Note Body Sensations

Everyone begins with unrealistic expectations about maintaining mindful awareness.

It's natural to feel discouraged by an inability to focus on one sensation at a time, but adjusting your expectations about how attention works can help develop your ability to concentrate with practice.

"Remembering to Notice"

Who told you that you weren't enough?
When will you be ready
to tell yourself that you are?

Revising your story feels daunting.
Start small.

Reminding yourself that
this moment,
right now,
is enough,
just as it is.

This can still be a lot to ask, at first,
and for a long time.

Scale down instead of giving up.

Let the sensations you can feel in your left hand
be enough for a handful of seconds.
Feel them. Feel them again. Then again.

Practice with your right foot,
both legs,
your face,
your aching shoulders,
a tiny, persistent itch,
a simmering restlessness all over,
the touch of clothing against your skin.

Collect repetitions of noticing,
when you're meditating
and when you're not.

Collect them by letting them slip through your fingers.

What they leave in their wake
might be what you've been
searching for your whole adult life.

It's not unusual to exhaust the hope
of finding it somewhere out in the world
exploring the constellation of sensations
that have been walking around in your shoes
the whole time.

When you practice
letting sensory experiences
be enough, just as they are,
before you know it,
you might start to notice
that you're enough,

just as you are, right now.

It's allegedly easier to recognize
that you have always been enough
as you're dying.

Don't wait to find out. Start noticing now. Keep going.

Just as it's easier for a dog to learn to walk without constantly pulling on the leash when it's shorter, the same principle applies to human attention. We need to give ourselves just enough leeway, without allowing free rein to chase every squirrel and goose in the park.

Consider the various skills that require a method for maintaining mental orientation. Musicians and dancers mentally count measures of music to learn new pieces, stay oriented within them, and keep track of their cues. Nurses mentally count heartbeats while waiting for their thermometers to register a temperature. People working out at the gym count the repetitions of their exercises, while swimmers devise methods to track components of their strokes or remember which lap they're on.

Mindful noting is very similar to these techniques.

What is mindful noting?

To note a perception mindfully means to focus on it intently and gently for a few seconds without trying to change it.

When we exercise our attention, instead of trying to focus on a sensation for five, ten, or even twenty minutes, we need to scale down to shorter intervals of just a few seconds. Doing this allows us to connect multiple brief durations of awareness in succession.

Each instance of mindful noting consists of two distinct parts.

First, we begin by deciding what to observe. It's important to be clear about what we are focusing on. Sometimes, our attention is drawn to a sensory experience naturally, while other times, we deliberately choose to direct our attention there. In either case, we take a moment to clarify what we will be concentrating on for the next few seconds.

Second, we allow our attention to rest on the chosen target. During this short time, it's crucial to avoid evaluating what we notice or getting overly caught up in its significance. Try to absorb the raw sensory data rather than mentally analyzing its meaning.

With practice, the first part begins to take less time, allowing for more gentle observation.

Working with labels helps.

What is mindful labeling?

Noting strengthens attention; labeling supports noting.

To label means to think or say a word or short phrase that describes what you are noting.

For breath awareness, as an example, the commonly used labels are:

• breathing in, breathing out

• rising, falling

• in, out

Labels are incredibly flexible. You can use specific labels for anything you see, hear, or feel in your body. General labels help steer us even further away from our interpretations.

Saying the labels out loud can be a powerful way to enhance your focus. The act of speaking the words makes them more tangible, helping you stay grounded in what you are observing and preventing you from drifting off.

I prefer to use spoken labels when applying mindful awareness strategies in the world, such as when walking, running, or feeling particularly scattered. In situations where I might feel self-conscious about speaking the labels aloud, I’ve found that mouthing the words can be just as effective.

When you verbalize the labels, use a low, gentle, and matter-of-fact tone of voice. When you think the labels, try to create the same tone in your internal voice. This tone of voice helps you enter a deeper state of focus and concentration.

Practice taking your time to note and label at a relaxed pace, allowing four to ten seconds between each label. This slower rhythm helps you fully absorb and appreciate each moment. This also fosters a feedback loop, making you more aware when your mind starts to wander.

Frequent practice will reveal the liberating power of this simple, undervalued technique—especially when you learn to use it with sights, sounds, mental images, verbal thoughts, and feelings.

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Exercise

This attention exercise uses body sensations to practice mindful noting using specific labels.

Circumstances for learning this attention exercise

• a quiet weekend morning

• a weekday evening before bed

• sitting in your car for a few minutes before or after driving