Labeling and Distractions
No 1810 Noting, Labeling, Naming as used in Mindfulness
A. Noting also called labeling, naming is used to help one stay focused and to discourage further thinking, as one is trying to be mindful during the day, or in the process of mindful breathing, and in mindfulness meditation.
B. Mindfulness is awareness before we make a thing an idea, only in the present moment, and accepting what it is, as it is, before we change it by thinking and emotional involvement. It is pre idea awareness and experience, not needing or using words, sensing-feeling what the thing is, its strength, and its wave like duration, staying it until it passes, and then letting it go.
C. One becomes aware that one is thinking, normally the thinking-doing mode of the mind, will further think, become emotionally involved, bring up the past and the future with memories and expectations. The mindfulness approach of handling thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations or anything else, is not to see them as separate thing or things, but as a process, a passing event, with a wave like nature, having a beginning, middle and end. One does not get involved to the content of the thinking, or whatever it is, but only focuses on the process of thinking, and the emotional intensity , what body sensations it may cause, and it duration by staying with it, by experiencing it, until it ends, and then letting it go, and then deal with the next mind moment.
D. One would use labeling or noting to discourage thinking mode activity and to keep one focused on the mindfulness experience, answering three questions, of what it is, its intensity and duration. One could use the label or note of “thinking, thinking, thinking”, silently repeating this in ones mind, over and over, until it the thinking passes. The number of labels would indicate the duration of its wave like nature, and silent mental loudness volume control in ones mind would indicate the intensity. The label, noting or naming could be dropped when no longer needed.
E. Noting is used during to deal with distractions of varying strengths, duration and complexity. Simple distractions may need just a mindful glance, very quickly noting what it is, getting a sense of its strength and duration. It is this noting or knowing that makes mindfulness applied to anything useful and powerful. It is the mindful knowing that leads to insight, and if applied consistently will burn away the layers of experiential distortion and anxiety and lead to symptom reduction, stabilization and improvement of mental states. Noting is used to facilitate this knowing.
F. Complex, intense and objects of meditation whether they are the primary thing or object one is focusing on, or a distraction which becomes a secondary and temporary object of mindfulness may need prolonged noting or labeling. One would stay with the silent mental label as long as the distraction lasted, or as long as you needed to, or until you could not maintain focus on it any longer, or until distracted by something else. One can always return to the breathing to re focus and to stabilize concentration, and then returning to the thing that one chooses to be the object of mindful experience.
G. The crucial thing is this is being aware of what is going on in ones mind, and to stay aware, and when one become unaware, to note that, and to return to what one is choosing to be aware of. The process can be summarized by becoming aware of something say the breathing, staying aware until distracted, becoming aware of the distraction, dealing with the distraction with mindful Experience, letting go of the distraction, becoming aware of the breathing again, and returning to that. Aware, letting go, and returning over and over is the process, whatever is the object of focus. Noting can be used at each step, noting the breathing, “breathing , breathing”, noting the distraction, “thinking, thinking” noting the feeling associated with the distraction “ sadness, sadness, or pleasure, pleasure”, retuning to “breathing, breathing”. The labeling or noting can be dropped when no longer needed.
H. The goal is mindfulness of everything, and sustained mindfulness, non thinking awareness of what is in your mind, what is calling for attention in the present moment, staying with it for as long as it is calling for attention, and noting its associated bodily sensations, feelings, and their intensity or strength, and after it passes letting it go, to become mindful of the next mind moment. One starts using the mindfulness of breathing as the anchor, and as one is distracted, one may use noting-labeling-naming, to deal with the distraction, and in the process getting the benefits of mindful Experience, of the Distraction , the Breathing or anything else one mindfully Experiences.
I. Mindfulness always, mindful breathing frequently, and scheduled meditation are the three parts of practice, to which noting, labeling, or naming may be used as needed to facilitate non-thinking awareness and experience.
No 1007 Introduction to Distractions- Mindful Breathing, Stress Relief and Meditation
A. If Mindfulness is health then distractions are symptoms of disease to diagnose and treat. Distractions keep us from mindfulness in breathing , meditation or anything, so that we can’t get maximum benefit for stress relief, problem solving & for insight to help symptom reduction, elimination, healing effects, and for selfless growth.
B. Distractions are defined as anything strong enough to pull attention off the object of meditation which for us is the breath. The rule is to turn your attention to the distraction making it a temporary object of meditation. Then uses mindfulness to understand it, and deal with it until it passes. One can see the usefulness of this approach to gain insight with a distraction when it is our actual problem or our special need itself.
C. Temporary means long enough to experience what it is, its intensity and duration. The “it” in what is it, is not the original distraction, but the sensation, or mental state that the distracting thought, feeling, memory, fantasy, whatever it is, arouses, good or bad, which causes the attachment, and “its” duration and intensity.
D. A distraction is a process having a duration and strength, one shifts ones attention temporarily until it passes only as long as it takes to get a wordless sense of its quality, answering three questions , what is it, how strong is it, and how long does it last? and then one shifts back to the breathing.
E. A “ wordless sense” is a mindful awareness, because the goal is not to invite more thinking and further distraction but to get away from thinking and to experience “it” non conceptually with wordless knowing.
F. At first one may need to note or put word labels on what it is, its duration and intensity , as one did with labeling the ‘breathing” and the process “in and out”. With practice the words little by little can be dropped in favor of having a direct experience or a sense of what it is, how strong it is, and how long it lasts.
G. Wave like quality of distractions lend it self to an easier way of appreciating what it is, and its duration and intensity. One can get a quick global appreciation of the experience in “mental gulp” so to speak by sensing the distracting, “sensation’s wave like nature “ in the sequence: first noted, arising, peaking , falling, going, gone, then back to focus on breathing, over and over until the next wave like distraction, noting and sensing it.
H. The goal is mindful awareness of distractions, are part of the same process as focusing on the sensation that the breath arouses, being aware of it, and returning to it over and over again. It is being mindful that is the goal, continued and sustained mindfulness, over and over, not controlling what one is mindful of, or becomes the object of meditation. Anything including our problems, special needs, can be and will be the object of meditation called distractions or not. If they are all handled mindfully the results will be helpful.
I. The sequence of dealing with distractions may be: Breathing , breathing, distracted by thought arising, frustration over the thought, condemnation over the frustration, return to breathing, then pride for recognizing the distractions. In this case one would treat the mental states associated with the distracting thought, frustration, condemnation, & pride all the same, as separate distractions, then back to breathing.
J. The sequence may be as follows: Traditional noting vs. wave like experience: Breathing, breathing, distracted by anger, stay with the “anger’s sensation” long enough to experience its wave like arising, peaking, , falling, going away, in one total mental experience or answer the questions, What is it? “Anger’s sensation”, What is its intensity? “ strong”, What is duration? “About one minute”. One would eventually try to not literally answer in one head with “anger’s sensation, strong, about one minute” , but have a wordless sense of the whole mental experience or use a wordless “mental energy wave” associated with the anger. Like with other noting words may have to said initially then dropped as one has more experience. After the sensation associated with anger passes or weakens enough one returns back to the breathing, until the next distraction.
K. Single label noting will usually be sufficient like “feeling, feeling, feeling-etc;” for most distractions with the intensity represented by a “mental loudness volume control”, and the duration by the number of times one uses the label until it passes, without needing to add actual qualifiers for intensity and duration, though there is no problem if one initially finds that helpful. It is the general experience not the specifics that matter.
L. Don’t look for a distraction or try to come up with one, just stay with the breath, with no results in mind, with no expectation, some sensation will pull you off the breath, whether, bliss, boredom or pain.
No 1008 The Five major distractions- want you to have more, or less, but eventually to switch tracks, and stop.
A. Distractions are anything strong enough to pull ones concentration off the object of meditation which could be anything, and for us is the breath. One group of distractions are major for they interfere with both components of meditation the concentration and the mindfulness. They are 1. Desire or holding on, 2. Aversion or ill will, 3. Mental dulling or slowing, 4. Mental agitation or restlessness, 5. Doubt or confusion
B. One can see that desire and aversion represent strong emotions or drives, having a pull or pushing motivating tendency, whereas the other three have to do with thinking processing speed - fast, slow and mentally stuck. Any one can lead to 1. A general mental state , 2, a specific sensation, or 3. Even a way of life and relating.
C. N.B.! This is regardless of the stimulus, with which it is often confused, and knowing the difference is crucial.
D. Anything coming into the mind, a thought, a feeling, a sensation from within, an environmental sensation from outside the mind, any combination of these, causing a memory, an idea, fantasies, plans, whatever, can bring out one of these five distractions, leading to a specific sensation or mental state ,and it is this specific mental state that is the thing one temporally shifts focus to until it passes, not the original stimulus.
E. For example you go to dinner with friends, the food and company is good, your meditating, or trying to do work, your focus is pulled off whatever, repeatedly and strongly with memories of food, company, evening. The specifics going around in your head, you focus on one of the specifics, like taste of food, the enjoyment of conversation , but your focus is still broken, off the task, you try another specific, the same thing.
F. The problem is not the specifics but the general issue of wanting more, of the same. More of the food, the friends, the conversation, it is the wanting, the desire, causing the distraction. It is the mental state associated with desire, causing a certain sensation ,in your mind, that needs to be the focus ,and is the distraction to be dealt with , sensing it, its intensity, and duration, in either wordless labeling or wave like.
G. These distraction are often more global in their effect and can cause more problems if not seen for what they are and dealt with as such. One needs to see the forest rather than the trees, the more wide angle view of mindfulness attention is needed rather than the single pointedness of concentration. This is subtle but crucial difference, learned with practice, by trial and error. Mindfulness will help with it seeing the whole connected to other wholes, and the parts of all the wholes, to direct what is calling for attention and pulling one off focus.
H. Mental agitation or restlessness must be recognized for the global effect it is having , rather than the specifics of the individual thoughts ,feelings , memories, sensations which may be going in and out of your mind each wanting its attention, but you by waiting it out, or by trial and error finding, it wasn’t, the specifics, but the mental state caused by the specifics leading to distraction, and its associated sensations needing focus.
I. The same would go for the slowing effect of mental dulling, or the stuck confused state of doubt, or the strong attachment to avoid mental state associations of aversions, with anger, ill will, hatred, envy, fear, etc.. These five can be overwhelming and yet subtle unless you know about them , stay vigilant, wait it out, and use trial and error, until the one needing attention, causing the mental state, leading to distraction is found.
J. Often what these want you to do may be a clue, they all want meditation or mindful activity to stop, or switch tracks, but if you do, they will come back : 1. Mental dulling makes you tired, bored , uninterested, slows you down, sleepy 2. doubt gets you confused, stuck and give up 3. Agitation, your mind wont stay still, and just wants to move on; 4. desire just wants more of whatever, including more desire for good or bad, the good things could be tricky because they seem so right, there is never enough 5. the negative feelings of aversion, cause a strong attachment to avoid fear ,anger, hatred, dying , killing. All having very powerful stuff, to get attached to directly or attach to the strong avoidance. If you are confused now, it probably is the distraction of doubt, deal with its mental state, now, before you get more distracted, otherwise you wont be mindful.
K. Having a patient-trial & error awareness, while experiencing the constant movement of things in your mind, their connectedness and changing natures, using mindful attention and single pointed concentration, applying just enough awareness will direct you to the thing needing the most attention and causing the mental state leading to the distraction. Practice, practice, practice, patiently, persistently on purpose for no specific purpose.
No 1509r A Three Part Program ,Mindfulness, Breathing and Meditation. Part 1 Mindfulness in Daily Living
A. When the thinking-doing mind is no longer helpful with a problem or special need or another approach is needed, the experiencing-being mode of the mind, of which mindfulness is an example may help.
B. Mindfulness like a mental muscle requires practice to give it endurance and strength. Three things are needed to get maximum effects : 1. Try to apply mindfulness always in daily living ,the base on which the rest builds! 2. Use mindful breathing frequently and 3. Have scheduled meditation practice.
C. Mindfulness in daily living is key, the essential thing you need, the rest , concentration using mindfulness based breathing and mindfulness meditation are tools to sustain it making it more powerful and useful. The more activities you apply mindfulness to, the more it will help, not only your specific issues and problems, but also it is the best way to improve the power and usefulness of mindful breathing and meditation.
D. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is accepting present moment awareness for what it is before thought ,judgment and emotional involvement. It is simple knowing of an event based on direct present moment experience before logic and emotions of the thinking mode of the mind changes the perceptual awareness into a thing or an idea. The first moment experience of a new smell, taste or sound is mindful awareness or simple knowing with acceptance, but as it is happening, almost instantaneously the thinking mode of mind, takes the perception , more than recognizing it perhaps giving it a label, based on emotional responses, past memories, future expectations, comments and judges it , using logical and emotional analysis, giving it a story, a drama, making it good, bad, neutral, yours or mine, a separate thing, rather than an ever changing experience connected with the rest of reality. Mindfulness is mirror like awareness reflecting the original pre conceptual experience of a thing, adding nothing.
E. When you apply mindful experience to anything at least three very useful things happen:
1) It brings you and keep you in the present moment so you can do what you want and should be doing.
2) You will deal with things more realistically because of less thinking and emotional distortions.
3) You will experience the deeper realties of things with three effects : a. seeing the wave like ever changing nature of all things, problems like sleep, feelings like worry, panic, depression , thinking that is negative and painful, a sensations like headaches. b. You will also see how they are connected and dependent on other things, giving you even new ideas on how to help them. c. the direct sustained mindfulness will enhance the positive , with greater satisfaction, diminish the negative with less suffering, and make the neutral less boring and interesting.
F. Try to apply the following attitudes and features of mindfulness to daily activities for maximum benefits.
1) A wide angle soft focused mirror like awareness reflecting and simultaneously the connected whole and its parts
2) A bare attention, experience and response to what really is , and as it is happening, no comment or judgment
3) A present moment awareness, here and now, not the past or future, only the immediate present
4) Unconditional acceptance of what is present at the start and as it is happening adding or subtracting nothing
5) The application of just enough effort in awareness, bare attention, experience, and in participation-observation
6) Equanimity is a balanced motivation not biased by emotion, positive, negative or neutral
7) Letting go of things in the mind associated with attachments to thoughts, feeling, sensations and awareness
8) Non judgmental view which is compassionate ,patient, kind , tolerant , no criticism, comparison, decision.
9) Non interfering awareness of what is with no expectations, allowing what is to reveal itself, as we observe it
10) Non-conceptual awareness, of what is , its qualities such as intensity and duration, sensing what it is, the associated sensations-feelings as they come, peak, and go, wave like, without thought, ideas, or judgment.
11) Awareness of present as a temporary ever changing process not a permanent thing, having a wave like nature
12) Awareness that all is connected and dependent, as changing events not isolated permanent things
13) Non-egotistic alertness to what is without adding I, me or mine, a subtle and powerful form of reality distortion
14) Participatory observation, not detached, being the non intellectual “experience-er” of just what is
15) Non-striving, no expectation of results or change, there is nothing to compare or measure.
16) Beginner’s mind as if each moment is experienced for the first time, unique, new, as it really is
Mindfulness will focus only on the feelings from your problem’s emotions, or thoughts, or body sensations, and sense-feel them over and over, using the power of you mindfulness and concentration from practicing mindful breathing as in meditation.