Meditation practices are thousands of years old and have persisted because they work. Meditating gives a sense of relief from the stresses of daily life and also allows a glimpse into a better, more enlightened reality that is available for all of us…. a life of less stress, where more love and a deep sense of inner peace and contentment are available for all.
This better reality becomes clearer and more easily accessible as you dissolve more and more of your limiting beliefs. And with the dissolution of the clutter, your mind has accumulated your true state of being becomes evident…. and this can cause you to feel high and even euphoric sensations.
There Are Multiple Reasons Why You Feel High After Meditation.
They include both scientifically verifiable reasons as well as spiritual reasons:
1) Meditation Changes Your Brainwave Patterns.
Meditation can shift your brainwave patterns from the beta state (associated with active thinking and stress) to the alpha or theta states (associated with relaxation and deep meditation). This shift will create feelings of deep relaxation and euphoria.
Many studies have shown that meditation can positively influence changes in the brain the same way that many recreational drugs do… however, meditation does it naturally and without any harmful side effects.
2) The Oxygen Being Supplied To Your Brain And Body Is Increased.
During meditation, your breathing pattern will change. You will probably find yourself breathing more deeply and more slowly, which will increase the oxygen supply to your brain and body. This can help to improve circulation and energy levels, leading to a sense of heightened awareness and alertness.
For more information on how this works, check out the study: How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life by Zaccaro et al.
Some meditation practices include specific breathing exercises to produce specific results within your body, mind, and emotional states. The Wim Hof Breathing Method and Soma Breathwork are good examples of this.
3) Your Endorphin Levels Rise During Meditation.
Meditation can stimulate the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural “feel-good” chemicals. These neurotransmitters can create a sense of pleasure and euphoria, leading to a natural “high” feeling.
Reference: Effects of Meditation on Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, and Quality of Life in Women With Breast Cancer. Lee, E. H., Kim, J. H., & Kim, S. M. (2019).
It’s also interesting to note that it’s common for drug users, who have stopped using drugs in favor of meditating, to report that the high from meditating is better than the highs they got from using a wide variety of drugs.
They also describe other benefits of meditating over drugs including no nasty side effects, longer lasting benefits, benefits accumulate and become better over time, and an overall sense of emotional well-being that pervades their lives.
4) Meditating Will Naturally Reduce Your Levels Of Stress And Anxiety.
Although there are many different types of meditation, at their core, they are essentially about learning to anchor your attention in the present moment.
With sustained practice, any student can learn to slip into a meditative state quickly and easily. And while in a meditative state, they can focus on the present moment. This means they have learned to ignore distracting information that would otherwise cause a reactive emotion within them.
The benefit of this is that you get to ‘realize things as they are.’ You get to understand your thoughts and emotions as they are while free of any distracting influences.
In this way, meditation can help to lower the levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. And when these hormones are reduced, you will feel more relaxed, calm, and less anxious, all of which contribute to a “high” sensation.
If you would like more research-based information you could read Meditation-based interventions for adults with a chronic medical illness. Pascoe, M. C., Thompson, D. R., & Jenkins, Z. M. (2017).
5) Meditation Improves Your Connection To Your Higher ‘Spiritual Self.’
Some people may experience a sense of spiritual connection or transcendence during meditation. This can lead to a feeling of peace, unity, and even euphoria as you ‘transcend’ or go beyond the normal human range of sense perception.
Any suffering we experience first happens in our minds. And through meditation, you learn to release your mental attachments, anxieties, and the negative thought patterns that make you feel as if you suffering.
Being aware of the present moment allows you to see pain for what it is…. mental constructs and a series of sensations. And without these distractions, you get to see yourself as you really are…. a wonderful being composed of peace and love.
…. But to get there, you have to let go of the baggage you have been carrying that is distorting your view of yourself and the world around you. You do this by going into the stillness of a deep meditative state, where there are no conditioned thoughts, where you are already existing in your pure natural state…. where there is nothing to be anxious about and nothing to fear.
I’m Not Yet Feeling High When Meditating. When Will It Happen For Me?
Life is a journey. You couldn’t walk, ride a bike, swim, etc. without putting in sometimes many years of practice. And learning to meditate is no different.
We are all beginning our journey from different points. Some people can easily slip into a relaxed state, while others are constantly on edge. So no two people are going to have the same journey or destination.
Learning to build a successful meditation practice is probably the most beneficial thing you can ever do to improve the quality of your life experience. However, it’s not always going to be easy….
If you are new to meditation, check out my post to learn how best to start: Learn To Meditate: The 2 Biggest Secrets That Make It Easy!
Before you get to have the natural highs, euphoria, and spiritual awakening that others talk about, you may go through many hours, months, or even years of sometimes being bored, in pain, disillusioned, angry, crying, etc.
But don’t let that put you off, because it’s all great! It’s all a necessary part of the journey. Your sensory facilities are being cleansed and upgraded so they can be ‘brought online’ to operate at higher levels of perception without any effort by you….
And if you continue on your path, you will get to experience moments of bliss, deep inner peace, and a knowing that all is well and everything is as it should be….. and then you can begin living at a ‘higher’ level of existence where much more is possible for you than it has ever been before…..
…. and it is in this state that the occasional ‘high’ you used to get by meditating becomes your new natural ‘upgraded’ state of being.
