Tara: Over the last few sessions, we’ve explored bringing mindfulness to the sensations in our body, and how this allows us to respond to ourselves and others in a more present, clear, empathetic way. A powerful tool for strengthening this awareness of body sensations is noting or naming the particular sensations we're feeling. And not only can naming them focus your attention, it actually helps you witness what’s going on inside you with more balance and equanimity. In an important piece of research conducted at UCLA, MRI scans revealed that the activity of mental noting activates the prefrontal cortex. That’s the site associated with executive functioning. And it reduces activity in the limbic system, which deals with emotions. So, the implication is that if you’re having intense unpleasant sensations, naming them correlates with a reduction of reactivity to the experience. A helpful way to begin awakening mindfulness is by asking the following question. What is happening inside me right now? As you ask, notice what you’re experiencing in your body. What is happening inside me right now? Let the inquiry engage your interest and curiosity. And notice how posing this simple question can immediately direct your attention inward. Now, follow up that with a second question. Can I be with this? You might notice this second question invites some spaciousness, allowing what’s here to unfold without interference. Can I be with this? You can use these two questions, what is happening inside me right now, and can I be with this, any time you want to connect more fully with the life within you.
Now, once you've arrived in some awareness of body sensations, you’re ready for the tool of naming or noting. As you attend to the various sensations that are arising, you make a mental whisper, using a word to describe what you're aware of. And after you’ve named an experience, say sensations of heat, or tightness, or tingling, simply allow them to be as they are and continue to notice with a clear attention, what naturally happens. Then, if a different sensation draws your attention, you can name that, and allow it to unfold. When we witness an experience like this, simply noticing, but not interfering, we begin to see reality in a fresh way. Our first realization’s often, everything’s always changing. And you might be thinking yeah, well, this is something everyone knows, but when this recognition arises as a deep experiential knowing, as an insight, it can profoundly affect your life. Everything we notice inside us, breath, thoughts, feelings of anger, of pleasure, it’s moving. Nothing's holding still, the leaves in the breeze, the birds, the seasons, the planets. So, when we really register this, that perspective can invite us to relax our resistance, relax our control, and let go and more with the everchanging relax our controlling, and to let go and more with the everchanging flow. One meditation teacher describes the beauty of a glass he regularly drinks from. Then, he says, “I love this glass. Yet, for me, the glass is already broken. When I understand this, every minute with it is precious.” As we open to the river of sensations, as we remember that this too will pass, we're able to live our moments and lives with more grace and appreciation. So, let's explore this together, this everchanging flow of sensation.
Please allow yourself to settle into a comfortable seated position. And as you become still, take a few moments to collect your attention with the breath or your chosen body anchor. Relax and rest in the breath or body sensations, just bringing a calm, clear attention to your moment-to-moment experience. Now that you've settled a bit with your home base, widen the field of attention, bringing the same quality of care and presence to notice whatever sensations are arising. You’re exploring the amazing river of sensations as a mindful witness. As certain sensations become predominant, bring interest to them, feeling them fully, and see if there's a word that describes your experience, maybe tightness, or ache, heat, pressure.
There’s no need to strain to run through a mental thesaurus to find the right word. Just notice what word arises in awareness, and mentally repeat it to yourself in a soft tone. Let the naming be soft in the background, so that five percent of your attention is doing the nothing and 95 percent is on the actual experience. As you name the sensations that are predominant, allow them to be just as they are, and keep paying attention to the felt experience that’s unfolding in the present moment. You might notice if the sensations stay the same, if they get more intense, or move, or disappear. If a certain cluster of sensations continue to draw your attention, again, sense what word best describes them, and offer a mental note of what you’re experiencing.
Continue in this way, bearing witness to the changing flow of sensations moving through you, feeling them fully, naming what's predominant, and letting them be. Keep in mind that this mental noting, it's an optional tool, something to experiment with, to use in some states of body and mind, and perhaps not in others. If noting adds clarity, great, and if it seems to create tension or somehow get in the way, feel free to drop it. The point's not to stop the river of sensations, but to know them with awareness. Right at this moment, you might ask, what is happening inside me right now, and can I be with this, feeling the flow of sensations, subtle or strong, letting life be just as it is. Now, return to your home base, the breath of your body anchor, calm, steady attention, resting with the inflow, the outflow of the breath or resting in your anchor with a full attention.
