Jeff, there is so much packed into what you wrote along with the two meditations -- but for me, overflowing in a good way. There is a fullness and relaxed quality to your guidance which I very much enjoyed.
So this is my response to two of the nuggets that most resonated with me.
MIND STATES - I get stuck on that phrase but sort of get it. It was very helpful for me to hear you tease these apart as four types of inner experiences: visual, auditory, felt, and a more elusive fourth one. I prefer labeling the first 3 of these experiences as seeing, hearing, and heart-sense when I notice them, because 'mind state' seems rather nebulous. Which leads me to RAIN.
RAIN - Recognize / Accept / Investigate / Nurture. When I was introduced to this a number of years ago, I repeatedly got stuck on the third part because I thought I was expected to go very deep into an exploration of what and why before moving on to self-compassion. So although I sensed something meaningful in the process, I often ended up feeling hollowed out by it. But after listening to your meditations, it occurred to me that a simpler, less burdensome investigation might be to notice how I am experiencing whatever is present. Is it heartsense? Am I hearing sounds or words? What am I seeing? Perhaps, that will be enough.
I love the deep dives into consciousness! Thank you Jeff.
That is absolutely enough. You can only investigate what’s there to experience! And this is something I really had to learn too, I had all these ideals of certain kinds of experiences or subtleties I imagined I was supposed to be tuned into. But you can only notice what’s there. Once I relaxed about it all, I started to notice a lot more, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter that much! (As I say above in the aphantasia comment). There is no one way experience should be, it’s variable and indeterminant and constantly changing. What matters is our relationship to what’s here. I can’t have that drilled into my own head enough. 🤪
Thank you for this Tamar. I plan to work with the RAIN acronym. It’s very gentle and very potent.
I feel that in life we are forged by fire, and strengthened by love - like a smithing and quenching process. RAIN, and all else that Jeff describes - to me is like the quenching part of the process- we gain strength and feel safe, witnessed, and accepted in as many moments as we can, amidst all the blazing challenges life presents.
I also think part of the process is discovering/working with the forging fires that lie within us (especially in the investigate phase). Mindfulness can put us face to face with a lot of agitation and heat.
Communities like this are a part of the quenching/strengthening process. Thank you all for being a part of my steadfast journey ☀️ 🙏
I agree with you about the investigate phase of RAIN. We build on our openness and acceptance of what we are experiencing deep within us, but even if we step into investigating it with some tenderness, there will still be tumult. But gaining some clarity about that tumult eventually eases its power over us. I am grateful to be here in community with you. Tamar
What if you don’t see or hear anything? I remember or imagine images, but very rarely “see” anything and words emerge as if read, in my thoughts but with no aural sensation ?
Hey Carol and Jules- this is something I’m really curious about. The latest literature on aphantasia suggests it is not a structural deficit, but a functional difference. There’s some indication that the visual cortex is still generating signals, it’s just that they’re not reaching conscious awareness.
This is fully commensurate with my own experience of meditation. When I began, I had very little visual imagery. But at a certain point I suddenly realized there was all kinds of visual activity that I just never noticed. A sense of myself as the meditator, my body schema below me. A recognition that instead of paying full attention to what was around me, I was actually abstractly watching a visual version of what was around me. That kind of thing.
I don’t want to speak for aphantasics, because there’s been some beautiful writing about it and like anything else, people get attached to their identities. What I would be most interested in seeing are reports from folks with this condition who have meditated over time, and whether anything has changed (aside from the acceptance that being this way is just another variation of being human and not a huge deal!). My suspicion is that there IS activity, it’s just below the threshold of awareness, but - crucially – that threshold can be expanded.
Now, having said all of that… Experience is endlessly rich in so many dimensions. My friend Tasha talks a lot about “feelization” - for her, it’s less about the visuals and more about a kind of somatic feeling correlate to ideas that is present.
To me, it’s a thrilling opportunity for exploration, to patiently get curious about where exactly your inner world is activating.
But of course, only if that’s interesting to you. You can go deep into the transformative benefits of meditation and never notice any of this stuff, and never need to notice it. It’s just one of the many side roads on a lifelong journey that goes… everywhere.
As someone who is intensely aware of somatic experiences, I love Tasha’s description “feelization”. For me there are intersecting layers of emotional awareness and physical sensation.
As a body who does see and hear my sensations, it's difficult for me to imagine not having these experiences. But I expect that what Jeff would say is to accept and investigate what you do experience and not fixate on what isn't there.
Hi .. I don’t fixate, I just wonder — like is the “voice” in your head an actual sound? Do your earwires quiver? For me, it’s like reading - each word registers but there’s no sound or aural texture.
Likewise, most images register as having been seen - but only very rarely is there a seeable image involved -
Thank you for this. I found it very insightful. The train visualization brought up a rich section I'll elaborate here for whatever it's worth. As a bit of writer and poet I like to think my imagination is strong. Like thinking of the train sent me down paths of different perspectives, senses of scale, being beside it then wondering how would I write it. Log or record it. I imagined the smells. Soot. The wind in my hair and face if it was moving. How I would or wouldn't touch it. Cold rusty metal. But sure not feeling it if that heavy clanking thang is moving! Feeling gravel beneath my toes. Thinking of where my train reference images even came from. Fiction books I've read. Real trains I've seen. Then emotions or self reference jokes like about British train spotting or austisic stereotypes. Finally about judging, do other people see these details. Am I normal haha. Saw Temple Grandin movie recently on how she thinks. Interesting compare and contrast. Sorry to ramble. Thank you again.
I’ve been meditating since the 60s - and do very occasionally literally visualize things but usually imagery just bypasses the “seeing “ and goes straight to “seen” -if that makes sense.
I’m really curious about the hearing part - do people actually hear the words they’re thinking?
I feel like my brain has been in a mixmaster all day. I'm working with Shinzen's "if you notice an intention to control the attention, let go of the intention", but also wondering if when I am focusing on open awareness and I'm drawn to "hear in" (which is almost always), is there a "see in" that I'm just ignoring?? And am I efforting too much if I'm looking for that? I think maybe I need to let go of this and Do Nothing tonight. ;-)
I just knew this was going to be a bit special, thanks Big J .
It makes me very proud and joyful to feel part of a very special group.
Happy Weekend to all and of course to you my friend 🫶🏻
I hereby submit a petition that Jeff only be referred to as "Big J" from now on 👏
Ha ha shhhh .. you’ll get me in trouble 😉
Thanks, Jeff! Just love this deeper dive!!! Outer space is not the final frontier, it’s inner space!
'Can you become a safe place for all of yourself.' ❤️
That's what it is all about.
Thank you Jeff.
I hope the aquarium has an octopus to do the slow-motion dance with! :)
Jeff, there is so much packed into what you wrote along with the two meditations -- but for me, overflowing in a good way. There is a fullness and relaxed quality to your guidance which I very much enjoyed.
So this is my response to two of the nuggets that most resonated with me.
MIND STATES - I get stuck on that phrase but sort of get it. It was very helpful for me to hear you tease these apart as four types of inner experiences: visual, auditory, felt, and a more elusive fourth one. I prefer labeling the first 3 of these experiences as seeing, hearing, and heart-sense when I notice them, because 'mind state' seems rather nebulous. Which leads me to RAIN.
RAIN - Recognize / Accept / Investigate / Nurture. When I was introduced to this a number of years ago, I repeatedly got stuck on the third part because I thought I was expected to go very deep into an exploration of what and why before moving on to self-compassion. So although I sensed something meaningful in the process, I often ended up feeling hollowed out by it. But after listening to your meditations, it occurred to me that a simpler, less burdensome investigation might be to notice how I am experiencing whatever is present. Is it heartsense? Am I hearing sounds or words? What am I seeing? Perhaps, that will be enough.
I love the deep dives into consciousness! Thank you Jeff.
That is absolutely enough. You can only investigate what’s there to experience! And this is something I really had to learn too, I had all these ideals of certain kinds of experiences or subtleties I imagined I was supposed to be tuned into. But you can only notice what’s there. Once I relaxed about it all, I started to notice a lot more, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter that much! (As I say above in the aphantasia comment). There is no one way experience should be, it’s variable and indeterminant and constantly changing. What matters is our relationship to what’s here. I can’t have that drilled into my own head enough. 🤪
Thank you for this Tamar. I plan to work with the RAIN acronym. It’s very gentle and very potent.
I feel that in life we are forged by fire, and strengthened by love - like a smithing and quenching process. RAIN, and all else that Jeff describes - to me is like the quenching part of the process- we gain strength and feel safe, witnessed, and accepted in as many moments as we can, amidst all the blazing challenges life presents.
I also think part of the process is discovering/working with the forging fires that lie within us (especially in the investigate phase). Mindfulness can put us face to face with a lot of agitation and heat.
Communities like this are a part of the quenching/strengthening process. Thank you all for being a part of my steadfast journey ☀️ 🙏
Suzy,
I agree with you about the investigate phase of RAIN. We build on our openness and acceptance of what we are experiencing deep within us, but even if we step into investigating it with some tenderness, there will still be tumult. But gaining some clarity about that tumult eventually eases its power over us. I am grateful to be here in community with you. Tamar
What if you don’t see or hear anything? I remember or imagine images, but very rarely “see” anything and words emerge as if read, in my thoughts but with no aural sensation ?
Hey Carol and Jules- this is something I’m really curious about. The latest literature on aphantasia suggests it is not a structural deficit, but a functional difference. There’s some indication that the visual cortex is still generating signals, it’s just that they’re not reaching conscious awareness.
This is fully commensurate with my own experience of meditation. When I began, I had very little visual imagery. But at a certain point I suddenly realized there was all kinds of visual activity that I just never noticed. A sense of myself as the meditator, my body schema below me. A recognition that instead of paying full attention to what was around me, I was actually abstractly watching a visual version of what was around me. That kind of thing.
I don’t want to speak for aphantasics, because there’s been some beautiful writing about it and like anything else, people get attached to their identities. What I would be most interested in seeing are reports from folks with this condition who have meditated over time, and whether anything has changed (aside from the acceptance that being this way is just another variation of being human and not a huge deal!). My suspicion is that there IS activity, it’s just below the threshold of awareness, but - crucially – that threshold can be expanded.
Now, having said all of that… Experience is endlessly rich in so many dimensions. My friend Tasha talks a lot about “feelization” - for her, it’s less about the visuals and more about a kind of somatic feeling correlate to ideas that is present.
To me, it’s a thrilling opportunity for exploration, to patiently get curious about where exactly your inner world is activating.
But of course, only if that’s interesting to you. You can go deep into the transformative benefits of meditation and never notice any of this stuff, and never need to notice it. It’s just one of the many side roads on a lifelong journey that goes… everywhere.
I hope that’s some useful framing!
As someone who is intensely aware of somatic experiences, I love Tasha’s description “feelization”. For me there are intersecting layers of emotional awareness and physical sensation.
I wrote a long reply when you first posted this but it disappeared into the void. This is a test
As a body who does see and hear my sensations, it's difficult for me to imagine not having these experiences. But I expect that what Jeff would say is to accept and investigate what you do experience and not fixate on what isn't there.
Well said Tamar!
Hi .. I don’t fixate, I just wonder — like is the “voice” in your head an actual sound? Do your earwires quiver? For me, it’s like reading - each word registers but there’s no sound or aural texture.
Likewise, most images register as having been seen - but only very rarely is there a seeable image involved -
I have aphantasia too so have always wondered about this. Thanks for asking.
Puts me in mind of the song “ There’s Room on the Porch for Everyone”
I enjoyed this and had an insight while meditating with this new knowledge. And I so appreciate these midweek doses of Jeff-Warren-led meditation.
Thank you for this. I found it very insightful. The train visualization brought up a rich section I'll elaborate here for whatever it's worth. As a bit of writer and poet I like to think my imagination is strong. Like thinking of the train sent me down paths of different perspectives, senses of scale, being beside it then wondering how would I write it. Log or record it. I imagined the smells. Soot. The wind in my hair and face if it was moving. How I would or wouldn't touch it. Cold rusty metal. But sure not feeling it if that heavy clanking thang is moving! Feeling gravel beneath my toes. Thinking of where my train reference images even came from. Fiction books I've read. Real trains I've seen. Then emotions or self reference jokes like about British train spotting or austisic stereotypes. Finally about judging, do other people see these details. Am I normal haha. Saw Temple Grandin movie recently on how she thinks. Interesting compare and contrast. Sorry to ramble. Thank you again.
I really enjoyed this and it's great to have a little mid-week contact with Jeff's meditation world. Very much appreciated.
I’ve been meditating since the 60s - and do very occasionally literally visualize things but usually imagery just bypasses the “seeing “ and goes straight to “seen” -if that makes sense.
I’m really curious about the hearing part - do people actually hear the words they’re thinking?
I feel like my brain has been in a mixmaster all day. I'm working with Shinzen's "if you notice an intention to control the attention, let go of the intention", but also wondering if when I am focusing on open awareness and I'm drawn to "hear in" (which is almost always), is there a "see in" that I'm just ignoring?? And am I efforting too much if I'm looking for that? I think maybe I need to let go of this and Do Nothing tonight. ;-)