DONG Lengthen your spine and relax your shoulders and arms.
Bring your attention to talk space.
For most people,
Talk space is in their head or around their ears.
At any given instant,
You may be aware that you're hearing mental talk,
Such as an inner monologue or dialogue.
Or you may be aware that there's no mental talk.
Either is natural.
Either is fine.
Every few seconds,
Acknowledge and then focus on what's happening in talk space.
For example,
You notice a burst of mental talk and then you focus on it for a few seconds.
Or you notice mental quiet and you focus on that for a few seconds.
You're noting the presence or absence of mental talk.
If mental talk is present,
It may be a clear voice or a faint whisper or just a subtle stirring.
Once again,
Any of these are natural and all of them are fine.
Try to listen to your mental talk as though it were just another sound in nature,
Like a chirping bird or a babbling brook.
Let's try adding labels.
As a reminder,
Whenever you're practicing a noting technique,
You have the option to add labels.
A label is a word that you say out loud or think to yourself.
That word names the kind of sensory experience you're noting.
Our label for the presence of mental talk will be the word hear.
And our label for the absence of mental talk will be the word rest.
I'll demonstrate how that works using spoken labels.
Hear.
Hear.
Rest.
Hear.
If you notice mental talk,
Use the label hear and listen with detachment.
If you don't notice any mental talk,
Use the label rest and consciously enjoy that restful state for as long or as short as it may last.
You've probably noticed that stress makes your mind race.
Mental talk becomes incessant and charged with emotional urgency.
The exercise you're doing right now can help with that.
Labeling your own mental talk using a gentle matter-of-fact tone shows you what it's like to be less caught up in your thoughts.
Once your mind is more settled,
You can problem solve more effectively.
The pacing of your labels,
Not too fast,
Not too slow,
Will help you stay continuously concentrated on talk space.
The gentle matter-of-fact tone of your label will help you remain open and welcoming to whatever comes up there.
Here's a point of clarification.
If you think a label to yourself,
You'll hear that label as mental talk.
However,
You don't note or label the mental label.
A label is like a finger pointing to an object.
When someone points to something,
They don't want you to pay attention to their finger.
They want you to pay attention to what they're pointing to.
Similarly,
Don't note or label your own mental labels.
It's common for mental talk to disappear as soon as you notice it.
If that happens,
Use the label here to acknowledge that you did hear something,
Then note and label whatever comes next.
Many people find that keeping their attention in talk space tends to quiet their mind.
That's a natural phenomenon.
It doesn't mean you're suppressing thought.
If you find yourself labeling hear a lot,
That's fine.
If you find yourself labeling rest a lot,
That's fine too.
It's all natural.
It's all good.
Your only job is to stay focused in talk space and note and label whatever comes up.
Good work.
In a moment,
You'll hear the ending bell.
Enjoy the sound of the bell,
Then continue to listen.
I have some final thoughts to share with you.
You can note and label sights,
What's happening on your mental screen,
What's happening in your emotional body.
Really,
Any sensory experience.
So,
Good work and congratulations.
