Noticing who's noticing

[Guest guest]

Following up on Joanne's question to the group, asking what sort of

things are people doing with ACT - I'm still doing a " just sitting "

meditation practice, as I have ever since I started ACT last fall

(with occasional gaps of a day or two here and there during periods of

heavy avoidance). I do anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes each morning.

The interesting thing is that I keep discovering new variations the

longer I practice. Here are two I started experimenting with a couple

of weeks ago:

* " Noticing who's noticing. " I am finding that if I can get my

meditation session going by noticing thoughts, sensations, etc., at a

certain point I can also begin to notice that I am noticing these

things. I can then begin to treat this noticing as just another thing

that is " not-me, " like a thought or a belief.

* Labeling thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc., as " not me " or " not

self. " This is an extension of the above. When I say " labeling, " I

don't mean a fully verbalized thought, but rather an intentional

acknowledgement that the thought or body sensation or what have you

that I have just noticed is not only floating away from here and now,

but is not part of the " me " who is noticing. It's even possible to

apply this to persistent, semi-verbalized thoughts that " I am really

myself, sitting here watching all this stuff. " For that idea too is

just a thought and is not part of the " noticing " me ...

I'm a heavy-duty avoider of long-standing, so a daily meditation

practice is absolutely essential for me in any case. The more I take

these sorts of mini-vacations from old beliefs about " this is who I am

and the way the world is, " the more I seem able to turn up my

willingness dial and try new or scary behaviors later on in the day.

The journal writing is interesting. As a professional writer I

sometimes use free-writing to unblock myself when working on a

project, but I hadn't thought of using it for ACT-like purposes. Neat.