Hi there. I'm hoping someone can offer an explanation as I'm interested to find out what this might be...

As I've become better at the meditation I practice at the end of each yoga session (shavasana), I have noticed that upon finishing the practice, when I get up and go on with the rest of my day, I experience fairly intense visual distortion which lasts 5 to 15 minutes after the meditation. The best way I can describe it is that the centre of my field of vision becomes "snowy" - like old analogue TV with an iffy picture :) The harder I try to look at something, the more distorted it becomes. It can be a fairly disquieting sensation (or at least it would be, if I wasn't feeling so relaxed!).

Anyway, can anyone shed any light? I'm just curious...

Many thanks in advance.
Charlee x

Hi Charlee,

Going into deep states of meditation can create an altered state of perception, which can make the transition between meditation and "real world" functioning interesting. I would suggest that you take several minutes to transition from your meditation, sitting quietly with the eyes open and doing some movements to wake up and come back into the body, especially anything that gives you a sense of grounding.

I would also be curious to know what type of meditation you are doing, especially if the eyes are involved in the meditation technique.

Hi Timothy, and thanks for your reply.

I figured it might just be that it's a little hard to adjust back into everyday life immediately afterwards. When I'm at home - rather than at a yoga class - it's much easier to adjust as I can sit around for a while and allow myself to return slowly to functionality.

With regard to the eyes, they are closed when I'm meditating. I vary the focus of my inward thoughts: sometimes I focus my breath between my eyes; sometimes I concentrate on the breathing itself in waves, with focus on my torso; other times I use visualisations from various sources, many based around light flowing through me - an adaptation of an energy release practice I use after a Wiccan ritual. It's usual after the latter that the visual distortions are most apparent, although I rarely experience them after magic work. I can only assume that the deeper into the meditation I sink, the longer it takes to come out again.

Do you have any advice on "quick fixes" that might bring me back into myself a little sooner after a class? I love my yoga class very much, but there's always a spinning class right after, so no time for hanging around to get my "everyday head" on before being hustled out of the door (at rush hour, no less!). It's a bit of a shock sometimes :)

Hi Charlee,

Backing off on the visualization and using more body / breath based focus for your meditations would be more grounding. One quick fix for grounding after yoga or meditation is to rub the bottoms of the feet together, or even better is to walk barefoot on a patch of grass.