara" meaning I am the doer. So kriya represents a specific technique/disciplie you 'do' actively as a means of spiritual advancement. I wanted to clarify that because involuntary shakings are a part of yoga and all spiritual systems, but kriya yoga is something very specific.

In one of the central texts of Hinduism, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Aphorism 1:31 describes bodily trembling as a sign of lack of control of the bodies nerve energies

Pain, despair, misplaced bodily activity and wrong direction (or control) of the life currents are the results of the obstacles in the lower psychic nature.

In sanskrit the word for "mispaced bodily activity", sometimes called "tremors in the body (Vivekananda)" is Angamejayatva

Angamejayatva means restlessness of the limbs. When discrimination and will power are not exercised to subdue disturbances in the mind, caused by sorrow and disappointment, the mind becomes agitated. This affects the nervous system which manifests as physical restlessness.

source

So in my experience, when I sit to meditate, in the first few minutes my agitation in the mind and the imbalances of various thought energies, find their balance. It manifests itself in many ways but it does cause my finger tips, face, often my left arm, to twitch and jerk just a bit.

So it has to do with he energy in the nervous system and how it is connected to the body and the mind.

I hope that was cohesive haha

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Yes I agree it "looks" dramatic ! I've seen some videos about it.

But what exactly makes all these practitioner from different faiths and religion react so similarly ?

reply to post by samsamm9



these twitches and spasms are due to
blockages and imbalances in the flow of whatever energies are being channeled/invoked

not trying to pick a fight but in the christian examples sexual repression [sometimes pathological] have a lot to due with it

reply to post by samsamm9


I dont think it has anything to do with religion. It's just excitement. Little kids shake and squirm for candy. I've seen them vomit from excitement on Christmas morning.

My dog will run in circles until he pukes from excitement.

Maybe a lot of seizing epileptics attend church?

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Dramatic effect.

I half agree with this statement which I think is directed to the videos posted above. There are voluntary movements that are to work with the energy field in and around us, which I think the second video is refering to. The virst and the last video I cant really vouch for. My above post is talking about the involuntary movements and twitches of the body that occur durring meditation and even just yoga stretches. There is energy running through all our nerves, when we withdraw the mind from controlling those energies, they find their own balance and equilibrium which is the reason for the twitchings. But it is very subtle.

The only extreme cases I have heard about where a person was jumping or jerking their body involuntarily as a result of spiritual practice is those who do intense Kundalini yoga ***(I said kriya by mistake, but technically one could say kriya is kundalini yoga, except the practice might have a different description), usually by their own guidance or under a self proclaimed guru, thats scary to watch, people behave strange. I grew up in an evangelical church, people jump and scream and pray with their hands in the air spinning in circles, that is pure voluntary, something I like to call expression haha.

reply to post by el1jah


Thanks for your explanation. Makes a lot of sense.

This Sufi seems to think there is an explanation depending which part of your body twitches.

Twitches in various parts of Man’s body and their significance

reply to post by samsamm9

Ohhh thankyou for that link thats a little jewel in my day


edit: was reading it, I dont like the "prediction" aspect of it, but it speaks to me gaining understanding on which energy/emotional centers are connected where.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by samsamm9

 

I don't think it has anything to do with religion. It's just excitement. Little kids shake and squirm for candy. I've seen them vomit from excitement on Christmas morning.

My dog will run in circles until he pukes from excitement.

Maybe a lot of seizing epileptics attend church?

I have to disagree, I really think it has every thing to do with religion. These spasms/shakes/twitches
I'm talling about are "involuntary" and are usually accompanied with a blissful feeling, which can make
some of them; cry incontrolably, dance incontrolably, feeling of intense heat or cold, sometimes they are accompagned
with weird tones/sounds and again sometimes, some kind of vision of "Light" ...

Some people also experienced very negative results they think were associated with the
twitches/shakings.

Shaking as described is both an awesome and fearful thing !

And "Yes" i guess it does look like epileptic seizures but i doubt that's what it is

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Dramatic effect.

Ever been to a baptists church and take in some stomping? A sight to see.

Grown men running in circles stripping off their clothes.

Maybe I'm just lacking the "spirit" or whatever but it all seems terribly contrived to me.

I have to agree. Just folks jumping on the spiritual bandwagon. "LOOK MA, I'M A-SPEAKIN IN TONGUES!... JIBBLE JABBLE GLEEP GLORP HALLELUJAH! "

Is this anything like when your in bed and to tired to move but still conscious enough to hear the tv and think clearly but to tired to care enough to move and your body or a part does a full jerk as if to wake you up kind of thing? Cause if it is, I've had that, if not, disregard.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Dramatic effect.

Ever been to a baptists church and take in some stomping? A sight to see.

Grown men running in circles stripping off their clothes.

Maybe I'm just lacking the "spirit" or whatever but it all seems terribly contrived to me.

What baptist church do you go to? And does this stomping have anything to do with snake handling?

usually it's a serious symptom of mental illness or other degenerative nerve diseases...

but because this is about religion, i'd say it's most probably mental illness related...

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by samsamm9

 

Maybe a lot of seizing epileptics attend church?

Your insensitivity obviously knows no boundaries.

I want to share my experience with these "shakes."

I didn't know other shared this experience.

I wasn't spiritual until mind altering chemicals opened my eyes to the real world around me. I had some very intense experiences & I did it not for fun, but to learn something. Something about myself, reality, I really didn't care I just wanted to know truth.

I don't do them often, maybe once a year & I spend the rest of the year practicing what I was shown, trying to achieve the same states on my own.

Sometimes when I think about doing mind altering chemicals again, or I am talking about them to someone, I will start to experience shakes or shivers that can be hard to settle. This can also occur when I'm meditating, if I feel like I am reaching a new level, or something is about to happen, I shake.

It's very involuntary and with a little controlled breathing & self relaxation, I can calm them.

Thanks for bringing this up.

Originally posted by Magnum007
usually it's a serious symptom of mental illness or other degenerative nerve diseases...

but because this is about religion, i'd say it's most probably mental illness related...

What's the difference between a madman and a devotee ? Not much, and yet, much. Both are mad, but their madness has a totally different quality to it. The center of madness is different. The madman is mad from the head, the devotee is mad from the heart.... .... Almost all the great philosphers who are logical go mad. If they don't go mad they are not great philosophers. Nietzsche went mad, Bertrand Russell never went mad. He is not such a great .....

Ancient Music in the Pines. Madmen and Devotees

I think its a form of their Vibrations being shown. I tend to get warm when I go to that level of meditation. A feeling of warm energy spirals around me I then can feel a sensation on the top of my crown chakara that goes down ward and loses feeling after it passes the neck. So I think everyone carries unique visual 3 dimensional effects. When I sun gaze it gets stronger...