Practice Noting ~ Become The Observer

Noting is a practice that can relieve stress and help us create space between ourselves and our thoughts. Rather than being lost in thought, we can simply learn to notice them. This eventually leads to more clarity, less worry, better decisions, and more.

Get comfortable, drop the judgment, and practice observing. Some examples of what you may note are "hearing, sensation, emotion, thinking." After an introduction, you will spend five minutes of silent practice. Feel free to extend this silent time on your own to go deeper into your self-observation.

Isn't it interesting how five minutes can feel long when you're sitting in silence yet so fast when you're running late?

Photo cred: Simon Wilkes on Unsplash

Transcript

Hi friends,

This is Megan.

I'm going to guide you through the practice of noting.

This practice can help create space between your thought patterns and tendencies.

Learning to become the observer can ultimately relieve a lot of stress and tension because we don't let our thoughts carry us away where we're so wrapped up in them we we can't even see or think clearly.

And as humans we can make impulsive decisions that perhaps we wouldn't have made if we were able to pause more and create a little bit more space.

This practice will help you become more of the observer and of course it does take practice so be kind to yourself with however this goes over the next few minutes.

So start to settle into your comfortable position,

Could be seated on a chair,

On the floor,

Even laying down,

Preferably in a place that is quiet.

I'm going to leave music off of this so that you can specifically note sounds and just start to connect to your breath.

So notice the inhales,

Notice the exhales without needing to control anything.

Allow the face to soften,

The forehead,

The jaw,

Relax the shoulders down and back.

The spine is long and strong and the front is soft so you can soften the belly area,

Soften the heart and just become aware of how the body expands as you inhale and how it contracts as you exhale.

You don't have to control the breath in any way.

And so when I get quiet and you sit with yourself,

Your only job is to notice and note.

So for instance,

If you hear something,

Anything in your environment,

You just note hearing.

If there is discomfort in an area of your body,

You might note sensation or discomfort.

It's possible that sitting in silence,

You feel really bored or frustrated or irritated.

And again,

Just note it.

You can label it as that emotion or just simply emotion.

And of course,

As the to yourself,

Be easy on yourself.

Eckhart Tolle says,

The moment you realize you are not present,

You are present.

Whenever you're able to observe your mind,

You're no longer trapped in it.

And now you may want to really soften the gaze or even close your eyes.

And so I'm going to leave you for five minutes to simply practice noting like a curious observer without criticism,

Without an agenda,

Without expectations or judgment.

Just simply breathe and note and your time begins now.

And you have completed five minutes of silent noting.

Allow the body to move however you want.

Maybe you flutter your eyes open and stretch a little bit.

Most importantly,

Release any thoughts that you're bad at that.

Just simply sitting and completing the practice,

I believe is success.

You are exercising the mind,

You're working on becoming the observer.

And like anything,

It takes practice.

And there really doesn't need to be an agenda of completely silencing the mind.

There are other techniques besides noting that you can practice,

You can use breath techniques as your anchor,

You can use mantras as an anchor or focal point as well,

And many others.

But whatever came up was perfectly fine.

Thanks for practicing with me.

Reviews

I see now why you have a 5💫 star review. I enjoy the practice you call noting. I engage a similar awareness practice that I call it “know-ticing.”