Obobinde's practice

just sat 50 min: for the first time since 2 weeks i did not fell asleep during this evening sit and could maintain a fairly good awareness. Maybe it's because i started with 10 min shamatha ... anyway noted in freestyle, lots of tingling, hearing , aversion, anticipating, lightness, unease, blurry, rising, falling, mental image. I've noticed how after hearing a sound there is right after it a mental image coming to my mind.

"I've noticed how after hearing a sound there is right after it a mental image coming to my mind. "

Good insights! You noticed that the body (physical sensations, or in your case something auditory) and the mind (imaging thought) are separate! Good work! So simple, yet so profound when you go "Hey, I heard a car go by and then an image of it was generated in my mind." That image was not real, but your mind generated it and fabricated what the car may have looked like.

Watch for mental images that then create emotions. Further see how all of this breaks down into mind/body, cause/effect.

Thank you Aquanin, your post really motivated me as i thought i was making no progress.

50 min sit, started with shamatha, it was funny to notice how the mind was more and more focused and able to stay on the object, when i switched to noting, the mind became scattered and remained like that the whole sit, very difficult to keep good noting, left practice frustated, and noting frustration .

What kind of things were you noting when you did note?

well, i've noted a lot of vibrations on the abdomen, to be honest now i don't remenber clearly, i'll try to have a more detailed log from now on.
55 min, started with shamatha, when concentration was good enough i switched on freestyle noting, lightness, hearing, thinking, there were a lot of bird singing so my mind was populated with images of birds, numbness in the legs, i've made an effort to deconstruct the numbness but the sensation itself is not very clear, so i did not have a lot of success.

In daily life my noting has clearly improved, it's still weak but more and more i'm reminding myself to note, generally i note touching, hearing, seeing, watching and thinking, for the moment i'm not doing a detailed daily life noting as i first want to get a really good momentum.

Just sat 60 min, as i took a nap in the train before my sitting was devoid of any sloth and torpor. started with shamatha for a few round then noting, felt for a long time a kind of buildup of energy on my lowerback, noted energy, tingling in the arms, anticipating thought, joy, my breath really slowed down until there was no breath to be felt, very funny sensation, then the usual numbness kicked in my leg, tried to stay with it, then an internal feeling of swaying started, noted swaying, came back to my leg where slowly the numbness transformed into pain, noted anger, aversion, but also happiness as it's an object i like because it's very useful to boost concentration.

for the last couple of days i've made the mistake of not posting right after my practice and later onthe memory of it was blurry and that's why i did not post.
just sat 60 min, started with rising falling, watch closely the movement, but my mind wandered a lot, after a while the abdomen was perceived as tiny vibrations then strong numbness started in legs and i tried to really go into it. The numbness became pain not an excruciating one anyway timer went off.

50 min sit, stating with rising and falling, then subtle vibration were felt throuhout the body, feeling of lightness and joy were noted, at times i could stay easily on the rising and falling, then usual numbness kicked in, and i decided to left practice.
Since two days in daily life i feel a lot of tingling and other weird sensations happening unexpectedly, anyway it's very fun objects to be aware of, and i'm quite happy my sitting practice is more and more being felt in daily life.

Well i kept on practising 2hours a day when possible but sometimes only one, nothing very new so far,
just sat 65 min, noted mainly hte rising and falling, mind wandered a bit noted joy, anticipating, sitting, then as always breath slowed down a lot until its really calm, and i enter a kind of peaceful state, started to note more freely, at a certain point something weird happened as it seemed i couldn't breath without the intention to do so, it's like i was really controlling the breathing and i had to make an effort to breathe naturally which i couldn't really do. Then my usual numbness started in my left leg, first very diffuse and then more located and slowly transforming into pain. That's it for today

Still 2 hour a day,
just sat 70 min, noted as persistently as i could the rising and falling of the abdomen, at some point i had the impression that i've zoomed in on the abdomen and that it was almost in front of me as an object, noted pressure, hearing, numbness, strong buzzing, actually the buzzing is getting stronger as my concentration is deepening.
lots of quietness too, when the numbness of the leg increased it changed to pain so i observed it and noted anger, frustration, pain and after 60 min i've had to lift the knee for 1 min to get the numbness of, then i enjoyed 10 min of quietness .
No need to say that my breath is nearly absent for the whole sit now.

Ever try changing the way you sit so you don't get numb?

Aquanin, i took your advice and inserted a piece of cloth under my knee to put it a little higher, it seems to help, but i guess a lot of people encounter this kind of problems when the concentration is not strong enough...

kept my 2 hours a day, no big change there is still this background buzzing for the whole sit but it kind of fade away if i don't watch it. I noticed there is a lot of frustation and some boredom lurking in my mind as i 'm longing for deep experiences and fast pace noting but none of those are present. So i keep noting 1 per sec, mainly physical impressions and different thinking processes but very rarely emotions.

"Aquanin, i took your advice and inserted a piece of cloth under my knee to put it a little higher, it seems to help, but i guess a lot of people encounter this kind of problems when the concentration is not strong enough..."

More like, the numbness will keep you from being concentrated. Try to completely change positions if this keeps happening, no reason you should have to sit with pain that is only caused my the way you are trying to sit. You don't even have to sit on the floor. Try a chair or reclining. See if it helps.

Following your advice, i've tried alternate sitting postures and sure enough, no numbness ! which is very cool as i feel i can sit much longer with a better concentration, thank you for that.
Anyway just sat 65 min, started as usual with rising and falling, buzzing sound statrted almost right away, then touching, hearing, peace, anticipating thoughts, and as always my breathing got almost imperceptible i wonder if it's normal or if it's just my way of practising inducing it. I've noticed that now my mind tends to expect mental images after hearing sounds, which doesn't arises all the time but it's fun to watch the mind getting alert about it.

Good work. Keep it up. No reason for a numb leg to get in the way of your practice

kept practising twice a day,
last sit 60 min, watched the rising and falling, as soon as i started buzzing sound started and some concentration was there. At some point i could feel very vividly the abdomen even in the gaps between inhalation and exhalation. the background buzzing went stronger and the quietness of mind too. I tried to note emotions but it seems there was none to be seen. i got the feeling concentration has improved thanks to my changing of the posture but my investigation capacity is slower to grow.

the last couple of days it has been difficult to maintain my commitment of 2 hours per day, as i've been experiencing a lot of pain in the end of my sits making it hard to go beyond 45 min and also i've had a busy schedule somehow.
just sat for 55 min: noted rising and falling for the first 20 min, concentration was good, there was a diffuse feeling of peace making hte noting easier and smooth. Noted a lot of mental image appearing after hearing sounds, noted the expectation to see mental image appear as a result of hearing different sounds, tingling, vibrations in the hands, seeing patterns of colors on the back of my eyelids, anticipating the report, frustration as i felt i was not progressing fast enough. Also heard some slight differenc in the buzzing sound that accompanies most of my sits. Mind got a little tensed towards the end of the sit but left practise refrreshed and happy.

just sat 55 min,
at first mind wandered a lot then usual buildup of concentration, reached a sort of relaxed state, kept noting and further down the rabbit hole for the first time the noting speeded up by itself. It's like suddenly there was a need to note many times each object and there was more objects, the background of the scene was quiet at first but then i became overwhelmed and the stability of the noting went away.

I haven't been posting in a while but i tried to kept my practice regular. At least 45 min a day but most of the time twice 45 min. I don't know why but it seems i get stuck, nothing is really happening, i haven't crossed any milestone yet. Usually i start noting rising and falling until my concentration get stronger then i do it free style. Very quick buzzing sounds starts being heard, tingling sensations in the hands and calmness of mind. I note one per sec and i wonder if should do it faster. Last sit, i noted rising and falling, anticipating thoughts, aversion to my cat purring besides me, touching, hearing backgroud noises, hearing buzzing sound, intention to swallow, swallowing, tingling sensation, frustration, calmness, lightness of body, thinking about time left.