u/wilderkay

Over the last few days or maybe a week, I’ve noticed something unusual when I meditate. By meditation, I just mean sitting quietly with a straight spine and observing my breath or bodily sensations.

When I sit upright, I start to feel a subtle upward pressure around my head, teeth, and jaw. It isn’t painful, but it feels noticeable enough to distract me. Sometimes a thought comes up like, “What if this pressure becomes intense at the top of my head?” Again, it’s just a thought — there’s no pain, only pressure.

I’ve also noticed that my breathing doesn’t feel completely relaxed when this happens. It’s almost like I’m breathing “through” the pressure. When I become very present and focus on the breath, the pressure seems to increase and I also fee a vibration around the top of the head.

If I fully relax my posture, stop trying to sit so straight, and let my body lead or hang a bit from the lower back, the pressure disappears and my breathing feels totally natural. But after a few breaths, the pressure gradually builds again.

My meditation practice is simple. I’m not trying to achieve anything intense or spiritual — I just want to sit in silence for around 20 minutes and observe the breath or subtle vibrations in the body. This pressure has been little annoying and confusing, and I don't feel like proceeding with the meditation so I stop.

For context, I also practice Ashtanga yoga at a studio for about 2 hours, 5 days a week.

Has anyone experienced something similar during meditation? Any guidance, pointers, or suggestions would be appreciated.

Just to Add: I get these types of thoughts - what if my soul / spirit leaves my body as its upward, I don't know what I am doing , what if something goes wrong etc - so I stop the meditation..

I’m 43 and have been practicing Ashtanga, mainly Primary Series, about five times a week, in the morning, since 2021.

For the last two years, I’ve been working on my backbend. My back is very stiff in extension, and when I started, I could barely go back at all. Now I can go about halfway and go full down with assisted backbends.

Earlier on, I used to feel strong lower-back pain during backbending. I’ve since adjusted my approach: I focus more on using my legs, not collapsing into my lower back, and trying to open through the chest and arms. That has helped a lot. I feel much less lower-back pain now, and I don’t try to push past the point where I can comfortably bend. In standing backbends, I only go as far as feels available.

My main issue now is soreness around the upper back sides of my hips, more specifically the upper outer glute area. When I press into the area, it feels like sore muscle pain. This tends to show up around the second or third day of my weekly practice. I’ve tried resting for a few days, and even taking a full week off, but the soreness keeps coming back, especially after the first day back practicing. Then I feel like I’m dealing with it for the next several days.

Sometimes by the fifth day I can go deeper in the backbend and feel a small sense of progress. But over the last 2–3 months, it feels more like I’m constantly battling through soreness in that hip/glute area, and it’s getting frustrating.

Has anyone else experienced this with Ashtanga or backbend work? Could this be related to technique, overuse, weak/tight muscles, or just part of aging and practicing regularly?

I’d really appreciate any advice on how to approach this..