Labeling: See, Hear, Feel, Think

[Falk]

So i recently decided to consciously spend more time with consciously labeling my "inputs" Leo talks about this in some video as well...

You just sit down for X minutes (i usually do 60 or 90min) and be aware and whatever input is present you notice it and label it accordingly

For those who have no idea what this means, here is a small Example of how this might looks like:

You hear the river in background - notice - and internaly label it: "hear"

A bird flys by- notice it - label it: "see"

"I have to call person XY back" -notice- "thought"

A bird chirps: hear

Chirps again: hear

Again chirps "That fucking bird" - thought  ...and so on , you get the idea

 

I don´t know why, but this "practice" or meditation (if you can call it that) is absolutely amazing. You will go off into spontanious laughter all the time, because you just look at how you perceive things and how limited your senses actually are, and also how your mind comments on those things and just comes up with random ideas ...once you detach and just label them it is just hilarious.

I also noticed some interessting things: 

A) There are actually 2 kinds of desire, there is desire as in "feeling horny" - label : feeling since you actually feel it in your body , and then there is this "i want to be rich" or "i want this or that" - label: thought. It is NOT something you feel in your body is just a sentence, just a thought ... interessting right?

B) When you don´t label a feeling right away (specially when the feeling is strong and or negative!) and it just stays there "unrecognized" the suddenly tons of thoughts come up, and i wondered WTF! is happening, where do all these thoughts come from untill i felt the feeling again and labeled it and the thoughts instantly stopped - i had to laugh really hard because again: it is so obvious when you say it but to experience it is quite powerfull. We are such machines  

C) The brain seems to be able to lable sights and sounds right away, but thought can only be labeled (oftentimes) with a small delay while thinking or even only after the though is finished, sometimes the thought triggers one others thought and one other thought and only then you can regonize them and label them : again, quite powerfull to see this.

D Also i noticed how the brain really really!! likes it when something new happens. e.g. when a new sound comes up or when something mooves. I know it sound obvious when you say it, but it is very strong. 

 

So, well, maybe anyone of you also fuck with this technique  tell me what you... "think"

[Bombardini]

I've used this technique for the better part since I started a meditation habit, which is about 7 months ago now. It's brought me some great experiences, especially when you get that feeling of not beeing the thinker. 

However I'm not very fond of the labeling process. It seems to provoke more monkey mind in me and the feeling of being the thinker. However when I'm totally lost and can't focus in on anything at all, it may help me to soak in one experience at a time. So I can totally see it's place as well.

You do 60-90 min a day? In one sitting? That's impressive, for how long have you been at it?

Edited July 13, 2016 by Emilio