Untangle Your Inner Experience: See, Hear, Feel

We often become tangled up in thoughts, emotions, moods, sensations, memories and internal talk. All of these things together create stories in the mind and drive our actions on both the conscious and unconscious level. By untangling our inner experience and looking/feeling into it, we can understand ourselves on a deeper level. We can become free of destructive and repetitive patterns. We can learn to feel without reacting.

Transcript

In this guided meditation,

We will be learning the see-here-feel technique,

Also known as noting or open monitoring.

This is considered to be a form of vipassana meditation,

But before we get to that,

Let me tell you a little bit about it and why it's useful.

The see-here-feel technique increases our ability to be mindful of all sense experience,

So we're not limited to the breath or body sensations.

In this style of practice,

We can make anything our object of meditation.

As the name suggests,

We can meditate on what we see,

Hear or feel.

And we don't have to choose,

We can simply sit back,

Relax and see where attention naturally goes.

All we have to do is be aware of whether it's a seeing experience,

A hearing experience or a feeling experience.

By doing this,

We are untangling the strands of experience in real time.

We are teaching attention to naturally rest in the senses instead of being lost in mental stories or swept away by emotional storms.

As we do this practice,

We are cultivating mindful awareness.

Mindful awareness arises when three core skills come together and work in unison.

And these are concentration,

Sensory clarity and equanimity.

Now concentration is just the ability to put your attention somewhere and have it stay there without too much effort.

Sensory clarity is the ability to notice details about your experience.

And equanimity is a kind of inner balance.

It's the ability to not be pushed or pulled by internal forces.

On a practical level,

This technique enables us to be exquisitely present.

It installs the ability to manage difficult thoughts and emotions and it helps us to understand the nature of who and what we are on a deep level.

Although I should say that some insights will take longer and be more hard won than others.

See here feel is also a portable practice.

Sure,

You can do it while sitting still with your eyes closed.

But you can also do it during any ordinary activity.

For example,

While walking or cooking.

You can even do this technique while driving,

Provided you only pay attention to what is relevant to the process of driving.

A word of warning before we start.

Some people struggle with this technique at first because there are a lot of instructions and it might not feel serene and peaceful.

Also,

This isn't a non-dual technique,

Meaning it doesn't naturally quickly reveal the oneness inherent in experience and many people are looking for that.

And it won't do that because we're literally chopping experience up and categorizing it into what we can see,

Hear and feel.

Now I understand these objections because I thought the same thing at first.

However,

If you stick with it,

You will discover things about the nature of mind that are currently hidden from you.

And you'll see why this technique was a favourite of enlightened masters from the past.

And also this is a good technique to use alongside other more effortless non-dual techniques in order to balance things out.

I've found that experimenting with a range of approaches,

Especially ones that seem to be opposites,

Opens up all kinds of possibilities.

And this stops practice from becoming stagnant,

Dull and boring.

So let's give it a try.

Take a comfortable seat.

The back can be supported or unsupported,

It's up to you.

And the hands should be in the lap in any way that feels natural.

Ideally,

You'll be sitting upright,

Straight and alert,

But also relaxed and loose.

The eyes can be open or closed for this meditation at the beginning.

And later on in the meditation,

If you have your eyes closed and you feel that you're falling asleep or losing track of things,

You could always open them to help you stay awake,

Stay alert.

So let's start by taking a big deep breath in through the nostrils.

And slowly out through the mouth.

And as you breathe out,

Just feel the body going loose and limp and relaxed.

Give in to that feeling,

Let it all go.

And again,

Big deep breath in through the nostrils.

Very slowly breathing out through the mouth,

Allow the face to relax,

The jaw,

The muscles around the eyes,

The neck,

The shoulders,

Down into the arms,

The chest,

The belly.

And one more big deep breath in through the nostrils.

Slowly out through the mouth,

Relaxing the whole of the torso now.

The upper back,

Lower back,

Down into the hips,

Legs,

Into the feet and the toes.

We're really just giving permission to the body to say it's safe to relax.

Let's just rest here for a moment.

I invite you to gently close the eyes at this point if you haven't already.

And allow the breath to find its own natural rhythm.

You don't have to breathe,

The body breathes,

And you can just rest.

And now become aware of what you can see,

The experience of seeing.

Even with the eyes closed,

You can still have an experience of seeing.

It may feel like you're gazing into a dark void or looking at a blank screen.

There may be lights and shades and colors.

Any number of things might be happening.

And all you have to do is just relax and be aware of the experience of seeing with your eyes closed.

There shouldn't be any strain here.

You don't need to try too hard.

You can relax the muscles around the eyes and allow the experience of seeing to happen.

And when it comes to seeing,

There's also an inner experience that we can become aware of.

Sometimes we might see images in our mind.

It may seem as if they flash up on a kind of mental screen.

See if you can notice that now.

Are there any images flashing up in your mind?

On what feels like a screen in your mind?

If there is,

What can you notice about the image?

Is it static or moving,

Black and white,

All color?

And if there's no image there,

Just notice that.

Notice a lack of visual thoughts in the mind.

To pay attention in this way,

To really make contact with the experience,

Is called noting.

And we also have,

Along with noting,

Labeling.

Where we can use a word to help us stay tuned into the experience.

To help you stay tuned into the experience of seeing,

You can use the label see.

And you would say that in a calm tone of voice,

Like this.

See.

See.

So you can use that label if you like,

In order to help you stay tuned into the experience of seeing.

Okay,

Very good.

And now you can let that go,

And become aware of what you can hear.

The experience of hearing.

What can you hear?

You might hear sounds around the room.

You might hear sounds off in the distance,

Outside of the room.

You can hear my voice.

Take a moment now,

To be gently aware of the experience of hearing.

And when it comes to hearing,

It isn't just sounds outside of us that we can notice.

Sometimes we might hear an inner monologue,

A voice in our mind.

It might feel like we are talking to ourselves,

Often without meaning to.

Verbal thoughts.

Or sometimes,

It might be a song playing in our mind.

Or sometimes we might replay a conversation we had,

Or imagine a conversation we're going to have with somebody.

This is another kind of hearing experience,

Happening in the mind.

Take a moment now,

To see if you can notice that,

If it's there for you.

And if it isn't,

Notice the absence of sound in the mind.

Very good.

So just be gently aware of what you can hear.

Maybe sounds in the room,

Or sounds in the mind.

This is all an experience of hearing.

And to help you stay tuned in to the hearing experience,

You can use the label,

Hear.

And you would repeat that,

Every now and again,

In a calm tone.

To help you stay tuned in to the experience.

And it would sound like this.

Hear.

And you wouldn't need to label the label.

You just leave that out of it.

Very good.

Okay,

Now you can let that go.

And allow your attention to float down into the feeling body.

What can you feel?

What physical sensations can you notice?

You can experience the body,

As if it's a cloud of sensation.

And you can allow your attention to float around between sensations,

Within that cloud.

What can you feel?

Maybe you feel the chair behind your back,

Or underneath you.

The touch of clothes on the skin.

The gentle rise and fall of the belly or chest as you breathe.

Maybe tingling in the hands and the feet.

Or maybe something to do with temperature.

A part of the body is hot,

Or a part is cold,

Or something in between.

Allow your attention to freely float between the various sensations that you can notice.

And when your attention lands on something,

Focus on it for a few seconds.

See if you can make contact with it.

Taste it,

Just for a few seconds.

Before you're naturally pulled to some other sensation.

Visual experience and hearing experience may happen.

You just allow that to be in the background.

And you bring exploring sensations in the body into the foreground.

Give that a try now.

You might find that at times there are a number of sensations that are attracting your attention.

That's no problem.

You just pick one and you focus on that.

You don't need to attend to everything.

You can let some things go by.

You might find that there is something particularly interesting that holds your attention.

Like the rise and fall of the breath,

Or a tingling sensation somewhere.

If that happens,

No problem,

You can stay with it.

Go deeper into it.

Become absorbed in it.

That's a window of opportunity.

And if at some point it becomes less charming,

You allow yourself to be naturally pulled to another sensation.

Very good.

And when it comes to working with the body,

It's not only physical sensations that we might notice.

We have emotions too.

So maybe you can tune into that.

Maybe you're experiencing peace or joy or bliss.

Or maybe it's anxiety and worry.

Or maybe it's neutral.

See if you can notice if there is any kind of emotion present right now.

And if there is,

See if you can locate where that emotion is showing up in the feeling body.

Because emotions will always have a location in the body.

And if you're feeling emotionally neutral,

That's fine too.

Just notice that.

And when you're working in this way,

With the feeling sensation,

You can use the label feel,

In order to help you stay tuned into the experience of feeling.

And that would sound like this.

Feel.

Feel.

So making contact with a sensation,

Trying to taste it,

That's called noting.

And if you use the label,

That's called labeling.

And labeling is optional.

You can use that as and when you feel it's necessary.

Very good.

Okay,

Now you can let that go.

And the last thing we'll do is just allow your attention to freely float between what you can see,

Hear and feel.

So attention is completely unrestricted now.

And all you have to do is sit back,

Relax,

And allow experiences to show themselves to you.

And you notice whether it's a seeing experience,

A hearing experience or a feeling experience.

And whatever comes up,

You take a moment to try and taste it,

Make contact with it.

But just a few seconds before you're naturally pulled to something else.

So give that a try now.

Sometimes there may be more than one thing happening,

More than one experience vying for your attention.

It's no problem.

You just pick one,

Focus on that,

And let the other thing be in the background.

And if anything is particularly interesting and it holds your attention,

You can stay with it,

Go deeper into it.

Keep noting and labeling it for as long as it's charming to you.

That's a window of opportunity.

Remember that you don't have to try too hard or strain.

You're just being gently aware of what you can see,

Hear and feel.

Very good.

And now we will bring this practice to a close.

But you are welcome to continue meditating if you wish.

There's no reason to stop now.

If you don't have to.

And if you do decide to end the meditation here,

See if you can take something from it,

Out of the practice and into your normal everyday life.

If you manage to contact some relaxation and tranquility and peacefulness,

See if you can take some of that from the meditation back into your normal everyday activities.

And if you got something else from the meditation that was positive and useful for you,

You can take that.

And on that note,

We will finish the meditation here.

Thank you for your practice.