Meditating with the Noting Technique | with a guided meditation

Have you ever arrived at your destination and wondered how you got there?

Maybe after your daily commute or just a walk around the block - you turn the key to your front door, and suddenly you snap back and realize you’d been elsewhere?

This is called auto-pilot. It’s a state that we can fall into when we perform the same task many times; we can operate without awareness, without even thinking about what we’re doing.

That default mode setting is basically the opposite of mindfulness and can lead to a feeling of melancholy. If you notice yourself operating in a mindless state, there’s a specific meditation technique that can make a big impact on bringing back your awareness - the noting technique.

The noting technique is a form of mindfulness meditation. As the name implies, it’s about taking note. You use your awareness to recognize and name distractions as they arise. By doing so, you are able to create separation between yourself and the occurrences of your mind. This practice is quiet and non-judgemental.

Thoughts: A common misconception of meditation is that the goal is to stop thoughts entirely. The goal, especially with the noting technique isn’t to stop thoughts from occurring, but instead to shift your relationship to them. Try to shift your mindset to observation instead of judgement.

Feelings and Emotions: When not addressed, emotions and feelings can lead to dysregulation. In the noting technique, feelings and emotions are labeled as they arise. This creates the opportunity to see your emotions as separate from you, which can put you in a better position to take any action steps you may need to take to resolve them.

Sensations and Perceptions: It’s easy to overlook physical tension and uncomfortable sensations in the body when you are constantly busy. Taking time to note where certain sensations exist can create opportunities to make any helpful changes to improve the state of your physical body.

Becoming mindful of senses outside of you like smell, taste, and sound helps to sharpen your resting awareness and can lead to more accurate depictions of things like hunger or thirst, and need for rest or movement.

Wanting to empower a child in your life with the noting technique? Try these Fun Grounding Exercises for Kids.

The primary benefit of practicing the noting technique is that it brings you into the present moment. Practicing this technique requires awareness, which is by definition the opposite of distraction. It will take time, but if you practice this technique regularly, you will find yourself less likely to get lost riding trains of thought. You become more able to step back and observe. This will translate outside of your meditation practice and into your day to day life, leading to a more mindful and satisfying baseline of awareness.

Read more on the benefits of meditating: What Happens to Your Brain When You Meditate?

By Victoria Maybee; All Rights Reserved @2021

By Victoria Maybee; All Rights Reserved @2021

Ease into practicing the noting technique with the help of guided meditations. With time you can begin to add this skill to your grounding tool box so you can use whenever you need!

Visit our Yoga Beats page for more free guided meditations.