Our conscious thought process is only a tiny part of what the brain is doing at any given time, so the fact that you were not actively thinking you should feel something doesn't mean your subconscious wasn't expecting it anyway. Our brains are extremely complicated and very flawed which makes our unconfirmable experiences highly questionable. Plus, we are highly prone to suggestion such as the act of being prayed for.
One of the subconsious processes our brain is constantly going through is developing our body and mind schemas. What these are are our brain's ability to be self aware of our physical and mental selves. Often times when our mind schema goes awry, we perceive internal influences to be external. For example, mountain climbers often report sensing another person that is with them at physically challenging times. This has been discovered to be a lack of communication between the hemispheres of the brain through the corpus-colossum due to a lack of oxygen. Consequently, our mind schema perceives the separation of the two hemispheres as an outside presence.
Also, 'spiritual' forces similar to the one you've mentioned can be repeated in lab situations by firing magnets set against our heads in certain places. For more information on this google 'God Helmet.'
I know these examples don't address your experience specifically, but they do show similar situations where the brain can trick itself into believing an internal miscommunication is an external force. The most important thing to remember, however, is that just because our scientific knowledge cannot directly explain something, does not mean that we should jump to supernatural conclusions.
One of the subconsious processes our brain is constantly going through is developing our body and mind schemas. What these are are our brain's ability to be self aware of our physical and mental selves. Often times when our mind schema goes awry, we perceive internal influences to be external. For example, mountain climbers often report sensing another person that is with them at physically challenging times. This has been discovered to be a lack of communication between the hemispheres of the brain through the corpus-colossum due to a lack of oxygen. Consequently, our mind schema perceives the separation of the two hemispheres as an outside presence.
Also, 'spiritual' forces similar to the one you've mentioned can be repeated in lab situations by firing magnets set against our heads in certain places. For more information on this google 'God Helmet.'
I know these examples don't address your experience specifically, but they do show similar situations where the brain can trick itself into believing an internal miscommunication is an external force. The most important thing to remember, however, is that just because our scientific knowledge cannot directly explain something, does not mean that we should jump to supernatural conclusions.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
