Hi everyone,

I have some practical questions related to noting technique...

How do I go about finding out how quickly I am able to note at? In some of the practice logs, I hear about how someone is able to say "I was noting at 5-7Hz or faster", but how do you actually tell where you're at and how do you measure it so accurately? Do you look at a clock or something? Can you listen to a sound clip or something? :S

Similarly, how exactly does noting out loud work? Last I checked, we can think MUCH faster than we can speak. By the time I go to note a sensation and recognize that it's there, the body has already moved out to many more sensations. And that's not even counting whether I have time to "categorize" the sensation. Is this a skill that improves with time?

Thanks in advance

It doesn't really matter. I worried about that when I was first starting, but it never mattered. Sometimes you're able to note quickly, sometimes you're not. It's more important to have a feel for how to note than to know exactly how many sensations you're noting per second.



Here's what I told Rick:



Unfortunately, Kenneth's essay on detailed noting is no longer available, so I can't link to it. The gist was that slower, more detailed noting will occupy more of the mind, so if you find your mind is wandering a lot, slower, more detailed noting can take the wind out of its sails and get you back on track.

As for the speed at which sensations move on, if your concentration gets really good, you'll see that that happens no matter what. As soon as you're even aware that a sensation exists, it's already gone, past, no longer existent. So far from being a suitable foundation for our being in the world, the present does not exist, either. It's also an illusion. (all this notwithstanding the "be here now" stuff...)

this is great feedback. I have had similar questions of late and am working on noting after many years of body scanning.

detailed noting

not sure if this is the page you were referring. you can navigate the site via web archive so I imagine it is there somewhere. Thanks. Dan

Yes! Thanks, Dan.

Thanks for the feedback and the information! I'll work on more detailed noting practices. I think I've been a bit lax about it thus far.

I'll look over the information again tomorrow.