Welcome kindred spirit, before we begin let's bring awareness to why you were drawn to this topic.
How does your body feel when you reflect on your judgments?
What emotions come to the surface?
What beliefs do you have surrounding this topic?
What stories do you tell yourself and others about this?
How will being mindful of your judgments help support your day-to-day life?
With a deep exhale bring a gentle awareness that others are feeling similar about their judgments as you.
Let's Begin
The practice of noting is a foundational aspect of mindfulness.
Popular in Mindfulness-Based Stress reduction and insight meditation, noting allows us to clearly observe what is happening without getting hooked into the experience.
This “nonjudgmental noting” exercise will help you practice separating your judgment of your experiences from the experiences themselves.
When you begin to untangle the two, you start training your mind to let go.
Sit in an upright position and let your eyes close.
Using the breath, invite both awareness and relaxation into the body and mind.
Breathing in, reach the spine upward and bring energy into the body.
Breathing out, let everything go.
Let the jaw relax, drop the shoulders away from the ears, and soften the muscles of the belly.
Start opening your awareness to include any sensations in the body.
Mindfully observe that feeling for a few moments;
then open yourself up to other experiences in the body.
After settling into this practice for a few minutes, notice when the mind begins judging.
The mind may label some experiences or feelings as good or right, and others as bad or wrong.
Don’t encourage or discourage these judgments;
just notice them when they come up.
Continue like this for a few minutes.
Invite the sense of hearing into your practice.
When you hear a sound, recognize that you are hearing.
If a judgment arises about the sound, recognize it but don’t try to do anything about it.
Continue practicing with openness.
Whether you are hearing, feeling something in the body, or hooked into a thought,
remain aware of your experience.
Whenever a judgment is present, name it and leave it be.
Resist the tendency to push it away, but do not engage with it any further.
Finish with a few deep breaths, settling the awareness back into the body before opening the eyes.
Thank you for noting your judgments.
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