Session 8 - Noting and labelling exercise

Reading notes for this session


In this session you are going to be introduced to the noting and labelling exercise.


So far you will have been creating an awareness of your anger triggers and you will have read about recognising STOP moments instead of following the moment on autopilot. 


Your mindfulness practices have also been teaching you how to be curious of a present moment experience and stopping to be more mindful of those experiences.


The noting and labelling exercise is going to enhance your mindfulness practice to continue developing effective anger management.


Please read the following passage for more information - noting and labelling.

Todays mindfulness exercise

The proceeding page introduced you to the concept of noting and labelling. This is a simple mindfulness exercise that has a lot of punch.


We all have constant streams of sensations, emotions, thoughts, and urges passing through our minds and bodies.  If we’re not aware of them, we may act on them in unhealthy ways.  Mindful labelling can help. 


When we get lost on autopilot our thoughts run away, our feelings and emotions surge and we become aware of urges to react. When you become more aware of your autopilot moments, it would be helpful to raise that awareness with one word to take ‘the sting out of the tail’ of whatever you are experiencing. It also helps you to recognise what’s present for you without getting too involved.


For example: if you are aware of negative and worrying thoughts, tense feelings, being irritated or frustrated, feeling anxious, (the list is endless), you can simply label the experience which gives you the cue to take a step back and use the Mindfulness skills you are learning on this course. 

  • The basics of mindfulness practice

    Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses. Here’s how to tune into mindfulness throughout the day:



    • Set aside some time. You don’t need a meditation cushion or bench, or any sort of special equipment to access your mindfulness skills—but you do need to set aside some time and space.

    • Observe the present moment as it is. The aim of mindfulness is not quieting the mind, or attempting to achieve a state of eternal calm. The goal is simple: we’re aiming to pay attention to the present moment, without judgment. Easier said than done, we know.

    • Let your judgments roll by. When we notice judgments arise during our practice, we can make a mental note of them, and let them pass.

    • Return to observing the present moment as it is. Our minds often get carried away in thought. That’s why mindfulness is the practice of returning, again and again, to the present moment.

    • Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up, just practice recognizing when your mind has wandered off, and gently bring it back.


    That’s the practice! It’s often been said that it’s very simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. 


    The modules in this course will provide you with many ways to be more mindful. Many of the practices are guided with our recordings at www.primemindfulness.co.uk/meditations 


    KEEP WORKING ON YOUR MINDFULNESS PRACTICES - THE RESULTS WILL ACCRUE



    The Breath Focus Practice 


    The breath focus meditation is the stalwart of mindfulness practice so on any day where your informal meditation or mindfulness exercise does not include a breath focus meditation, it is advised to put some time aside and practice the short breath focus meditation.


  • Putting time aside for daily mindfulness practice

    Creating time for mindful practice is to be considered as a time to be yourself and a time for yourself. 


    At first, you may find it difficult to find the time for your practice. 


    One trick is to acknowledge that in one sense you do not have the spare time for this. 


    You won’t automatically find the time…you will need to create the time. After all, if you had a spare half hour each day you’d have allocated it by now with other ‘important’ things to do! 


    For the duration of this course you will need to rearrange certain aspects of your day to day life. 


    You will want to fully commit to your mindful practice. It can be very difficult to do this, even for just a few weeks but it will need to be done or the mindful practice will get squeezed out by other seemingly higher, priorities. 


    You may find you have to rise a little earlier in the morning and, if you do so you may then need to go to bed earlier so that your practice is not done at the expense of your sleep. Take time to remind yourself of the benefits that mindfulness can have on your wellbeing. 


    Important Reminder on Distractions


    We always remind those who participate in our courses that after they have settled on a time and a place for meditation, it’s important to be warm and comfortable and to tell whoever needs to know what you are doing so that they can deal with interruptions by visitors or by the telephone. If the telephone should ring and no one else is there to answer it see if it is possible to allow it to ring or for the call to be taken by voicemail. 


    Similar interruptions can also arise from ‘the inside’ with thoughts of something you need to do, thoughts that seem to compel you to act now. If this happens see if you can experiment with letting the ideas and plans come and go in your mind rather than reacting instantly to them. You always have the breath focus meditation to help you here. 


    Lastly, it is important to remember that when you practise you may not find it enjoyable or relaxing, (although many people do find it pleasant, but not in an obvious way). It’s important to follow the meditations and informal exercises day by day until mindful practice becomes a routine. 


    You will get from Mindfulness what you put in to it. 


    The outcomes you experience will be unique to you. None of us can tell in advance what there is to be discovered in the present moment and what peace or freedom you will feel when it begins to reveal itself to you but when you practice your Mindfulness daily you will soon discover how it will work for you. 


The labelling exercise


The labelling exercise helps you to observe where your autopilot mind is at any given moment.


When practicing this exercise you are continuing the mindfulness practice of ‘what’s my experience right now’. If there isn’t a sensation, thought, urge or emotion that’s fine…there doesn’t have to be but if any one of these is present then label it and move your awareness to the breath. 


Take 2 - 3 minuets for each practice session. Initially, try to find a place where you will not be disturbed. In previous days practice you learned about awakening your 5 senses of:

 

  • Sight
  • Smell
  • Taste
  • Hearing
  • Touch

 

You will bring your awareness of these to this labelling exercise



You are will also bring with you the 4 label words of:


 

  • Thought
  • Sensation
  • Urge 
  • Emotion

 

Mindfulness practice for Session 8

This is a formal mindfulness practice so schedule your practice time. It is suggested that you practice this exercise at least 4-6 times today just to get in to the practice and then as an informal practice thereafter. 


This exercise automatically leads in to learning to label in everyday life so focused attention of this exercise will be so beneficial to you.



The Steps:

 


  • Stop what you're doing


  • Close your eyes if it safe to do so.


  • Ground yourself in the moment with a short breath focus meditation.


  • When you become aware of a  thought, sensation, emotion or urge note its presence and label with one word.

    Example:         You become aware that your mind has drifted to what you need from he supermarket. Note this occurrence and use the label word, 'thought' or be a little more specific, 'shopping list' or 'drifted'. 

    You notice a tingling sensation in your shoulders. You note the tingling and use the label word, 'sensation' or be a little more specific, 'tingling in shoulders'.
     


  • You may also become aware of something with your senses.

    Example: You could become aware of someone talking. Without focusing on the words you hear, use the label word, 'sounds' or be a little more specific, 'people talking'.

    You may become aware of a cooking aroma. Use the label word, 'smell'. You might be a little more specific with a label word such as , 'bacon'.



  • When you have labelled what comes in to your awareness, bring the focus of your attention to the breath, not as a means to banish or dismiss what has come in to your awareness but as a means of keeping your awareness present in the moment and not running off on autopilot.


  • When something new comes in to your awareness, use the above steps again. 

 



The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn to be in the moment with whatever comes in to your awareness but step back from engaging with it.



By noting and labelling you are learning the mindfulness skill of acceptance without judgement - just allowing what's present to be there.



It is recommended that you practice this exercise as a formal practice as often as you can. Th outcomes will be worth their weight in gold later on.



  • When you feel stressed, anxious, anger, panic or upset you will label your experience.
  • When negative thoughts and interpretations come in to your awareness you'll label the thoughts.
  • When you feel the urge for a behavioural response you'll label the thoughts.



When we label we give ourselves the opportunity to observe the experience - to call it out. The benefits here is that you have come off autopilot and are in full control to let the moment pass through.



This is the same as you will have experienced in your mindfulness practices during this course. You will have been guided that during your mindfulness sessions to recognise distraction just as a distraction and to simply bring your awareness back to your mindfulness practice.


We say that we should not fear or criticise distraction - if you get distracted a hundred times then you bring your awareness back to the present a hundred times.



Feel free to spend more than one day on the formal practice but do make sure that you create the opportunity to experience this extremely valuable exercise as an informal practice as often as it suits you - practice makes perfect!

  • Applying labelling in everyday life

    In the first 13 days you have been working on becoming more aware of your negative autopilot mind. You have started to create more awareness of negative:


    • Thoughts
    • Feelings
    • Urges and actions

    In order for mindfulness to have the impact you wish it to, being mindful at the right time is the key.


    An expansion of the labelling exercise


    In the coming weeks you are invited to be more open with self-awareness and start the process of using cognitive awareness with mindfulness meditation to better manage moments of negativity for you. 


    You are going to do this in conjunction with the daily cognitive awareness exercise of understanding your autopilot and the labelling exercise.


    The ongoing mindfulness practice


    Each day, where possible, (and using your awareness’s of the cognitive exercises), work on:


    • Being aware of a negative thought.

    • A negative feeling or emotion.

    • Or a negative urge to react.


    And then…label what you are aware of:


    • A sensation
    • Thought
    • Urge
    • Or emotion

    Follow with the use of the focused breath meditation to help you re-set you rmomentary experience


    As always with mindfulness… 


    You are not trying to change a situation or effect an outcome. You are simply learning to be more accepting of the moment and snap out of negative autopilot and into mindfulness!

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