GUIDED MEDITATION IV: FEELING TONES

GUIDED MEDITATION IV: FEELING TONES

Begin your meditation period by developing mindfulness of breath sensations as described in Guided Meditation I (page 37). Once the mind has some stability on breath sensations (after several minutes of the sitting period), open your awareness to feeling tones. For every experience of a body sensation, sound, thought, or emotion there will be an accompanying feeling tone: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. The practice here is to notice the feeling tone and not get caught in its story, in analysis, or in reactivity to the experience. At first it can be difficult to notice the feeling tone and often there are a lot of neutral feeling tones. We usually experience neutral as feeling nothing. Using the noting process can be helpful. A silent label of “pleasant,” “unpleasant,” or “neutral” helps train the mind to recognize the feeling tones. If the feeling tone changes, make a note of the shift in tone. For example, you may be aware of pleasant, then unpleasant, followed by neutral in rapid succession. As the feeling tones fade, return to the breath as the anchor of awareness. Continue the meditation by being mindful of the breath, shifting awareness to body sensations and/or feeling tones as they arise, are noticed, and then pass away. At the end of the meditation period, move the awareness to the breath and then the whole body for a few moments before you open your eyes.