In this practice,
I will introduce you to the See,
Hear,
Feel technique of Shinzen Young's Unified Mindfulness System.
This technique develops mindful awareness.
The Unified Mindfulness definition of mindful awareness is three attentional skills,
Concentration power,
Sensory clarity,
And equanimity,
All working together.
You'll get a taste for concentration,
Clarity,
And equanimity by trying this practice.
In See,
Hear,
Feel,
We learn how to practice mindfulness with any and all sense experience.
Sense experience just means the information coming into your senses.
This includes really anything you could be aware of.
We can categorize our sense experience into three broad categories,
See,
Hear,
And Feel.
See includes any visual experience,
Such as physical sights,
But also mental imagery,
Thoughts you may have as an internal image,
Whether it's clear or vague.
Hear includes any physical sounds,
As well as mental talk,
Inner monologue,
Or dialogue.
It also includes music that might be playing in your head.
Feel includes physical body sensations or touch,
As well as body sensations that are emotional in origin.
We include smell and taste sensations as feel to keep things simple.
In order to do this technique,
You'll simply notice where your attention is at this moment.
Noticing whatever sense experience your attention is drawn to,
You'll decide if the type of sensation is See,
Hear,
Or Feel.
You'll note the sense experience,
Which in Unified Mindfulness means to clearly acknowledge it and then focus intently on it for a few moments.
Between acknowledging it and focusing on it is when you'll decide if this sensation is See,
Hear,
Or Feel,
And you'll say the corresponding word as a label.
You can say the label in your head silently or speak it out loud.
You can do this with eyes open or closed.
As an example,
I could be sitting with eyes open and looking out my window as I practice.
If my attention is drawn to a tree outside,
I'll acknowledge that I'm paying attention to that sight.
I will label that as See,
And then I'll bring my full attention to the experience of seeing that tree for a few moments.
I'll then let that go and see where my attention floats to next.
If I hear a bird singing,
I'll acknowledge that I'm hearing this.
I'll say Hear as a label,
And I'll listen closely for a moment.
Then I might notice my feet touching the floor.
I'll acknowledge that sensation,
Label it as Feel,
And focus on what that feels like.
When you speak your label either silently or out loud,
Use a calm,
Neutral tone of voice.
This helps you stay open to your experience,
Whatever it is.
Let's try this together now.
Find a posture that's comfortable.
You want something that's both relaxed and alert.
You could be sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Or even walking.
In any position,
A lengthened spine will help your mind become more clear and alert.
Let the rest of your body relax as much as you can.
Let go of any tension you're able to.
This practice can be done equally well with eyes open or closed.
You can decide,
And you can even change it up during the practice.
You have a lot of freedom to customize.
Once you're settled into your posture,
Allow your attention to float freely.
When your attention lands on a sense experience,
Clearly acknowledge it,
Decide if it's See,
Hear,
Or Feel,
And it's Totally Fine to Guess if you're not sure.
Say that label to yourself or out loud,
And then soak your attention into it fully for a few moments,
Unless it disappears immediately.
In that case,
You won't be able to soak into it,
So just acknowledge,
Label,
And move on to whatever you notice next.
Repeat this process at a comfortable pace,
Noting and labeling every few moments or so.
Not too fast,
Nor too slow.
You can adjust your pace as needed,
But here's an example.
Feel,
Hear,
See,
See,
Feel.
Try that on your own.
If you're noticing more than one sense experience at the same time,
Just pick one to focus on,
And let the other be in the background.
It's okay to miss some sensations.
It's more important to have a comfortable pace and fully explore one sensation at a time than it is to catch every single sensation.
Feel free to just let some pass by.
For each sensation that you note,
Soak into it.
Get fully absorbed into it for a few moments,
Then move on to the next one.
Focusing deeply on a sense experience develops concentration power.
There's no need to feel any particular way.
Just pay attention to what you notice.
Bring mindful awareness to each sensation by concentrating on it,
Investigating it thoroughly,
And staying open to sensations being exactly how they are.
Keep your labeling going to stay on track.
If your mind wanders off,
Just bring it back again and again with kindness.
It's also okay to be late with your labeling.
If you notice a sensation in retrospect,
It's okay to identify whether it was see,
Hear,
Or feel,
And then label it after the fact.
If you notice thoughts,
Instead of getting caught up in their meaning,
Be aware of the raw experience of observing the thought.
Is it mental talk?
Hear.
Is it a mental image?
See.
Hear or see the thought as a sensory experience,
Similar to anything you might see or hear outside of you.
Notice the difference in being aware of thoughts as sensations versus trying to make sense of them.
Allow every sensation that comes up without trying to suppress anything.
Simply observe and explore.
Notice as many details of each experience as you can.
If you have any emotional reactions to anything,
Notice that the reaction itself is just another sensation.
See,
Hear,
Or feel.
Recycle the reaction by making it an object of your mindfulness,
Noting and labeling it as see,
Hear,
Or feel with focus and openness.
If you get sleepy,
Straighten up your spine again and consider opening your eyes if they're closed.
Speaking your labels out loud can also help.
One possibility of sense experience that you may notice is a relative absence or lack of any activation.
We call this rest.
For example,
You could be paying attention to the space where mental talk arises and it gets quiet.
That experience is called rest.
Rest can be found in any sense category.
Feel free to note any active sensations or restful ones using the same labels,
See,
Hear,
And feel.
Maintain an open,
Welcoming attitude towards whatever comes up for you.
Whether it's pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Perhaps both at the same time,
Or neither,
Use the same matter-of-fact tone with your labels.
This promotes the skill of equanimity.
Good work.
As we bring this practice session to a close,
Slowly take your time to let the practice go,
Coming back to normal awareness,
And try to carry forward any sense of momentum of mindfulness that you've generated here so that it can benefit you as you go about your day.
