Homework - Week 4
Meditate every day for 10-20 minutes
The main goal of this week is to integrate "labeling" into your daily meditation practice.
Try to give every distraction that comes up a one-word label like "argument," "planning," "remembering."
Since it is only one word, don't worry about it being perfect. You will only use it internally, so only you need to know to what it refers.
Sometimes you don't know; then a word like "chaos" is also fine. Just pick the first thing that comes up — it doesn't have to be perfect.
Don't get seduced into analyzing the distractions; that only causes us to be more distracted. This means that the labels will generally consist of broad categories.
Some distractions keep returning, over and over again. This will teach you to identify the distractions that are most likely to steal your attention. It will help you recognize the "faces of your abductors."
Labelling or mental noting has an enormous depth to it, and the above summary really doesn't do it any justice. If you want to learn more about this topic, check out:
If you need a recap of this weeks topics, please check out:
Interaction with the sensesInformal meditation: noticing reactivity and entrancement
Try to notice reactivity/entrancement at least ten times a day:
You can do this by noticing it directly.
Or by taking a moment to be here and now. Since reactivity/entrancement is the current habit of the mind, you probably don't have to wait long for reactivity to arise.
After you catch yourself kindly return your attention to something here and now.
Most people are either reacting or entranced for most of their days. Noticing these qualities in your daily life will allow you to learn to act differently.
Some examples to get you going :)
There are literally millions of examples, because most of the day we are either reactive or entranced. Most people
Reading (entrancement): sometimes you go through the motions of reading—your eyes move from left to right—but you remember nothing of the last few lines because you're lost in thoughts.
Listening (reactivity): how often does it happen that someone tells a story and all kinds of responses bubble up in your mind? Sometimes you can just notice them and let them go, to continue listening, other times you can't help yourself but interject.
Listening (entrancement): how often does it happen that someone talks to you and you nod your head, you even seem to respond with sounds like "aha" and "I see," but you're not actually there.
Waiting at the dentist (reactivity): even though you're waiting, and there is not a dentist in sight or any pain to be felt, you can already suffer by your own reactions.
Drop-in Guided Meditation
We organize guided meditations on a weekly basis—they are the perfect support during the course. The guides share their own practice when they're guiding—they're literally meditating out loud. This allows you to compare your own practice and see if you're remembering all the steps correctly. For our current schedule, click the link below:
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