How to do 'Noting' Meditation
This is an instructional article on 'Noting Meditation'. You'll learn a bit more about Meditation and how to do Noting.
In general there are two skills we train with meditation: Insight into the nature of our reality (Mindfulness) and Concentration.
Insight is most directly trained by the 'do nothing' meditation. In this meditation we do nothing except be mindful of what is happening and we let our attention drift in any way it wants to drift. Through this practice we gain mindfulness of the moment and anything that wants to happen, we detach and at some point we start being more aware of the deeper nature of our reality. A beginning stage of Insight is the quietening of mind and feeling more 'relaxed'.
Concentration is most directly trained by 'focused meditation' keeping our attention on one thing. For example using a candle as our focus point, like Tibetan buddhists are famous for doing. By pointing our attention on a single thing and keep coming back to it, we train our wandering mind to come back to a single point of focus and over time the wandering becomes less and less and our focus increases.
Both of these meditations can seem hard for a beginning meditator and Noting can help with that.
What is Noting?
Noting Meditation trains both the Insight and Concentration of the meditator in a clever way. With Noting we focus on one-point, usually our breath but if we are distracted, we note what is happening in our experience. This helps us to label the distraction and nullify it. Through this labelling we start to understand our internal dialogue and distractions in a deeper way. Over time we get more insight in our inner world, we gain more mindfulness, detachment from our thoughts and feelings and we gain more concentration.
Noting is popularised by Mahasi Sayadaw who began a revolution in insight practice in the mid 1900's in Burma with the technique that is based on numerous Buddhist texts.
Noting is a type of Vipassana meditation and is one of the two types usually taught at Vipassana Retreats. Noting is a very accessible meditation practice for someone with a somewhat busy mind that wants a serious meditation practice that can lead them to higher states of consciousness. Noting works for this because higher states of consciousness require concentration and mindfulness to achieve them. Noting is a very effective way to get there but tends to first build your concentration. Where the 'do nothing' meditation first builds mindfulness.
Meditation teacher Shinzen Young says: If your mind feels racy 'do nothing', if your mind feels spacy 'start noting'.
If you are doing meditation for deeper relaxation and better sleep but are not interested in the spiritual path of meditation then I suggest you start with guided meditations.
How Do You Do Noting Meditation?
Find a comfortable position, ideally with your spine straight.
Close your eyes
Focus your attention on your breath, either the movement of your belly with the breath, or the air going in and out of your nose. Official instructions are the former but I prefer the latter. Just breath normally not forcing the breath.
When you sense something in your body, note: 'Feeling'. If you have a thought, note: 'Thinking'. When you hear something, note: 'Hearing', etc. There is no right and wrong in labels but we want them to be short and to the point.
After noting something, go back to the object of meditation: the breath.
Optionally Shinzen Young talks about when you note, that next to noting something arising, like a thought with noting: 'Thinking'. You can also note when something is passing. When the sensation or thougt is gone, you can note: 'Gone'. This makes someone more aware of the Arising and Passing nature of thoughts, feelings and body sensations and brings a deeper spiritual dimension to the practice with that.
There are several master who have given their instructions on Noting. Here are the links to their longer instructions:
-Mahasi Sayadaw (pdf)
-Shinzen Young Pt. 1 & 2 (video's)