Painful stabs during meditation?

[Buddhamster]

I normally experience itches during meditation that i normally ignore, but today i had this itch that grew i annoyance up to the point where it felt like a real stab on my neck. I was already beginning to think some ninja killer spider is sinking its fangs into my skin. When i touched it, ofcourse it was nothing and the pain faded away.


What was that? It wasnt an itch - it was a real painful stab. It was really weird. Why did it happen? Is my body putting my pain tolerance and concentration to test (dont think so)?

[Seishin]

Could be a caught nerve. Are you sitting properly with your hips above your knees?

[Buddhamster]

Yes.

Is it also normal to have itches throughout the meditation?

[reddust]

I was told by my meditation teachers most pain is just old stuff coming to the surface to pass away. Just sit still and observe. You have to be wise enough regarding pain that will or wont cause damage to your body though...

I had all sorts of itches, stabbings, pains all over the place. It became a game to see if I could watch from the beginning to the passing away. If you get a stable mind while watching this kind of sensation come and go you can samadhi on it...sensation will become subtler, subtler, subtler until you disappear.

[theanarchist]

I would see if it is an orthopedic problem. Maybe sitting quietly results in muslce tensions (a lot of back pains are not caused by slipped disc or something but by cramped muscles), the human back is a very complex system. It might be useful to see a physiotherapist, to see if your meditation position is anatomically good and what is also important, that you don't put too much emotional tension, expectation and effort into the meditation but approach it in a more relaxed manner. Because mental crampedness translates into physical crampedness.