The art of Noting

Learn how to put thoughts back on the self

After oodles of traditional therapy, somatic techniques, CBT, mindfulness, and good old fashioned breakdowns, I’ve gathered a set of tools that actually worked (for me) in a series called: All the mindfulness tricks that actually worked

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Noting is what you can do when you don’t want to or need to engage with your thoughts. You see the thought. Note the thought’s existence. Move past the thought.

Imagine going to Trader Joe’s, walking down the chip aisle, noticing the hundred shiny bags of chips, and walking calmly past. I love chips, so that would be hard for me. Almost as hard as not jumping on every thought that appears.

Why do this? To help you have a calm mind and to give you practice responding instead of reacting.

You can think the thought without acting on the thought. It doesn’t get your energy.

How to practice Noting

1. Get into a comfortable position

2. Take five deep breaths

3. Let your thoughts come. Each time a thought appears, note it as a “thought”and let it pass. If you start engaging with the thought, that’s OK, just as soon as you are able to go back to noting.

I learned to note from the Headspace meditation program on anxiety (not sponsored).

It took me a few weeks of consistent and frustrating practice. At first, it felt like Noting did nothing. The thoughts just spread like ink in water.

Then one night while cleaning the house after the kids went to bed, I was in a mindless flow state of picking up the toys. I picked up a book thinking “bookshelf” and shelved it, picked up socks and labeled “laundry basket” and tossed them. Same with the stuffy on the rug, I noted “toy bin” and dropped it in. It was effortless and automatic—knowing where to put the things. I didn’t engage, I just recognized it, placed it, and moved on.

It hit me that I was Noting!

From then on, I’ve been dropping into Noting when I can feel myself reacting to too many thoughts for my own comfort level.

Hope you try it. Let me know if it works for you!