[mtalantikite]

The paper mentions voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and anecdotally from my own meditation and yoga practice I've found that I have some control over a very specific SNS response. I'm able to control piloerection ("goose bump" activation) any time I want, something I wasn't ever able to do before and found to be quite strange when I noticed myself gaining control over it.

Not exactly an awesome super power, but I have found that it's helpful for cooling the body when I'm excessively hot during particularly strenuous yoga asana practice (back when practicing around other people in hot rooms was a thing).

Note: In meditation practice piloerection is part of what is generally referred to as pīti.

[Enginerrrd]

I also gained this ability after meditating for an hour every day for ~4 months. A BUNCH of weird things started happening actually and I kind of backed off of it because of them. It proved to be a lot more than I really signed up for. (Fascinating things happened though...)

...But I have retained the piloerection ability, which I can do on command within 2-5 seconds or so. There's also some weird sensations in my sinuses I can trigger... it feels like the tissues contracting or something, not sure what it actually is, but that's what it feels like. ...And I regularly cry now at sad things, like movies and stories and the like. I used to never cry. Not like I was holding it in, but like, it just didn't happen.

[mtalantikite]

For sure, lots of things start changing with a meditation practice. I had a similar experience of needing to stop when I was younger and was practicing with no teacher in my early 20s, it became overwhelming.

I picked it back up about a decade later and found some texts really helpful that I'd recommend to anyone working at a meditation practice:

- "The Other Shore" by Thich Nhat Hanh

- "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryū Suzuki

- "Zen Training" by Katsuki Sekida

There are of course tons of others, but better to start with fewer than an overwhelming collection of things when getting situated.

Also, yeah, the sinuses thing is weird and was also surprising when I started noticing it!

Edit: Also, a physical yoga asana practice really brought me a whole lot deeper into my meditation practice. Find a teacher you connect with. Typically yoga studios that have "Mysore" or "Hatha" practices on their schedules will be teaching something that isn't just calisthenics. That'd be enough to open the doors and get going.

[codezero]

I get this sensation in my sinuses - but only after having had surgery - I think you're feeling the mucus membranes shifting around - they can get larger/smaller based on blood pressure, I believe the membranes are called nasal turbinates. I had some removed. It's a really interesting feeling.

[RikNieu]

What kind of weird and fascinating things happened?

[alfonsodev]

Very interesting.

How quickly can you trigger it?

I've experienced something similar but it takes long time to arrive, at least 5-10 minutes, I wonder if with practice you found exactly the state that triggers it and you can do it instantly.

Also, have you felt it as in waves going up and down? or just located in same place ?

And lastly, does it have any health utility?

[mtalantikite]

- How quickly can you trigger it?

Immediately with a breath (as in start inhaling, it happens). Without a breath, maybe 5 seconds or so?

- Also, have you felt it as in waves going up and down? or just located in same place ?

It's all over the body, although I can focus on just one part of the body and do it there, but that takes me a little longer. (We're still talking about seconds here though. Maybe 20?)

- And lastly, does it have any health utility?

Maybe? Haha, hard to say. If anything probably indirectly, since this has come from a meditation practice, and meditation itself has numerous documented/studied health benefits.

[y-c-o-m-b]

I've been able to do it since I was a young child. One method is by activating the tensor tympani muscles and tensing the front of my neck from my jaw (while making a frowning type facial expression - aka make yourself look like a cardassian) - that's the best way I can describe it. There's another way that involves tensing the base of my skull. I can also move my ears, so I wonder if being able to move that muscle plays into this.

[kaetemi]

I've been able to do this since I was young. For me, I can trigger it instantly. It's mostly very relaxing. Triggers a yawning response if I do it repeatedly. I think I actually learned it by forcing myself to yawn back then. Feels mind clearing too.

[jimmygrapes]

I experience the same, just did it in fact! My ears popped (without yawning) and I didn't realize they needed to equalize but damn if I don't feel more alert now that that's done.

[renewiltord]

I figured out how to do this and how to get chills on demand on my last acid trip. I've forgotten how to do the goose bumps thing but I just tried the chills (you know the pleasurable sensation from good music) and that has remained.

Feels odd but LSD is a good tool for this stuff.

[leto_ii]

Interesting. Have you ever experienced what is sometimes called pee shivers [1]? Since childhood I've had this sensation after urination. With time I developed an ability to trigger it. It feels like a wave of warmth spreading upwards from my spine and it also leads to the hair on my arms standing up. Does this resemble your experience with piloerection?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-micturition_convulsion_sy...

[jraby3]

I didn’t realize this is something other people can’t do till reading your comment and the responses. I’ve been able to give myself goosebumps and chills on demand since I was a child. I wonder what other SNS responses can be controlled.