Mindfulness Meditation - A Complete Guide With Techniques & Examples

Summary

In this insightful episode, Leo from actualized.org introduces the concept of mindfulness meditation, emphasizing its profound impact on personal development and happiness. He defines mindfulness as experiencing reality exactly as it is, through our senses, and discusses its three key components: focus, sensory clarity, and equanimity. Leo provides a practical guide to setting up a mindfulness practice, including techniques for outer and inner seeing, hearing, and feeling. He encourages daily practice for life-changing benefits such as heightened awareness, emotional mastery, and even the potential for enlightenment.

Takeaways

• 🧘 Mindfulness is a skill that involves experiencing reality exactly as it is, through our senses, without judgment or distraction.
• 📚 The practice of mindfulness is rooted in deep traditions dating back over 2,000 years, originating with Buddha, and has various methods of practice.
• 🌟 Mindfulness is considered one of the most important skills for personal development, happiness, and effectiveness in life, yet it is often not taught in traditional education.
• 🔍 The three main components of mindfulness are focus, sensory clarity, and equanimity, which together enhance the ability to be fully present and aware.
• 🎯 Focus is the ability to selectively direct attention to specific sensations and maintain it without getting distracted, a skill crucial for success in various aspects of life.
• 👀 Sensory clarity refers to the clarity of perception of the raw data received through our senses, akin to cleaning the lens of a camera for a clearer picture of reality.
• 💢 Equanimity is the skill to experience emotions or sensations without being affected or reacting to them emotionally, leading to emotional stability.
• 🔄 Practicing mindfulness involves cycles of 10 seconds each, noting, labeling, and savoring the experience of seeing, hearing, and feeling both outer and inner sensations.
• 🕒 Establishing a mindfulness practice involves setting aside 20 minutes daily for focused mindfulness cycles, which can be expanded for more advanced practice.
• 🌱 The benefits of mindfulness include increased awareness, focus, emotional mastery, reduced suffering, enhanced life fulfillment, and the potential for profound insights like enlightenment.
• 🌐 Leo encourages exploring different meditation techniques and maintaining a consistent daily practice for the most significant impact on personal development.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video by Leo from Actualized.org?

The main topic of the video is mindfulness meditation, focusing on the fundamentals of setting up a mindfulness practice and its profound effects on personal development, success, and happiness levels in life.

Why is mindfulness considered an important skill according to Leo?

Mindfulness is considered an important skill because it is crucial for being happy and effective as a human being, yet it is a skill that is rarely taught in traditional educational settings or by family and friends.

Who is credited for the mindfulness system presented in the video?

Shinzon Jung is credited for the mindfulness system presented in the video, as he has done decades of research, study, and theory building to create a robust and complex mindfulness system.

What is Leo's definition of mindfulness?

Leo defines mindfulness as experiencing reality literally exactly as it is, through the senses, without being caught up in fantasies, judgments, or emotional reactions.

What are the three components of mindfulness mentioned in the video?

The three components of mindfulness mentioned are focus, sensory clarity, and equanimity. Focus is the ability to selectively attend to certain sensations, sensory clarity is the awareness of the raw data being perceived, and equanimity is the ability to experience emotions or sensations without being affected by them.

How does Leo suggest practicing mindfulness in cycles?

Leo suggests practicing mindfulness in 10-second cycles with three main modes: seeing, hearing, and feeling. Each cycle involves noting, labeling, and savoring the experience for 5 to 7 seconds.

What is the purpose of the 'note' step in the mindfulness cycle?

The 'note' step in the mindfulness cycle is to simply acknowledge the fact that you are experiencing a particular sensation or object, which helps in grounding your attention on the present moment.

What is the 'label' step in the mindfulness cycle and why is it important?

The 'label' step involves internally assigning a label to the sensation you are focusing on, such as 'seeing', 'hearing', or 'feeling'. This helps in registering the specific sensory channel through which you are experiencing the phenomenon and aids in maintaining focus.

How does Leo differentiate between outer and inner sensations in the practice of mindfulness?

Outer sensations are those experienced from the external environment, like seeing a lamp or hearing a sound. Inner sensations are internal experiences, such as thoughts, emotions, or images in the mind's eye. Leo emphasizes practicing mindfulness on both types of sensations.

What are some potential benefits of practicing mindfulness as described in the video?

Some potential benefits of practicing mindfulness include increased awareness and focus, emotional mastery, reduced suffering from physical pain, increased fulfillment in life, behavior change, and the possibility of experiencing enlightenment or discovering one's existential nature.

What is the recommended duration for daily mindfulness practice according to Leo?

Leo recommends a daily mindfulness practice of 20 minutes, suggesting that for faster progress, one could increase the duration to 60 minutes or practice multiple times a day.

How does Leo address the concern of not knowing what to label a sensation or experience during mindfulness practice?

Leo acknowledges that uncertainty in labeling is common for beginners. He advises to go with the best guess and reassures that over time and with consistent practice, the ability to accurately identify and label sensations will improve.

What does Leo suggest for those who experience multiple phenomena simultaneously during mindfulness practice?

Leo suggests that for beginners, it's acceptable to simply select the most salient phenomenon that is drawing the most attention and focus on that one for the mindfulness cycle.

How should one handle it if the phenomenon they are focusing on during mindfulness practice changes or disappears?

Leo advises to stay with the phenomenon, observe the change, and continue the mindfulness cycle with the new or altered sensation. If the phenomenon disappears, one can savor the memory of it or use a special label like 'gone' to acknowledge its absence.

What is Leo's stance on the idea of there being a 'best' meditation technique?

Leo believes that there is no single best meditation technique. He encourages experimenting with different techniques to find what works best for the individual, emphasizing that all techniques can be powerful and effective.

Outlines

00:00

🧘 Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation

Leo from ash lies dot org introduces the concept of mindfulness meditation, emphasizing its importance in personal development and happiness. He discusses the lack of mindfulness education in traditional settings and credits Shinzon Jung for foundational mindfulness theories. Leo defines mindfulness as experiencing reality exactly as it is, through our senses, and contrasts it with living in a world of fantasies and mental constructs. The paragraph sets the stage for a deeper dive into mindfulness practice and its benefits.

05:02

🎯 Core Components of Mindfulness

This paragraph delves into the three main components of mindfulness: focus, sensory clarity, and equanimity. Focus is the ability to direct attention selectively on sensations without distraction. Sensory clarity refers to the accuracy of perception, like cleaning the lens of a camera to see life more clearly. Equanimity is maintaining emotional stability regardless of the emotions or sensations experienced. Leo illustrates these components with examples and emphasizes their rarity and importance in modern life, suggesting that developing these skills can lead to profound personal change.

10:05

🌱 Practicing Mindfulness: The Basics

Leo outlines the basic practice of mindfulness in cycles of 10 seconds each, involving three main modes of experiencing: seeing, hearing, and feeling. He provides a step-by-step guide on how to practice mindfulness with these senses, starting with focusing on an object, labeling the experience internally (e.g., 'seeing' for visual focus), and savoring the sensation for a few seconds. This approach is intended to ground the practitioner in the present moment and the actual sensory data being received.

15:06

🔄 Continuation of Mindfulness Techniques

Continuing from the previous paragraph, Leo instructs on applying the mindfulness technique to auditory sensations, using a clapping sound as an example. He explains the process of noting, labeling, and savoring the sound, even if it's brief. Leo also introduces the concept of inner and outer sensations, with outer sensations being those from the physical world and inner sensations originating from one's mind, such as thoughts and emotions.

20:07

🌟 Expanding Mindfulness to Inner Sensations

Leo extends the mindfulness practice to inner sensations, such as imagining an apple and being aware of internal dialogue or emotions. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on the raw data of experience without judgment, which is a departure from the usual way of living where one is often lost in judgments and thoughts. The goal is to increase awareness and presence in the current moment, regardless of whether the sensations are pleasant or unpleasant.

25:08

📚 Establishing a Mindfulness Routine

In this paragraph, Leo provides guidance on setting up a daily mindfulness practice, suggesting a timer for 20 minutes of focused mindfulness cycles. He advises on how to handle various scenarios that may arise during practice, such as multiple phenomena occurring simultaneously or the transient nature of sensations. Leo encourages finding what works best for the individual, whether it's focusing on all sensations or limiting the range to specific types.

30:11

🤔 Addressing Common Mindfulness Questions

Leo addresses common questions and concerns about the mindfulness practice, such as what to do when a sensation disappears or changes, the uncertainty of labeling vague sensations, and the rapid succession of phenomena like machine gun fire. He reassures that it's okay to guess when unsure and emphasizes the importance of not complicating the practice by labeling the labels themselves.

35:12

🚀 Tips for Enhancing Mindfulness Practice

Leo offers tips for enhancing the mindfulness practice, including the importance of consistency and daily practice without excuses. He suggests increasing the duration of practice for faster results and considering mindfulness retreats for accelerated progress. Leo also discusses the benefits of various meditation techniques and encourages exploration and personal preference in choosing the right technique.

40:14

🌈 The Transformative Power of Mindfulness

Leo concludes by discussing the profound benefits of mindfulness, such as increased awareness, focus, emotional mastery, and the potential for existential enlightenment. He emphasizes that mindfulness is not just an optional skill but a critical one for understanding and interfacing with reality. Leo encourages the audience to start practicing mindfulness today, highlighting its transformative effects on life quality.

Keywords

💡Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness Meditation is a mental training practice that involves focusing one's attention on the present moment, accepting it without judgment. In the video, it is the central theme, with Leo emphasizing its importance for personal development, happiness, and success. The script explains that mindfulness is about 'experiencing reality literally exactly as it is,' highlighting its profound effects on awareness and emotional well-being.

💡Personal Development

Personal development refers to the process of improving one's life and well-being through learning, emotional growth, and increased self-awareness. In the context of the video, mindfulness meditation is presented as a critical tool for personal development. Leo discusses how mindfulness can lead to 'profound effects on your personal development and your success in happiness levels in life,' emphasizing its role in enhancing life quality.

💡Sensory Clarity

Sensory clarity is the ability to perceive the raw data from one's senses without distortion or judgment. The script introduces this concept as one of the three components of mindfulness, explaining that with practice, one can 'clear the lenses of your mind' to experience reality with greater clarity. Leo uses the analogy of a professional camera lens with mud and stains to illustrate the importance of sensory clarity in experiencing life as it truly is.

💡Equanimity

Equanimity is a state of mental stability and composure, even amid difficult or emotionally charged situations. In the video, equanimity is described as the capacity to experience emotions or sensations without being affected by them. Leo mentions that with mindfulness, one can develop equanimity, which allows for a grounded response to life's challenges, rather than being swept away by emotional reactions.

💡Focus

Focus, in the context of the video, refers to the ability to concentrate one's attention on a specific sensation or aspect of the present moment. Leo discusses focus as a foundational skill of mindfulness, necessary for effectively practicing mindfulness meditation. The script notes that focus is a rare skill in today's overstimulated environment, and developing it can lead to success in various aspects of life.

💡Self-Actualization

Self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development, where one realizes their full potential and creativity. The video credits mindfulness as a powerful tool for self-actualization work. Leo mentions that mindfulness is one of the most important skills for 'being a human being,' suggesting that it can lead to a deeper understanding of oneself and the world, which is essential for reaching one's full potential.

💡Consciousness

Consciousness, in the script, refers to the state of awareness, perception, and thought in the present moment. Leo talks about mindfulness as a way to increase one's consciousness, leading to an extraordinary shift in awareness. The video suggests that through mindfulness, one can develop a heightened state of consciousness that allows for a deeper and more profound understanding of reality.

💡Emotional Mastery

Emotional mastery is the ability to manage and control one's emotions effectively. The video script discusses how mindfulness can lead to emotional mastery, where negative emotions like anger, fear, and depression can 'melt away' as one develops higher levels of mindfulness. Leo illustrates this by emphasizing that mindfulness allows for a clearer perception of emotions, preventing them from controlling one's life.

💡Mindfulness Retreat

A mindfulness retreat is an intensive period of practice, often in silence, dedicated to mindfulness meditation. In the video, Leo recommends taking a mindfulness retreat to 'supercharge' one's practice. He explains that these retreats, which can last from a few days to a week, involve long hours of focused mindfulness practice, allowing for rapid progress in developing mindfulness skills.

💡Existential Nature

Existential nature refers to the fundamental essence of one's being and the meaning of life. Leo discusses the potential for mindfulness to lead to insights about one's existential nature, suggesting that with enough practice, one can dissolve the label 'I' and see their true self. The video positions this realization as a profound and transformative experience, akin to enlightenment.

Highlights

Mindfulness meditation is introduced as a fundamental practice for personal development and happiness.

The concept of mindfulness is defined as experiencing reality exactly as it is, through our senses.

The importance of mindfulness as a skill for happiness and effectiveness in life is emphasized.

The lack of mindfulness education in traditional institutions is highlighted.

Three components of mindfulness are identified: focus, sensory clarity, and equanimity.

Focus is described as the ability to selectively attend to certain sensations without distraction.

Sensory clarity involves experiencing the raw data of perception with increased awareness.

Equanimity is the skill of experiencing emotions or sensations without being emotionally affected.

A practical mindfulness technique is outlined involving 10-second cycles of noting, labeling, and savoring.

The practice includes both outer (physical world) and inner (mind's eye, internal dialogue) sensations.

The technique is detailed for seeing, hearing, and feeling, with examples provided for each.

Daily practice of mindfulness for 20 minutes is recommended for building awareness and focus.

Mindfulness retreats are suggested for accelerating progress in mindfulness practice.

Common concerns and questions about mindfulness practice are addressed, providing clarity on the process.

The potential for mindfulness to transform emotional responses and reduce negative emotions is discussed.

Mindfulness is presented as a tool for behavior change and overcoming bad habits.

The ultimate goal of mindfulness practice is described as achieving existential understanding and enlightenment.

The transformative impact of mindfulness on life quality and personal development is summarized.

Transcripts

hey this is Leo for ash lies dot org and

in this episode I'm going to be talking

about mindfulness meditation the

fundamentals of setting up a mindfulness

practice mindfulness is a term that's

been used a lot in the last few decades

and you've probably heard it in the

popular culture but what you probably

don't really know is how to actually

practice mindfulness effectively and

also the profound effects it can have on

your personal development and your

success in happiness levels in life so

here what I want to do is I want to talk

a little bit about what mindfulness

actually is I'm going to define it for

you I'm going to talk about the benefits

of mindfulness to your personal

development and I'm going to give you

the 20% of the mindfulness theory that's

going to produce 80% of all the results

that you want from this practice all

right it's going to be a very how to

kind of guide so let's get started

basically mindfulness from what I've

been learning over the last couple of

years all the different personal

development research that I've done I

think mindfulness is the number one

maybe the number two most important

skill that you can develop in your

entire life to be happy and to be very

effective as a human being and what's

really shameful is that we're not taught

this skill at all in school or in

college our parents don't know about it

our friends don't know about it nobody

teaches this to us but it's one of the

most important skills of being a human

being so very powerful very important

tool for self actualization work I want

to give a credit here to Shinzon Jung

who's done decades of research and study

and theory building putting together a

very robust and complex and technical

mindfulness system so some of the ideas

in presenting to you here

come directly from him and I'm using his

mindfulness system but I'm just taking

the very basics that I think are the

most important so we're going to whittle

it down and I want to give a credit to

him because he's done some amazing work

and stuff that is really worth taking a

look at as you get deeper and deeper

into this practice see the thing with

mindfulness is that it's a very deep

tradition it's over 2,000 years old

really starts with the Buddha goes all

the way back to the Buddha and there's a

lot of different traditions of how to

practice mindfulness and here I'm going

to give you something that's going to be

very very practical and very effective

and also very basic and simple but

before we talk about how to do

mindfulness let's talk a little bit

about what mindfulness is what the hell

is mindfulness this word mindful to be

mindful what does it really mean well it

might mean something in the kind of

common parlance but here we're using in

a very kind of technical sense what I

mean by mindfulness is the following

thing I don't just mean some vague

spiritual term I don't just mean being

present and in the moment what I mean is

I mean experiencing reality literally

exactly as it is that's my definition of

mindfulness to experience reality

literally exactly as it is I don't know

if you've noticed but you are living in

a reality of some kind it's a mysterious

thing really this reality that we live

in but one thing that you should start

to notice about it is that it comes to

you through your senses and basically it

doesn't come to you through any other

means all you've really got is you've

got sight you've got sound

you've got body sensations and feelings

you've got emotions you've got thoughts

all of these are like sensory channels

through which you're receiving stuff

you've got also smell you've got taste

just these very basic things and through

these channels you get reality and

that's as real as reality gets for you

that's all you really have of reality is

the stuff that you're actually

Berrien Seng right now this very moment

right now whatever is happening to you

is what's real and it's changing every

single second now this is very different

than the way that most people live

through life we tell ourselves like oh

yeah of course this is obvious Leo so so

obviously doesn't even need to be said

it's so stupidly simple but actually no

see you live most of your life not

understanding that these channels are

functioning every single second and

stuff is changing that they're feeding

you raw information you don't really

live on that raw information what you

live on is you live on your fantasies

because your mind filters out 99.9% of

all of this raw information and you're

completely out of touch with it and

instead what you do is you use your

prefrontal cortex to imagine fantasies

of the future or you think about things

that happen to you in the past or you

have some sort of emotional reactions

that you get caught up in or do you have

some sort of plans and goals for the

future for your business for your family

for your relationships and so on and so

forth and you're basically caught up in

a conceptual life and you're not very

grounded in what's actually most real

about reality which is the actual raw

data that's being fed to you so what

mindfulness is about is putting you back

in touch with what's really literally

they're not what you're imagining not

what you're judging not what you're

afraid of not what happened to you ten

years ago or what's going to happen to

you tomorrow but what's really true

right this very second so that's the big

picture definition now there's three

components of mindfulness that are very

important and this will help to explain

what mindfulness is in more detail the

three components are number one is focus

focus is your ability to put your

attention selectively on certain

sensations within your awareness right

now you have probably at least a hundred

different sensations bombarding

your mind and body right this very

second from the sensations in your feet

to the beating of your your heart to the

pumping of your lungs to maybe a fought

to a sensation of hunger to a discomfort

in the way that you're sitting or

standing to the sounds that you're

hearing to the the taste in your mouth

to the smells that are around you all of

this stuff is bombarding your mind the

question is what are you focused on are

you able to selectively put your

attention on one thing and keep it there

for a long period of time without

getting distracted this is the skill of

focus and this is a very rare skill

these days because we live in a very

oversaturated environment where

everything is asking for our attention

and we're constantly multitasking and

we're watching TV and texting and

emailing and our kids are calling us and

our spouse is calling us and all this

kind of stuff is happening so our

information channels are completely

bombarded and we're always distracted

it's hard for us to even sit down and

read a book for 10 minutes straight

without diverting our focus elsewhere

because we're just not used to focusing

for any long period of time and here I

mean it's like apathetic it's like we

can hardly focus for just a couple of

minutes so that's a very powerful skill

to develop because your ability to focus

is directly correlated to how successful

you're going to be in business and in

your career and in your creative

pursuits the second component is sensory

clarity sensory clarity is how clear are

you about the raw data that's actually

being perceived by your mind like I said

your mind filters out a lot of it and

usually we just assume that we have we

understand we we experience reality

exactly kind of how it is we assume that

we know and we're aware of what's going

on but as you practice more mindfulness

you learn that oh no actually I'm not

near

as aware as I thought I was sensory

clarity imagine if you had a lens on a

really professional-grade digital camera

you bought an expensive multi-thousand

dollar lens really beautiful perfect

optics well engineered but then it got

some mud and some stains on the lens and

it's like it's really dirty really muddy

and now you're trying to take

photographs through this dirty cloudy

lens how good is the picture going to be

it's not going to be very clear right

but imagine you don't really understand

that there is dirt on the lens you're

not aware of this you think that that's

the way the lens is supposed to be well

you're going to go through life looking

at life and thinking that you have a

clear picture of life but actually you

can have a murky picture a muddy picture

and unclear picture of life so this

component here is also a skill that can

be developed called sensory clarity you

can actually clear the lenses of your

mind so to speak so that you can

experience what's actually occurring for

you right now in this very moment

with orders of magnitude of more clarity

than you presently do and the third and

final component is equanimity equanimity

is a really powerful skill as well it's

the ability to experience an emotion or

a sensation or any phenomena basically

and not be affected by it and not react

to it in an emotional way so usually

what happens is we get a piece of bad

news like we're fired from our job or we

think that our boyfriend or girlfriend

is going to leave us or something like

this and it disturbs us emotionally

that's a phenomenon that we receive it's

actually a sensation we receive we hear

it or we see it but that's not all what

happens immediately after that is that

we go into reaction mode we're not

stable and grounded about that sensory

experience but we're all over the place

right we get angry you get frustrated

get fearful we get jealous and so on and

so forth so equanimity is your ability

to stay

founded and I see no matter what kind of

emotions or sensations are being

experienced by you whether they're good

what they're bad it doesn't affect you

at all

so these three components if you can

develop all of them and you're

practicing all of them simultaneously

then basically you're practicing

mindfulness and what's really powerful

is that mindfulness imagine mindfulness

as you looking through a microscope now

when you look through a microscope with

a very low magnification setting such as

two times magnification it's cool and

you might see some new stuff there in

the lens but you don't see that much

cool new stuff but then you increase the

magnification to 10x and now all the

sudden you can see some more stuff you

can see little particles of dust and

little hairs and stuff that you didn't

see before but now when you start to

increase it to 100x and a thousand X now

you start to see some really freaky

things now you get to see like bacteria

and little organisms with hundred feet

swimming around it's like a whole new

world that you're looking at and if you

take a microscope with a hundred

thousand times resolution and you take a

look and you you look at that um that

world you go even past the bacteria you

can even go into like looking at um at

the structure of cells and even further

down it like the structure of molecules

so the same thing is basically possible

with your mind and most people cannot

believe that such a thing is possible

and it really does become not just you

becoming a little bit more clear about

reality it's like you see a whole new

world when you practice mindfulness for

a sufficiently long period of time you

start to see a whole new world out there

even though nothing has really changed

but because your senses are now so much

more attuned they're not just five times

more attuned or ten times no you develop

a thousand times or ten thousand times

or a hundred thousand times more

mindfulness and that's when some really

powerful [ __ ]

goes down but to get there you need to

learn how to start with the basics so

let's start you with the basics here's

how you actually practice mindfulness

you do it in cycles these are going to

be 10 second cycles roughly here's how

it's going to work there's basically

three main modes through which you

experience things we're going to call it

seeing hearing and feeling you can see

with your eyes you can hear with your

ears you can feel with your body

so let's actually teach you the

technique by actually having you do it

alright so here's what we're going to do

I want you to find an object somewhere

around you in this room that you're

sitting in maybe a lamp or a pen or a

chair or maybe you're looking out the

window you can see a tree something

static that's not going to move and run

away from you

right so go ahead and select an object a

lamp would be a good example that's what

I'm going to use here so look at that

lamp and just notice the fact that you

are looking at some kind of object it's

a lamp in this case so just the first

thing you're going to do is you're going

to note it note note for noticing right

you're going to note and notice just

something you do it just takes a split

second to do it in your mind you just

note the fact that oh yeah I'm looking

at an object so that's the first step

the second step is that you're going to

label this thing that you're looking at

and the label is going to be a silent

label that you're going to say to

yourself in your internal dialogue and

in this case the label is going to be

not lamp it's going to be the label

si si II as in you're seeing it with

your eye right we're going to be

labeling based on the channel that we're

looking at it through or that we're

hearing it through so here's going to be

seeing so look at the lamp right now and

just in your internal dialogue give it a

label see just to register the fact that

you're seeing it and your Percy

through your vision okay so do that

right now should just take you one

second okay good and now the final step

in the cycle is you're going to look at

that lamp and you're going to savor it

you're going to take in the raw

perceptions that are there the colors

the shape of the lamp you're going to

take that in exactly as it is right now

in the present moment and you're going

to do that for about five to seven

seconds all right

so before I have you do this let me just

clarify what I mean we're not talking

about whether you think the lamp is

beautiful or ugly that's a judgment

we're not talking about the story behind

the lamp where did you buy the lamb did

you buy the lamp at IKEA we don't care

about that that's not what you're

actually seeing of the lamp right we're

here we're only concerned about what's

actually literally right there

and we're not concerned about you know

is the lamp working or not working is it

on or off it doesn't matter we just care

about what's actually right there in our

vision okay so when I say go you're

going to look at that lamp and you're

just going to savor and take in for five

to seven seconds all the colors and

shapes of the lamp

all right ready go

okay good very very basic so what you

just did right there is you completed

one mindfulness cycle it's about a ten

second cycle first you note second you

label and third you just savor what's

actually there that's it

very very simple now that was seeing we

also have the channel of hearing so

let's do this again but now we're going

to do it with the hearing channel when

you're hearing a sound and I'm going to

just generate a sound for us here which

is just going to be a clap sound like

this okay so when you hear a sound

you're going to again go through this

3-step process you're going to note it

label it and then you're going to savor

it now where the sounds a little bit

trickier because sounds often are not

continuous and long they don't stay they

come and go real quickly so in the case

of this clap it's just a maybe a quarter

of a second that you hear it so how do

you savor a sound well if it's a short

little sound like a clap what you're

going to do is first you're just going

to note the fact that there was

something there then you're going to go

and you're going to label it you're

going to say here H EA R that's the

label here because you're hearing it and

then what you're going to do is you're

going to savor whatever memory there you

have usually you have a pretty good

short-term memory so you'll be able to

remember what the sound sounded like for

a good five to ten seconds pretty easily

right and you just savor as best as you

can whatever memory of it you have

ideally you would do this in real time

with a more continuous sound like let's

say you're listening to some birds

chirping continuously or you're

listening to an air conditioning system

humming and you've got a continuous

sound so you can practice with those

those might be a little easier for you

but right now we're going to do this

with a clap alright so I'm going to do

this clap and you're going to do the

whole cycle you're going to note it

you're going to label it here and then

you're going to savor it for five to

seven seconds and I'm going to do this

with you

all right so ready on go you can do this

go

okay good I did that too so that was the

hearing Channel and now let's do the

final third channel which is feeling

feeling are the sensations that are

happening in your body there's a lot of

them right now that you're probably not

even conscious of for example let's take

the feeling of either your butt sitting

on the seat that you're sitting on or if

you're standing then the pressure on

your feet

so either the pressure on your butt or

the pressure on on your feet so let's

take that as our object and what we're

going to do is we're going to again

we're going to notice it we're going to

put our attention to notice basically

just means to put your attention on that

thing right because your attention could

be wandering all over the place so just

put your attention on the pressure on

your feet or your butt then you're going

to label it you're going to label it

feel F EE L right because you're feeling

this so you're going to label it feel

and then you're going to take five to

seven seconds to savor it literally as

it is I don't care if you like the

sensation or you don't like the

sensation or if it's painful or if it's

beautiful

or if it's Pleasant or if you want to

keep it or it you want to lose it or

whatever it doesn't matter

your judgments don't matter literally

just what's there so I'm going to give

you five to seven seconds right now to

do this whole cycle and I'm going to do

it myself with my feet because I'm

standing and I have some pressure in my

feet it's a little bit uncomfortable all

right ready go

okay good so there we did seeing hearing

and feeling and what we also did here

what I want you to notice as I want to

introduce this distinction of outer and

inner so what we did is we focus on all

the outer sensations outer seeing outer

hearing and outer feeling now let's

contrast this with the inner sensations

you should notice that not only can you

see stuff on the outside in the physical

world so to speak but you can also see

stuff on the inside in your mind's eye

or in your imagination you can also hear

stuff out in the physical world that you

can hear birds chirping that would be an

outer hearing or you can hear stuff on

the inside which would be basically the

hearing of your internal dialogue or for

example if you have a tune playing in

your mind like some catchy radio song

that would you that would be you hearing

internally and then finally the last

distinction is the the feeling right so

you can feel stuff and this is a little

bit tricky here it's a little bit

counterintuitive

what we're going to call inner feeling

is not what you probably think so what

we mean by outer feeling is basically

all the sensations in your body even the

stuff that's like on the inside like

your heartbeat or an itch in your body

somewhere we're going to consider all of

that outer feeling what we mean by inner

feeling is going to be emotions so if

you have an emotion coursing through

your body and emotions are quite

distinct from something like an itch or

pressure on your feet or a you know a

pain in your back those are not emotions

by emotions what I mean are stuff like

fear anger sadness jealousy loneliness

depression frustration it can also be

positive emotions like happiness

excitement and so forth so when you have

that that that's what we're going to

call inner feeling and these are

somewhat arbitrary distinctions right

there's nothing set in stone

here these are not like distinctions

handed down to us from God we just

created these distinctions ourselves

just this is like a system this is a

system we created to help our mind

become more aware of what's actually

happening in reality so one thing you

should have already started to notice as

you were doing these three cycles with

seeing hearing and feeling what you

probably notice that your mind now is

getting a little bit more attuned

because you're forcing it to focus on a

specific sensation and then you're

forcing yourself to actually savor the

raw data that's there for you

independent of your judgments about it

which is very different than the way

that you normally run through life

normally the way you run through life is

you are running around judging stuff and

thinking about stuff and you're probably

ignoring what's literally right there

under your nose so already you're

probably noticing that your awareness is

expanding you're becoming more attune to

the present moment and - what's

literally there right in front of you

and this is all that mindfulness is

designed to do

it might seem very simple and basic and

innocent and you might wonder like well

leo I mean this is so obvious and you're

telling me that if I do this for long

enough period of time that somehow I'm

going to get these really positive

powerful personal development benefits

and yes you will and I'm going to talk a

little bit more about that later but for

now just kind of trust me on it that you

will what's going to happen is you're

gonna create a snowball effect as you

practice this mindfulness more and more

and more you're going to get better and

better and better at it and then you

will have some extraordinary shifts in

awareness and in consciousness so right

now let's have you practice on the inner

channels so let's start with inner

seeing what I want you to do is I want

you to imagine a big juicy red apple in

your mind's eye just imagine it now keep

that image in your mind big juicy red

apple and now we're going to run a cycle

on it all right so you're going to note

it you're going to label it see and then

you're going to savor it for five to

seven seconds whatever is there don't

worry if you don't have a perfect

photographic image of an apple nobody

does the image is going to be kind of

faint and murky whatever you've got of

it is exactly what it is all right so

just do this the best you can I'm going

to do it - ready go

okay good so already I was noticing just

even in the middle of that exercise I

was noticing myself becoming more

conscious becoming more aware okay good

now let's do a cycle on inner hearing

what I want you to do for this exercise

is I want you to say a short phrase to

yourself in your internal dialogue and

your phrase will be let's say I have to

do the laundry

that's your phrase I have to do the

laundry so what you're going to do is

you're going to repeat that phrase

several times in your mind as you're

doing the psyche one cycle right so

you're just going to say in your mind

silently I have to do the laundry I have

to do the laundry I have to do the

laundry

and just notice it label it here har

here because you're hearing it and then

just savor that whatever it is however

it sounds in your mind savor it for five

to seven seconds alright I'm going to do

it - ready go

okay good so that was inner hearing and

finally let's do inner feeling now inner

feelings a little tricky because

remember we're talking about emotions

and right now if you're sitting here

just listening to me you're probably

relaxed and you probably don't have a

lot of emotions coursing through your

body but nevertheless there's some kind

of emotional baseline that you're at

even if you're just in a rest restful

state you might just label that emotion

as a restful so what we're going to have

you do is we're going to have you just

look inside your body in a second here

and look for any emotions that are there

fear anger sadness happiness joy

exhilaration restful state any of that

you look for whatever is there

emotionally and you just notice it you

label it you're going to label it feel

because you're feeling it and then

you're going to savor whatever it is for

five to seven seconds and I'm going to

do this too alright ready go

okay good I actually noticed a little

bit of a little bit of kind of

nervousness feeling I guess because I'm

shooting this live right now and I want

to make a good recording so probably a

little bit of nervousness in my body and

so I just became more aware of that by

stopping and actually noticing it and I

wasn't really aware of it until I

stopped okay good so there you have it

that's basically the whole mindfulness

system that you need to know right now

this right here this much theory will

get you 80% of all your results right

there's really six things you need to

worry about outer seeing inner seeing

outer hearing inner hearing and outer

feeling inner feeling you might wonder

about for example smell and taste what

about those actually we're going to call

those outer feelings as well so just

just to make a really simple system if

you're being mindful of something that

you're tasting or smelling we're going

to call that feel and we're going to

label it feel and really we're only

using three labels here when you're

labeling you're not going to be

concerned about whether it's outer or

inner the labels are just going to be

those basic three all right so that's it

now you might wonder how do you actually

use this to practice mindfulness how do

you set up a mindfulness practice so

here it is basically what you're going

to do is going to get timer set it for

20 minutes every single day you're going

to sit down in a quiet place and you're

going to calm your mind down for a

minute and then what you're going to do

is you're going to start running these

cycles and you're going to let your mind

just kind of focus on whatever it wants

to focus on could be a sight

could be a sound could be a thought it

could be an image could be a feeling

could be an emotion whatever's going on

for you whatever's most salient to you

you're going to let your mind focus on

it then you're going to notice it you're

going to note it you're going to label

it and you're going to savor it for five

to seven seconds the whole cycle should

take you about ten seconds right and

then you're going to finish that one

cycle and then what will happen is your

mind will wander off on to some other

phenomena and then you're going to do

another ten second cycle and then

another ten second cycle and so on and

so forth

for the entire 20 minutes if your mind

starts to wander away and totally get

lost in stories just bring it right back

get back on track and just note label

and then savor for five to seven seconds

that's it

that's your entire practice now what you

could do if you want to get little more

advanced is you can limit the range of

what you will let your mind focus on so

for example the most basic practice that

you allow the range to be everything it

could be sights and sounds and feelings

outside or inside but then as you get a

little bit more advanced you can limit

to for example just sights or just

sounds or just feelings or just the

inner or just the outer or both the

inner sounds and the outer sounds or

just thoughts and thoughts are inner

sounds plus inner images so you can kind

of play around with the range and you

can limit those on certain days you

might just want to do sounds on other

days you might just want to do some

sights and so on but I really like the

one where you just allow everything

because then you can just kind of let

your mind loose and just see where it

goes and wherever it takes you and

there's nothing that you can do really

wrong so those are the really

fundamental basics now let me give you a

couple of pointers and answer some

commonly asked questions about this so

what will happen to you as you start

doing this mindfulness is that two

phenomena will come up simultaneously in

fact you could have five phenomena come

up simultaneously right you might be

sitting there and you notice that

there's an itch in your foot and also a

sound in your mind like the word itch in

your mind and also in h and your foot

so which phenomena do you focus on which

one do you run the cycle on and the

answer is that basically for the very

starter very basic mindfulness practice

you just select any one you want

usually what

most salient and drawing the most of

your attention just focus on that so if

the itch is really itching focus on the

itch in your foot or if if the word itch

in your mind is the thing that's really

prominent focus on that so you just

focus on one the next question that

people might ask is what happens if I'm

observing a phenomenon and I'm trying to

run the cycle within the phenomenon

disappears so for example there's a bird

chirping outside and I'm listening to

this bird I'm trying to savor the sound

of the bird but then the bird stops what

do I do

well you just notice that it stopped and

you can also just savor the memory of it

that you have it's pretty good to notice

this thing's stopped and at the end in

fact you can use a special label for

that and the label for that could be

gone so you're listening to a sound and

then Alton poof it's gone okay cool

it's gone note it is being gone actually

you can savor the gone Ness of it the

fact that the chirping stopped you can

actually be mindful of it I like oh it's

actually gone I'm aware that is gone

oh that's cool and you just savor that

for five seconds and then you move on to

the next thing pretty simple the next

question that people have is what

happens if the phenomena changes so for

example let's say that I'm I'm feeling

some emotion in my stomach and then as

I'm trying to savor it and really focus

on I'd be mindful of it it morphs from a

from a sharp kind of a pain to like kind

of a numbness or kind of a warm tingly

sensation what do I do well just stay

with it and notice what happens to it so

it's true that we're not taking static

snapshots of life here life is a fluid

dynamic thing and things are always

flowing this especially is obvious when

you're focusing on your thoughts or if

you're focusing on sounds or if you're

focusing on body sensations those tend

to flow and morph and change that

okay so whatever you focused on to start

with whatever it morphs into just stay

with it and just observe the fact that

oh yeah I did change that's kind of cool

I'm aware of the fact that it morphed

and changed no problem

another common problem that you'll run

into when you first start is you'll put

your focus on something let's say some

kind of vague sensation your body or

maybe an image in your mind or a thought

in your mind and then you'll wonder like

well what is that I don't really know

what that is like I have some kind of

weird tingly sensation in my chest I

don't really know is that my heart or is

that fear what is that I don't really

know what it is that's okay a lot of

stuff at first when you start you're not

really going to be sure of so you're

allowed to guess and you don't need to

be a hundred percent accurate with your

labeling and it's even okay if you miss

categorize something for example if you

have some kind of feeling in your chest

and you're not sure if it's fear or if

it's just a physical pain um just go

with your best guess and what will

happen is that over time as you practice

mindfulness for weeks at a time you will

get better and better and then you will

not have these doubts anymore

another question is what happens if the

phenomena comes up too fast for example

let's say we're listening to a machine

gun firing and it's just like a rapid

fire like right so there's a lot of

little individual sounds of each bullet

firing but they're happening really

really fast so what do I do in this case

well one thing you can do is you can

just average them out as they're

happening if they're happening

continuously you can just kind of

average them out and just focus on the

average what was happening there the

other thing you can do is you can just

take the you can just take the memory of

it that you have so let's say it's

firing and then it stops you can just

take that last shot and just recall that

and savor it

and be mindful that another common

concern you'll probably have if you sit

there labeling a lot is you'll start to

notice that labeling itself is an inner

hearing sensation because you're using

your internal dialogue to say hear see

feel and so on so when you notice this

the question is should you then label

the labels themselves and the answer is

no the labeling and the savoring this is

a tool that you're using to become more

aware right we don't want to go all

crazy complicated and start analyzing

the tool and start being mindful of the

tool and mindful of the mindful the tool

and mindful of the mindful of the

mindful of the tool we don't need to go

there right just keep it very simple

put all your attention on everything but

the labels and everything but the

process that you're using so it's okay

you're going to have plenty of stuff to

be mindful of without being mindful of

the labels themselves so those are the

most common concerns now what I really

encourage you to do as a tip this is a

tip here really important is to do this

practice daily 20 minutes is recommended

every single day and if you want to get

better faster then you can increase to

60 minutes or maybe 30 minutes 40

minutes then get this up to 60 minutes

per day do it daily without any excuses

without skipping any days ever without

skipping weekends without vacations

without holidays because these are all

going to be excuses that will ruin your

practice so you'll want to start very

consistently with no excuses

it really takes time and momentum to

build up a solid mindfulness practice

you're not going to do it in just one

week this is really a practice that you

do over the course of months and years

might sound kind of like a bore like

another thing you have to do but trust

me it's really going to be worth it it's

real

gonna be worth it for you and one thing

that I recommend if you really want to

supercharge your mindfulness is take a

mindfulness retreat really common ones

the really great ones are called the

posture retreats the positive meditation

retreats there's a lot of them you can

take them for free some of them are paid

but a lot of them are free they're

basically held all over the world in

every country so you can look them up

online or wherever and take one of these

retreats these retreats are powerful

because whatever treat is usually is

just 5 or 7 or 10 days of complete

silence these are silent retreats

there's no talking and you basically

just spend 12 hours a day practicing

mindfulness day after day after day

after day and what this does is this

gets you a lot of progress really really

quickly so the progress that you will

make in one year of 20 minutes every day

you can probably get that much progress

in a single week at a retreat and the

ideals that you do both you should have

a mindfulness practice outside of

retreats daily and then of course you

should take one or two retreats per year

to really supercharge yourself and learn

more advanced techniques what I taught

you here is a very basic form of

mindfulness it's very powerful it can

take you very very far you don't need

the fancy stuff but there's also more

fancy elements that you can go learn at

these retreats and the last thing I'll

say about my tips here is that you might

have an objection or question like well

Leo you've you released a lot of videos

about different meditation techniques

you've talked about letting thoughts go

you've talked about the do-nothing

technique you've talked about strong

determination sitting right just sit

there motionless with all these

techniques and out and now you're

talking about this mindfulness technique

where I'm labeling stuff very rigorously

so which technique should I use which is

like the best technique and my answer

here is that there is no best technique

all of these techniques are good all

these techniques in fact are great

techniques very powerful techniques and

I think you should experiment with them

if you are a student

of raising your consciousness and you

really want to self-actualize what I

recommend you do for the long run is

test out each of these techniques test

it out for a month test it out for three

months just see which ones you like

which ones you don't like you're

probably gonna have favorites but also

don't worry too much because even the

ones that are not favorites of yours

they're still very powerful and very

effective there's no like best technique

alright so don't get caught in that trap

alright

so that's it you know how to do the

practice the hardest thing now is are

you actually going to do it it's so

simple is so stupidly simple that most

people fail right here they know now how

it works but then they don't actually

set up and discipline themselves to

create the habit they need to do on a

daily basis you need to develop this

habit like I said at the very beginning

this is probably the most important

skill you can develop as a human being

because this is how you interface with

reality can you understand this that

this is the interface between you and

reality is your senses if you're not

mindful of what you're perceiving you're

basically not mindful of reality and

you're living in some fantasy land

you're living in story land you're

living in your imagination you need to

start to understand and to see reality

for what it literally is not what your

parents told you about it not what your

preacher told you about it not what you

read in a book not what some scientists

told you but what's actually happening

right [ __ ] now in your experience you

need to get the skill to see that and

you need to improve and cultivate this

skill over your entire lifetime this is

really not an optional thing if you want

to have a powerful life in fact what I

want to end on is I want to tell you

some of the really powerful benefits

you'll get if you discipline yourself to

create this habit of mindfulness here

the benefits you can get you're going to

build enormous levels of awareness and

focus and consciousness if you build

this

a bit of just 20 minutes a day enormous

levels I'm talking about a thousand

times or ten thousand times more

awareness than the average person has

this is why people meditate this is why

meditation is so powerful is because

it's like going for a microscope that

has a 2x magnification lens to a

microscope that has a hundred thousand

times magnification lens it really is

that big of a deal but it's going to

take some time to get to that hundred

thousand times magnification so you need

to stay disciplined but the benefit to

you of this kind of awareness and focus

is going to be that for example in your

work projects in your creative endeavors

you're going to be able to sit down and

just focus for an hour straight no

problems without distractions

imagine how much more powerful more

productive you're going to be if you can

do that or if you're listening to your

kids or you're listening to your spouse

imagine being able to fully listen to

them be fully present and not be stuck

in your own head it's a powerful thing

you're also going to develop emotional

mastery this is perhaps the most

important benefit of mindfulness

practice all those nasty emotions that

you suffer from that you don't know how

to control and fix for example anger

fear depression loneliness anxiety

frustration annoyance road rage all this

stuff that you experienced all this

nasty stuff all of this will melt away

when you develop sufficiently high

levels of mindfulness

it'll just naturally and effortlessly

melt away because you're going to see it

for what it literally is and you're not

going to get trapped in the emotional

vortexes that are created by the mind

very important you can also use

mindfulness to reduce suffering stuff

like chronic pain back pain as you age

you had her going to have all sorts of

pains in your body if you have medical

medical conditions if you ever need to

go in for for really severe and serious

conditions like a cancer or a surgery

and you have to be recouped

operating from all that or physical

injuries right all the suffering you

experience even the most sharp forms of

physical pain that you would think you

can't do anything about because they're

just physical right wrong you can

dissolve them all away with sufficient

degrees of mindfulness it's a very

powerful thing you can basically take

the sting out of the most excruciating

pains with sufficient mindfulness

practice mindful is also powerful for

increasing your fulfillment in life so

not only can you reduce suffering but

you can increase fulfillment the more

mindful you are the more fulfilment you

can get from your food from your sex

from your success in business from your

interactions with people from your

holiday parties from everything that you

enjoy about life life is not just about

getting these things and feeling happy

there's degrees of happiness imagine

that you could sit down and eat a meal

and experience a hundred times more

pleasure from that meal than you

normally would because now your mind is

attuned very finely honed to see and

feel and taste and smell every little

morsel of that food that's what's

possible and not just with food but with

every aspect of life even when you're

just standing in line the grocery store

waiting to pay your bill you can

experience uh feelings of rapture and

joy and bliss just by being sufficiently

mindful and you don't have to be bored

out of your mind

like you usually are also what you can

do with mindfulness is you can do

behavior change

so all those bad habits you have like

biting your nails and what else smoking

drinking / eating all these neurotic bad

behaviors that you have you want to

change all these behaviors well

mindfulness will help you with all of

that these behaviors basically happen

because you're running away from reality

as soon as you're able to resolve

reality for what it really is

a lot of these behaviors will change

effortlessly automatically for you just

by putting your focus and attention on

them pretty cool the other thing you can

do is you can experience enlightenment

and you can discover the real

existential nature of who and what you

are and what life and what reality is

through mindfulness so what you can do

is if you take your mind from the skills

that you've developed that thousand x

magnification lens and if you focus that

lens on the label I as in I or you the

way you call yourself in your mind right

I call myself I I think of myself as I I

think of myself as this being called me

leo

but if what I do is I develop enough

mindfulness and I shine that mindfulness

that awareness on the label I what will

happens that label will dissolve and I

will see what I really is and you can

see that and don't underestimate how

profound of a vision and an insight that

will be if you ever experience I for

what it really is is going to blow you

away

it's going to knock your socks off it'll

change your entire perspective on life

it's that powerful

that's called enlightenment that's

called existential nature that's called

who and what you really are

that's called truth and you can access

that after years and years and years of

mindfulness practice so that's kind of

like the ultimate level 2 where you can

take this so some really cool stuff I

hope this encourages you and creates the

motivation in you to set up this habit

because now you have it all now you know

how to do it go ahead and get started

today alright this is Leo I'm signing

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your game in life that's what I want to

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it for myself for the last ten to five

years and man it's had some powerful

effects on the quality of my life and I

love sharing this information with you

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