Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
spacing out
English answer:
dissociating, disconnecting, not with it, mentally remote
Added to glossary by
Yvonne Gallagher
Nov 25, 2021 15:30
2 yrs ago
40 viewers *
English term
spacing out
English
Social Sciences
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
meditation
Dear colleagues,
I was wondering about the meaning of “spacing out” in the passage below, taken from a workbook on a meditation practice called the wheel of awareness. Might it mean “losing contact with reality”? Or is this interpretation too “extreme”?
Thank you in advance for any hint!
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What was this hub-in-hub experience like for you (the experience of becoming aware of pure awareness, without being aware of something in particular)? Many of my patients and workshop participants have found that it felt odd, at least at first. Did it feel disorienting or confusing for you? For some, there is simply a sense of becoming lost, of spacing out, of not knowing what to do. No need to worry. In many ways, this step of resting awareness in awareness, of being aware of awareness, is quite advanced
I was wondering about the meaning of “spacing out” in the passage below, taken from a workbook on a meditation practice called the wheel of awareness. Might it mean “losing contact with reality”? Or is this interpretation too “extreme”?
Thank you in advance for any hint!
*********************
What was this hub-in-hub experience like for you (the experience of becoming aware of pure awareness, without being aware of something in particular)? Many of my patients and workshop participants have found that it felt odd, at least at first. Did it feel disorienting or confusing for you? For some, there is simply a sense of becoming lost, of spacing out, of not knowing what to do. No need to worry. In many ways, this step of resting awareness in awareness, of being aware of awareness, is quite advanced
Change log
Nov 30, 2021 19:29: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Responses
+3
7 mins
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
659
Selected
not completely conscious or with it, remote
informal : to become inattentive, distracted, or mentally remote
slang, not really "with it" usually because of recreational drugs
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spaced-o...
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Note added at 1 day 21 hrs (2021-11-27 13:12:56 GMT)
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Here are excerpts from a discussion about feeling "spaced out" in relation to yoga and mindfulness
https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards...
"...I usually feel a little bit "high" after meditation it only lasts a half hour or so. This was a different. I felt out of it. Almost like the place from which I observe the world was pushed to the side or just not in the right place..."
You start feeling out of whack and dissociated.
A. "I think that this is a complex issue so there isn't any easy advice. [...] I just try to see it as ''my insight is progressing and this is just a bit weird and hard to adjust to at the moment.'' So long as it isn't causing you a lot of distress, I'd just try to ride it out. After all, if you want to realize that there is no permanent, separate self, it is going to be a bit of a head-trip to get there!
Strong concentration is absolutely necessary for liberating insight.[...]
To gain insight into a state of concentration, you have to stick with it for a long time. [...]
The first was the state that comes when the breath gets so comfortable that your focus drifts from the breath to the sense of comfort itself, your mindfulness begins to blur, and your sense of the body and your surroundings gets lost in a pleasant haze.
When you emerge, you find it hard to identify where exactly you were focused. [...] In both these states of wrong concentration, the limited range of awareness was what made them wrong. If whole areas of your awareness are blocked off, how can you gain all-around insight?[...]
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Note added at 4 days (2021-11-29 19:38:57 GMT)
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dissociation (or spaciness) is definitely not good practice in meditation but wrong concentration. "a pleasant haze" is NOT the aim of meditation or mindfulness
More ideas here
https://saturdaycenter.org/meditation-dissociation-and-spiri...
Dissociation is a term that indicates disconnection from one’s own self or from a part of one’s self.
If you feel the need to actively avoid uncomfortable experiences, possibly see them as “negative energy,” especially anger — you might be by-passing or dissociating.
If you often feel ungrounded and spacey, that’s a telltale sign of dissociation. [..]
If you stay ever-the-observer of pain and joy, you may be robbing yourself of the very experiences that will deepen your contentment. You might be slightly dissociated from or bypassing intimacy. [...].
If you go into a haze during your sit-down meditation time, that’s dissociation. [...]
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Note added at 5 days (2021-11-30 19:23:50 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
slang, not really "with it" usually because of recreational drugs
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/spaced-o...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 21 hrs (2021-11-27 13:12:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Here are excerpts from a discussion about feeling "spaced out" in relation to yoga and mindfulness
https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards...
"...I usually feel a little bit "high" after meditation it only lasts a half hour or so. This was a different. I felt out of it. Almost like the place from which I observe the world was pushed to the side or just not in the right place..."
You start feeling out of whack and dissociated.
A. "I think that this is a complex issue so there isn't any easy advice. [...] I just try to see it as ''my insight is progressing and this is just a bit weird and hard to adjust to at the moment.'' So long as it isn't causing you a lot of distress, I'd just try to ride it out. After all, if you want to realize that there is no permanent, separate self, it is going to be a bit of a head-trip to get there!
Strong concentration is absolutely necessary for liberating insight.[...]
To gain insight into a state of concentration, you have to stick with it for a long time. [...]
The first was the state that comes when the breath gets so comfortable that your focus drifts from the breath to the sense of comfort itself, your mindfulness begins to blur, and your sense of the body and your surroundings gets lost in a pleasant haze.
When you emerge, you find it hard to identify where exactly you were focused. [...] In both these states of wrong concentration, the limited range of awareness was what made them wrong. If whole areas of your awareness are blocked off, how can you gain all-around insight?[...]
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2021-11-29 19:38:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
dissociation (or spaciness) is definitely not good practice in meditation but wrong concentration. "a pleasant haze" is NOT the aim of meditation or mindfulness
More ideas here
https://saturdaycenter.org/meditation-dissociation-and-spiri...
Dissociation is a term that indicates disconnection from one’s own self or from a part of one’s self.
If you feel the need to actively avoid uncomfortable experiences, possibly see them as “negative energy,” especially anger — you might be by-passing or dissociating.
If you often feel ungrounded and spacey, that’s a telltale sign of dissociation. [..]
If you stay ever-the-observer of pain and joy, you may be robbing yourself of the very experiences that will deepen your contentment. You might be slightly dissociated from or bypassing intimacy. [...].
If you go into a haze during your sit-down meditation time, that’s dissociation. [...]
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Note added at 5 days (2021-11-30 19:23:50 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
Note from asker:
| Thank you so much, Yvonne, for your help! |
| Thank you so much, Yvonne, for your additional reference! Maybe in a sense, it's losing touch with the present moment, drifting away from the task at hand... although I'm not sure it's always associated with a pleasant feeling... The synonym "dissociated" is very useful: you probably seem to be somewhere else... |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
David Hollywood
12 hrs
|
|
Thanks:-)
|
|
| agree |
Oleg Muzhdabaev
: having this sense of being remote they seem to stay in full control
23 hrs
|
|
Thanks for agree Oleg but "remote" means mentally dissociated here so not in full control
|
|
| agree |
Edward Bickett (X)
: Or as they say in South Carolina, “ain’t right”
1 day 3 hrs
|
|
Many thanks:-) (though ain't right (in the head)" would mean something else and be wrong here
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you so much, Yvonne! Many sincere thanks also to all other colleagues!"
+4
6 mins
Bruno Pavesi
Brazil
Brazil
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Brazil
Translations in marketing and gaming
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian) , English (Variant: US)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Losing touch with reality/Dazed
Collins has a definition I like, which is: "dreamily or eerily out of touch with reality or seemingly so; spacey"
I'm sending over the link, hope it helps.
I believe in your context, it seems to fit.
I'm sending over the link, hope it helps.
I believe in your context, it seems to fit.
Note from asker:
| Thank you very mich, Bruno, for your contribution! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
: It can be anything from losing concentration for a moment to a drug-induced stupor. I wish the asker would use a dictionary.
3 mins
|
| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
7 hrs
|
| agree |
David Hollywood
12 hrs
|
| agree |
Edward Bickett (X)
1 day 3 hrs
|
23 hrs
Oleg Muzhdabaev
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, French to Russian, Hungarian to Russian, and 16 more.
feeling as if drunken/intoxicated
I think it should be said with some color, in a common word, literary style. Losing touch (contact) with reality sounds very medical. The author wants us to understand the phenomenon and uses synonyms in doing so.
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Note added at 23 hrs (2021-11-26 15:21:03 GMT)
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my synonym is not very good, it should be better
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Note added at 23 hrs (2021-11-26 15:21:03 GMT)
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my synonym is not very good, it should be better
Note from asker:
| thank you, Oleg, for your contribution! |
Discussion
Many thanks again and have a nice evening!
I mean, whether in this context a more "neutral" meaning was more accurate...