Is Meditation Dangerous?

Is it possible to have unwanted experiences with meditation? Is this something people even need to worry about? Keep reading to learn how to choose the right meditation teacher and technique.

Unwanted effects. That’s what they call it when someone has a problem linked to meditation. I say linked because we can never be 100% sure, but it’s probably from meditating. They’re not common, but they happen. The weird thing is that there’s really no way to predict who’s susceptible to these adverse effects. You’d think people with certain mental illnesses or backgrounds would be more at risk, but it turns out there’s no way to tell who will have an unwanted effect.

I feel like I’ve probably already scarred you off and you won’t ever try meditation; and that would be a shame. So what can you do? The first thing you can do is focus on techniques least likely to have unwanted effects. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Selecting the right technique is great, I also recommend checking with any teacher you’re considering if they have experience with people having unpleasant experiences. The biggest warning sign that this is not your teacher, is if they claim that there are no negative effects. That’s just not true, they’re either inexperienced, or they have blinders on.

You might find a teacher who’s honest about these adverse effects, but they don’t know what to do about them. That’s actually a lot better than not knowing about them, but I always recommend using a technique that reduces the risks.

Mantra meditation is my favorite because of its ease to learn, the benefits, and the low risk. Lovingkindess is great, guided meditation, and moving meditation like Tai Chi or Yoga are also terrific. 

My Dad was in the clergy, he was actually a Catholic priest. Long story, no scandal. Anyway, I asked him why Christians don’t meditate, because I’m always running into people who claim that meditation isn’t okay for Christians. His answer surprised me. He told me they taught him to meditate, and that meditation was too difficult for lay people. Hmmm, okay. 

In the Tibetan tradition, it’s only in about the last century that lay people had access to so many teachings, including how to meditate. Tibetan friends of mine have told me that regular people can’t just go meditate, it’s only for monks. 

I used to meditate with my Tibetan teacher, which was about all we could do besides eat, since I don’t speak Tibetan and he didn’t always have a translator handy. He gave me this really long Tibetan name that suggests I’m somehow divine since I can meditate. That blew my mind, but at the same time I learned what my Tibetan friends were talking about. 

In spending a lot of time in the technique my teacher taught me, and I experienced a bit of an unraveling. It’s normal for meditators to experience a shift in priorities, a realization that they haven’t been making decisions based on what’s right for them. Then breaking away from their old thinking; making new, and better choices. 

In the beginning of my unraveling, I thought it was just a deeper level of that kind of shift. In hindsight, it was not. A person in a normal job, with no exposure to Eastern teachings, could have a hard time with what I experienced. 

What happened was my perception of time became distorted, and I couldn’t tell what order things should be done. I would get ready in the morning and feel like I’d just completed this a moment ago, when what I was thinking of was the day before. I was working on developing a new meditation course, but I couldn’t tell what would go first. Even putting the introduction first was incomprehensible to me. 

It took about three years for my mind to reorganize itself, so my online meditation course dream had to wait. I was in a leadership role in a volunteer organization. Fortunately for me, I was leading a program inside the women’s prison, which is very rigid. They created the sequence for our visits and everything else that happened, so it wasn’t up to me. I just followed the rules. I think that role helped me reconstruct my neural pathways.

So unless you can risk that kind of experience, don’t dive in the deep end. I’m not even a fan of teaching beginners Mindfulness Meditation. 

Here are some common unwanted experiences, and what to do about them. People feeling self critical and that they’re “doing it wrong” is common. For this one, I’d just recommend being gentle with yourself. You can take a class that gives clear instructions on what to expect, and how to overcome obstacles so you’re not left wondering if you’re doing it right. And talk to your teacher, don’t keep it to yourself.

Some people including people who have PTSD will often feel very vulnerable meditating with their eyes closed, so don’t. It’s completely fine and normal to meditate with your eyes open. In the Zen tradition, you keep your eyes gently focused on something in front of you, below your visual midpoint so your eyes feel relaxed.

During many meditations people will lose a sense of where they are in space. This may feel weird, even scary. This one is caused by the nerves responsible for knowing where our body is, needing movement to calibrate. When we sit still for a chunk of time, they don’t get any information and that causes us to feel like we’re floating.

Some students will begin to feel like they need to be meditating more to get the full benefits, even to the extreme that they feel like time spent not meditating is a waste. Meditating ten or twenty minutes at a time is great. Forty minutes is pushing the envelope, and I wouldn’t recommend that length unless you’re in a group setting with an experienced teacher, or you have a great deal of experience in meditation.

So in conclusion, my recommendation is to have a teacher you can interact with. In person, or online, but an actual human with a lot of experience. The techniques that are the lowest risk, at least according to the research we have so far, are also the most satisfying. You get loads of benefits for the time spent, so it’s a win-win situation. Mantra meditation is the best, in my opinion, and lovingkindness comes in second. Guided meditations, and moving meditation like walking, Tai Chi, and Yoga are all techniques I’m comfortable recommending. 

*Typos and errors provided for your entertainment.