Get To Know 'See, Hear, Feel'

In an introduction to Unified Mindfulness' meditation technique "See, Hear, Feel," you can expect to learn how to observe and categorize your sensory experiences in three distinct areas: sight, sound, and body sensations. You'll practice becoming more aware of your visual field, noting changes in light, color, and shapes.

Similarly, you'll focus on auditory experiences, noticing different types of sounds and their intensity. The technique also guides you to pay attention to bodily sensations, such as touch, temperature, and internal feelings. This approach helps enhance your mindfulness practice by building a clear and systematic understanding of your sensory experiences in the present moment.

Transcript

Welcome to this brief talk about Unified Mindfulness's signature technique,

See,

Hear,

Feel.

So before we start,

I just wanted to say a few words about the UM system itself,

Because I think it's pretty cool,

Actually,

The whole thing.

So Unified Mindfulness,

It's a collection of techniques.

It's not a one-size-fits-all kind of model.

So I won't be teaching you just one technique and that's what we remain with for the rest of our time.

Actually,

It's 40 techniques.

But what's more important than learning 40 techniques is actually learning the principles behind them.

So what you do is intuitive.

When it comes to your experience,

You're the expert.

And I wanna support you to become empowered so that you can choose what technique is right for you,

Given a particular time,

A particular circumstance,

How your body,

Heart,

And mind are,

What is best right at this time.

That's incredibly important.

And also knowing very clearly what skills you're developing and where you're at with that.

And with that,

Let's get into it.

So what is it we're doing when we meditate?

What's happening exactly?

In Unified Mindfulness,

We are aiming to develop three skills through all of these techniques.

This is what we're doing,

Developing three attention skills,

Concentration,

Sensory clarity,

And equanimity.

And this is something that's kind of special about UM,

This focus on attention skills.

By developing these skills,

We see benefits like lower stress,

Better sleep,

Being more present.

I was able to pay attention to my kids more than I ever had before.

I'm noticing just in general,

More relaxation in my body.

There are some really cool benefits to it.

And what we'll do is we'll explore these attention skills in a guided practice after this talk.

So see,

Hear,

Feel.

It's a great way to develop these attention skills.

You could do it as a formal practice.

You know,

When you think of someone meditating,

I think most people think of someone sitting cross-legged on a cushion,

Very straight,

Focusing on their breath.

You could do it in that kind of position,

But you could also do it in daily life.

I like practicing see,

Hear,

Feel while I'm walking down the street or while I'm doing the dishes.

And I think you'll see why after I explain.

So here's how it begins.

First,

We divide our sensory experience into three categories,

See,

Hear,

Feel.

Now there is nothing that will occur outside of these categories.

So you're covered for every experience.

Okay,

So see,

Hear,

And feel.

These categories have an inner aspect and an outer aspect.

So for example,

See.

When I am seeing a mental image,

Let's say I ask you to close your eyes and imagine a beach.

That's a mental image.

That would be see in.

And let's say I am sitting outside,

Looking at the sky.

I'm noticing clouds.

That would be see also,

See out in this case.

It would be an outer version of see.

So that was either a mental image or an object that you see.

So see in or see out.

Then we have hear.

For an inner version of hear,

We use mental talk.

Or maybe there's a song in your mind,

Any kind of internal sound.

That's hear in.

And any kind of sound that you hear outside,

That's hear out.

So that may be a car driving by and you're noticing the sound from the street.

Yeah,

That's hear out.

Okay,

And finally we've got feel.

And that's also got an inner and an outer kind of classification.

Feel in is about the emotional sensations that you notice in the body.

So for example,

When I think of my nephews and my niece,

I smile.

And in turn,

I feel a warmth in my chest that's related to that emotion.

So you're looking for sensation in the body that's related to emotion.

That's feel in.

And as for feel out,

That's a physical sensation in the body.

So let's say that might be a breeze going over the skin on your leg and you're noticing the sensation of that.

That is feel out.

So we've got see,

Hear,

Feel.

These things can also be active or restful,

As in these are the different states that they could be in.

So for example,

Here,

Maybe your mind is really quiet.

So hear in is restful.

Or maybe your mind is,

There's a lot of thoughts.

So that could be,

That's hear in again,

But it's very active.

I don't want you to worry too much about the active or restful,

The inner or outer kind of classifications.

This is gonna come with experience.

For today,

We're just gonna focus on,

Hey,

How do you do it?

So what we do is you're just focusing on whatever you happen to notice.

Everything will come under either see,

Hear or feel,

So it's all good.

So you're kind of free-floating your attention.

You're not putting it anywhere in particular.

When you notice your attention is drawn to an experience,

Decide which category it falls under.

Is it see,

Hear or feel?

The moment you identify the category,

You can label it,

Either out loud or to yourself,

See,

Hear,

Feel.

Now,

An example of that would be,

Let's say I've taken some kind of a meditation posture or I've decided this period of time I'm gonna practice see,

Hear,

Feel,

And I notice that there's a tingling sensation in my right thumb.

My attention is drawn to that experience.

I notice it,

And then I label it feel.

Yeah?

Or maybe immediately after that,

I notice thoughts.

In my mind.

So I would say hear.

And then quite soon after that,

I might hear a car driving past on the street,

And I would label that hear also.

Yeah,

So that's kind of the way it goes.

You are allowing your attention to move around.

You are noticing where your attention is drawn to,

And then you're labeling that experience,

And you stay with it for a few seconds before moving on.

Yeah,

And then you just repeat that same process.

So if your object,

If the thing that you're attending to disappears,

Just allow your attention to move on.

If there seems to be more than once,

Like maybe you're seeing,

Maybe you've got see and hear at the same time,

Just choose one,

It's up to you.

It doesn't matter which.

If you notice the same experience more than once,

It's okay to repeat a label.

You can stay with the same experience and just repeat that label,

Totally fine.

If you notice a lot of sensory activity,

It's okay to let some go by without labeling it.

You don't need to label every experience that you have.

Keeping a comfortable pace is more important than labeling every experience.

So try to remain open to your experience,

Whatever it is.

Maybe it's pleasant,

Maybe it's unpleasant.

It might be active or restful.

It could be inside or it could be out,

Inner or outer.

Yeah,

And if you're ready to give this a try,

Head on over to the See,

Hear,

Feel guided meditation.

I'll see you there.