Welcome to this opening into awareness meditation.
In this practice,
We're going to explore one of my favorite techniques called sixth sense noting.
It's a way to build mental agility and grow our awareness by noting whichever sense is most prominent in any given moment.
You could note seeing,
Hearing,
Touch,
Smelling,
Tasting,
Or thinking,
And we note every few seconds to build this momentum of mindfulness and stay aware of what's happening in this very moment.
So in this practice,
We'll start with a few minutes to kind of settle in.
We'll steady the attention by focusing on our breath for a little bit,
And then we'll shift into this noting technique,
The sixth sense noting practice.
Don't worry,
I'll guide you through right before we start the noting and give you a few examples of practice.
The most important thing is that you stay curious and open to this experience because noting and processing information through the senses is all about being curious and open to whatever's happening here and now.
Let's go ahead and get started inviting you to settle into a comfortable position,
Whether that's seated or lying down.
You can soften the gaze down or close the eyes all the way.
Let's start with a few deeper breaths.
Breathing in to fill up,
Breathing out to let go.
With these deeper breaths,
Softening the body just a bit,
Unhinging the jaw,
Feeling the weight melt into the support beneath you.
We'll start to steady the attention a bit by working with the rhythm of the breath.
So maybe keeping that curious spirit as you notice how the breath feels moving in,
Flowing out.
The breath serves as an anchor point here to start to draw our attention to the breath.
And the breath serves as an anchor point here to start to draw our attention to a bit more stillness and steadiness.
As you work with the breath here for a few moments in silence,
We can even add phrases over the breath.
So as you're breathing in say to yourself here,
As you're breathing out now,
Here now,
Anchored on the waves of breath.
So if the mind doesn't feel settled yet,
Perhaps you give it a few more moments,
A few more breaths.
So breathing in here,
Breathing out now,
Here now.
And for the next piece of our practice,
We'll begin to explore this technique of sixth sense noting.
Noting in any given moment which sense is most obvious,
Most prominent in our experience.
I'll give you an example.
Touch,
Hearing,
Thinking,
Thinking,
Touch,
Hearing,
And so on and so forth.
You can note out loud as I've done or you can note internally to yourself.
Remember that there's no way to be wrong here because if you're not sure of what's most prominent,
You can just say to yourself,
Not sure.
This practice isn't about being correct but rather about growing this process of awareness.
Our ability to tune in to our senses,
To notice the information flowing into our brain through these sensory doors.
So go ahead,
Try this technique on your own for some moments in silence.
Noting whichever sense is most prominent in this moment,
In this moment,
In this moment.
So so so and as always if you notice that the mind gets pulled away into loops and spirals of thinking,
Maybe thinking about a sensory input or another thought that moves through,
No worries.
We can use this note of thinking then wake up again to this moment.
Maybe it's hearing the sound of my voice,
Touch feeling the feet on the ground.
Keep this momentum of mindfulness going by noting whichever sense is most prominent every few seconds.
So so As you're ready now,
Gently bringing this piece of the practice to a close.
Noticing the places where your body is supported by the chair,
The floor.
Feel once again those waves of breath moving in and out.
Take a moment here to reflect on how this practice felt.
Notice what came up for you,
How you responded,
Anything that you're taking away into daily life from this practice.
And as you're ready,
We'll start to bring small movements back into the body,
Squeezing the hands and the feet,
Circling out the wrists,
Fluttering open the eyes if they've been closed,
Bringing the visual awareness back into the space around you.
What I love so much about the sixth sense noting technique is that it's completely portable.
No matter where we are at work,
At home,
Whether we're washing the dishes or with a loved one,
If we find ourselves distracted,
We can always simply note what's happening.
Build that momentum of mindfulness by using our sensory inputs as invitations to wake up to this present moment.
Thanks so much for growing your awareness with me today.
I can't wait to meditate with you again soon.
Take care.
