Hi everyone,

Recently I've been experimenting with different meditation techniques (focussing on the breath exclusively, Mahasi-style noting, Goenka-style body scanning, focussing on a consistent sound in the environment, on discovering microsensations on a certain part of the body) and I've found that the period where I felt the most intense concentration (i.e. presence of nimitta) were after weeks of using Mahasi-style noting. If I focus on the breath exclusively I've found that my mind tends to wander much more quickly (periods of 10-20 second concentration) than if I focus on a body part or do Mahasi-style noting (periods of 3-5min concentration at a time w/o mind wandering).

However I have noticed that when I do Mahasi style noting I tend to end up repeating (and noting... repeatedly noting...) thought/emotion loops that appear/disappear, that end up leaving me stuck in my head and not experiencing sensations as they arise "outside" of my body (on my skin, etc.) and hypersensitive to outside stimuli. (i.e. I'll note hearing, and then I'll feel this sympathetic nervous system activation immediately in my chest, note feeling, and then I'll think a thought about how I'm anxious, note thinking, and then this feeling-->thought--> feeling loop will just continue until another external sensation arises. i.e. a sound or a smell arises, I'll feel anxious, then think a thought about how I'm anxious, etc. etc.) Eventually I'll just be responding with anxiety to the outside environment. Whereas after a couple weeks of doing this I might be more anxious and wrapped up in my internal life, I also develop intense perceptual acuity that I don't if I utilize other methods.

How to get out of this loop and/or would others recommend other techniques for me that I have not yet tried? Note that this does not happen to me when I do Goenka-style body scanning and intentionally observe with equinanimity (without pleasure/aversion) the body sensations that arise and intentionally ignore feelings of anxiety, etc. that arise. I suspect my attention tends to gravitate inwards if I don't have a strong point of focus-- I find myself lost in thought during the day a lot. Nor does this anxiety loop occur when I'm exclusively focussing on breath (with peripheral awareness).

I'll chime in and suggest to you that this is exactly the kind of thing you should be doing, and seeing. Instead of avoiding it I think you continue to do your Mahasi noting practice and keep investigating these thought/feeling loops as deeply as you can. Try to trace the cause/effect process - what causes what? What's the trigger? What's the release? Anxiety? What is anxiety, really? How does it manifest in your mind and in your body? Can you find out what causes the feeling of aversion to it?

These are all BIg Clues to what's really going on. You have to face them and investigate them (noting), not run away.

Keep up the good work!

When I learned noting, I was instructed to use the breath (belly, but nose would probably work, too) as an anchor to go back too, after I noted something else. That prevents getting caught in such loops for too long.