Hello and welcome to Labeling Body Sensation Locations.
The way this technique works is,
We let our attention roam around in our body and bring attention to whatever sensation in the body most pulls it.
We pick a single sensation,
We label the name of that part of the body,
That location,
In simple anatomical terms.
This naming is most commonly done silently inside of our heads,
Though we can do it out loud,
Especially if we are sleepy,
Spacey,
Or otherwise need some extra energy for our meditation today,
Or if we are agitated,
Scattered,
And can use some extra focus and grounding.
We then hold our attention in that spot in the body as best we can for about three or four seconds.
We give our full attention to that body sensation,
Letting our awareness soak and absorb deeply into it,
Fully,
Deeply,
Richly feeling how it feels,
Getting curious about,
Investigating,
And exploring it,
And bringing some acceptance and friendliness with how it feels.
After that three or four seconds hanging out with that body sensation,
We release the hold.
Our attention may want to stay in the same location and go more deeply,
Or our attention may be called to another part of the body for the next label,
Which is what usually happens for me.
Both are fine,
Whatever our awareness naturally wants to do.
So,
With a steady rhythmic pacing,
We let our attention find a sensation,
We label the name of that location,
We hold our attention there for three or four seconds,
We deeply feel,
And then we release and do it again.
Two possible options for this technique are,
Instead of keeping a steady cadence and labeling Instead of keeping a steady cadence and labeling every three or four seconds,
You can let your attention move to the next label and sensation on its own timing.
Your attention may be ready to move after just a couple seconds,
Or it might take six or seven seconds.
Feel free to experiment with what timing works for you,
Steady or variable.
Also,
The classic way that this technique is defined is to let attention freely float,
And to allow the process of finding a sensation be spontaneous.
If it works better for you,
However,
It may be okay to control your focus a little bit,
To here or there somewhat actively choose what sensations you pay attention to.
I wouldn't do a full-on body scan or body sweep,
A full-on body scan or body sweep,
That's a different technique.
But it is more important to have a full,
Rich,
Deep,
Complete,
Welcoming experience with whatever body sensation you work with,
And whether it's fully naturally arising or searched for.
This is a concentration meditation,
We're aiming for continuity of contact with how our body feels.
However,
Distractions will almost definitely arise for us.
These include verbal conversational thinking,
Visual thinking,
External sounds besides my guidance,
If you're someone who meditates with eyes open,
Which is optional,
External sights,
And maybe tastes or smells.
If anything that is not a body sensation arises in your attention,
The invitation is to try and feel the impact of that phenomenon on how your body feels.
If you feel an emotion,
Where in your body do you feel that emotion?
If a thought arises,
What sensations in your body seem to go along with that thought?
If you suddenly hear a sound,
How does that impact on how your body feels?
If a distraction seems to completely take over our awareness,
If we want,
We can use the labels thinking,
Hearing,
And if you're someone who meditates with eyes open,
Seeing.
This is optional though.
Again,
The main thing that we are aiming for is,
As best we can,
To stay so connected with how our body feels that we would never have to use a label indicating that we have been totally pulled away from it.
My main teacher,
Shinzen Young,
Likes to define mindfulness as concentration,
Clarity,
And equanimity.
We just talked about the concentration aspect of this technique.
For this technique,
Clarity has two definitions.
On a higher level,
It means noticing when you are distracted and when your attention is connected with your body.
And on a more specific and up-close level,
The meaning of clarity is noticing the details of your sensations,
Having a high-resolution and high-pixelation perception,
Sensitizing your awareness,
And getting intimate with how your body feels.
The more richness and vividness we can find in our experience of our body,
The easier and more enjoyable it is to concentrate on each sensation.
Equanimity is the factor of bringing spacious,
Patient,
And friendly attention to our body,
And it also has two definitions in this technique.
One meaning is to be open and welcoming with both pleasant and unpleasant body sensations,
To let the flow happen,
And to let it all arise and pass with no friction and no coagulation.
A second meaning is to accept the overall vibe of our meditation today.
It could be a grind.
It could be smooth and easeful.
It's all part of the passing weather of our mind.
We just keep giving it our best.
I'll give a demonstration out loud of how this technique works.
Left shoulder.
Bridge of nose.
Belly.
Belly.
Whole body.
Left foot.
Thinking.
Back of neck.
So you may have noticed I kept a steady cadence.
You can go slower or faster than that if you would like.
I simply said the name of the part of the body with no elaboration.
I didn't say tangle,
Soreness or itch,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
Intense or subtle,
Changing or stable.
The areas that I labeled could be small or big.
At one point I was connected with the feeling in the whole body.
Honestly,
However,
Most areas that I notice when I do this technique are about the same size,
Golf ball to softball sized.
You may have noticed that mostly my attention moved around,
But at one point it stayed in the same spot for two labels in a row.
I did use the label thinking and that is what filled my awareness before I could get back to how my body felt.
As I said earlier though,
The ideal is not to leave the body but to maintain steady contact with it.
There was more happening in both my body and my awareness than I was labeling,
But I just picked one body sensation during each three second period to label and feel.
I did the labeling out loud for demonstration purposes.
Again,
You can do that if you'd like,
But most people do their labeling inside of their mind.
And as much as the labels are important and useful to keep us objective and present,
And I do recommend using them,
The most important thing is to fully deeply feel each body sensation as it arises.
This is my favorite meditation technique.
I've done it in some form most days for the past 35 years.
It's the technique that I find most useful in many different life situations.
For example,
For self-soothing,
Deepening self-awareness,
And for letting emotions move through.
I will be posting various recordings of me leading this technique,
Different each time,
So I invite you to go check some of those out.
