How THIS Technique can Help you Meditate Easily

Notation Meditation

Meditation is a great way to calm your senses and clear your mind so that you can invite more joy into your life. If you practice meditation everyday you will see a positive transformation on how you look at life and feel in your body. You may find yourself smiling throughout the day for no specific reason! 

Here is a tool that you can use during meditation to help you keep your attention on your focus.

It’s called “Noting Meditation” technique.

The Challenges We Face

Throughout the practice of meditation one of the biggest challenges we face is that thoughts will pop up and take us out of our focus. We tend to get on ourselves when that happens, however it is absolutely likely for thoughts and observations to pop up during meditation.

In fact it is happening to us all day long, we just don’t necessarily notice them until we sit in stillness. While we are sitting in the stillness, and have much less movement going on, the thoughts that appear in our mind may seem more prevalent during meditation.

If our mind was clear all the time then we would probably not desire meditation at all because our mind would already be happy and free from burden.

Focus On The Breath

Using the “Noting” technique will help you sort through your thoughts and distractions during meditation, and bring you back to focusing on your breath. Focusing on the breath is one of the best ways to calm and reconnect you back to your true self. The breath is the bridge-way to the mind, body and spirit.

Organize Your Thoughts

The “Noting” technique is like organizing your thoughts into little filing cabinets or bins. You can pull a file later if you want or never look at it again.

By meditating in this way we are training our mind to undo unnecessary thinking patterns. Is it helpful to think? Yes, of course. Is it helpful to think every single thought in the world. Heck no.

Meditation Techniques

There are of course different kinds of meditation tools and it is said that it is best to focus on one that works best for you. However you don’t have to be bond to “rules”.

I for one love to chant through my 108 mala beads, for 15 minutes on the first Chakra as it grounds me. Then I will stay in meditation after that and feeling the rooting energy.

This may not be for everyone. (winky face emoji).

When I feel that my surroundings may not welcome the beautiful chanting sound of “Lam, lam, lam, lam, lam, lam, lam,” I keep it straight with the “Noting” technique. For instance, you probably won’t want to be chanting out loud while sitting on the bus on your way home from work.

All You Need Is YOU

I would love for you to have an alter of your own or a sacred space set up with all special things for you to meditate in front of, but guess what, it doesn’t really matter.

You can meditate anywhere.

You are the sacred space.

Think of breathing into the body as entering into a prismatic sanctuary.

So let’s try out the “Noting” technique!

The Noting Meditation Technique

Come to a comfortable sitting position or lie on your back. 

Close your eyes.

Take three cleansing breaths, inhaling through your nose and sighing with breath out through the mouth.

Allow the muscles of your body to relax.

Soften the muscles of your face and unlock your jaw.

Relax your shoulders and hip creases.

Bring your attention and awareness to your breath,  breathing in and out through your nose. 

You may follow the breath with your mind’s eye at your nostrils or in the rising and falling of the belly.

Focus all of your attention on your breath. If a thought arises, as thoughts often do, begin the “noting” process:

“Noting Meditation” is taking a note of what you observe arise in the mind.

Four Categories of Noting Meditation

As you are meditating, focusing on your breath, your mind may be distracted and take you away from your focus, perhaps by the sound of a car passing by, a to-do list popping up, or the smell of coffee in the air.

When and if something should take you away from your focus, take a mental note and put the object of distraction in one of these four categories. 

  1. Thinking
  2. Smelling
  3. Hearing
  4. Feeling

Thinking 

If you are in your meditation and the thought of a phone call you have to make or past memory arises for instance, instead of labeling it “phone call” or “memory”, label it “thinking” and bring your attention and awareness back to your focus, which is your breath. 

Smelling 

If you are in your meditation and a smell of yummy breakfast looms through the air, instead of labeling it “breakfast” or “bacon”, label it “smelling”, and bring your attention and awareness back to your breath. 

Hearing 

If you are in your meditation and the sound of a neighbor playing the clarinet draws you away from your focus, well you just might enjoy that for a minute, but then label that “hearing” and bring your attention and awareness back to your breath. 

Feeling 

If you are in your meditation and a sensation runs through your body like a chill of air or the presence of an achy back, instead of labeling this “cold” or “pain” label it “feeling”, and bring your attention and awareness back to your focus, which is your breath.

Build a Routine with Noting Meditation

The “noting meditation” process will also teach you to not immediately act on your impulses, taming the ego of the mind. 

If you would like, set a timer for as long as you wish to stay in meditation. My practice is a morning routine of alternative nasal breathing and then 30 minutes of meditation. 

Try to build a meditation practice of 30 minutes a day. This may take time. Be kind to yourself during your process. You can also split that into two 15 minute meditations if you like, morning meditation and bedtime or night meditation.

It would be great to keep a daily routine, but the most important thing is that you are kind to yourself and appreciate any time you can offer yourself the opportunity to self heal through meditation.

I hope this finds you will and you enjoy this practice! Let me know! 

Namaste Friends!

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16 thoughts on “How THIS Technique can Help you Meditate Easily

  1. This is great advice. I had never heard of putting distractions into separate categories. Such a great idea! And meditation is so emotionally healthy for us!

  2. I really do need to add meditation to my routine. The benefits are undeniable. Thanks for sharing this “noting” method -I think it will help.

  3. This is definitely a very essential things to do as of the moment that we are all fighting this pandemic. We must grow and make strong in every aspect we need to improve especially in mental aspect. Thanks for sharing this to us.

  4. Meditation is always something that I want to try, but haven’t actually done it. My mind is always going at a million miles a minute, so I fear I won’t be able to shut that off and just…relax. I will definitely try these tips, though, as it seems like it will be very helpful.

  5. It’s my first time hearing about this technique and I find it really interesting to do. I see it’s relaxing and healing, thanks for sharing this with us! I’d love to meditate sometime too.

  6. Although meditation has been helping me a lot lately, I did not know about this technique. Thanks for sharing this.

  7. love this topic! every single one of them is such an important techniques. Thanks so much for sharing

  8. Meditation is the best healing remedy..Loved these ideas and everything this is indeed very helpful and interesting..Just loved it..Thanks for sharing such valuable info…

  9. I have never heard of the Noting Meditation Technique. I will try it in the next meditation session I will partake in.

  10. I have only recently joined the world of meditation, thank you for sharing tjis technic. I can’t wait to try it!

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