I sit still. No goal. Just a curiosity.
The first thing I notice is a tightness—not sharp, just dense—across my lower belly. I name it. “Tightness. Dull. Slight downward pull.” There’s also warmth, more to the right, and a strange hollow flutter just above the navel. “Warm. Hollow. Flutter.” The labels land easily, like placing stickers on a map.
Then I go in a little closer. The tightness isn’t solid—it pulses. Faintly, but it does. The flutter isn't consistent either; it has pauses, like a stutter in the wind. The warmth has layers—core heat, and then a surface shimmer, like skin that’s been in the sun.
I let the locations fade. No more “belly” or “navel.” Now I just feel the sensations as they are, not tied to a place. They rise and fall, thicken and disperse. They’re not static. They’re alive, moving, changing.
My mind tries to track the pattern. “This means something,” it offers. “It’s anxiety. It’s anticipation. It’s digestion.” I thank it silently, and let the meaning fall away. I don’t need the meaning. I want the raw data.
I feel how the sensations are never still. They twist, quiver, throb, glow, vanish. I stop thinking about them and simply feel them. Not as objects. Not as signs. Just… as themselves.
Labels collapse.
“Tight” becomes too coarse. “Warm” doesn’t come close. Even “sensation” feels like too much. Now I’m just swimming in the textures—waves of tingling, pulses of density, a soft edgeless expansion behind the chest. It’s not even my chest anymore. There’s no me watching the experience.
There’s only the experiencing.
Only this rhythm, this shimmer, this vanishing and returning.
Not knowing. No commentary. Just the infinite subtlety of now.
There’s no one inside this body, no separate mind. There’s no observer. There is only the flicker and fade, the rise and fall. The echo of stillness and the breath of movement. It’s not mine. It’s not happening to me.
It’s just happening.
It is what is.
And then even that dissolves.
There is no it now. Only this, and this is not a thing.
This is not describable.
This is what’s left when description ends.
Only experiencing.
Only this.
Only.
Self-Inquiry: From Label to Pure Experiencing
Use the story you just read as a template. Move step-by-step, pausing after each question. Let the body answer before the mind tries to explain.
Settle & Notice
Sit or lie down.
Let the breath find its own rhythm.
Ask: What is the most noticeable sensation right now?
Apply Coarse Labels
Where is it? (e.g., “lower belly,” “behind left eye”)
What basic qualities? (“tight,” “warm,” “buzzing,” “pulling”)
State them aloud or write them.
Refine the Map
Move closer: Is the “tight” steady or pulsing?
Does “warm” have a cooler edge, a core heat, a flicker?
Add finer labels, but keep them simple.
Drop the Geography
Let the location fade. Ignore “belly,” “shoulder,” “throat.”
Feel the sensation as free-floating energy.
Ask: Is it static or in motion? Does it swell, ripple, stutter, fade?
Release the Meaning
Notice thought-offers: “This is stress,” “I should fix this.”
Say inwardly: Label, noted, not needed.
Let the meaning fall away; keep only raw data.
Let Labels Collapse
Even “tight,” “warm,” “buzz” are now too coarse.
Sense texture without language.
Feel waves, sparks, vacuums—without calling them anything.
Immerse
Imagine swimming inside the sensation.
No inside/outside, no owner/owned.
Ask: If there’s no me watching, what remains?
Become the Experiencing
Rest in the shimmer, pulse, hush.
Notice there’s no observer—only experiencing happening.
Stay as long as it stays; let it change or vanish on its own.
Return Gently
When thought resumes, smile.
No failure, no success—just another wave.
Optional journal line: “What was present when no label was present?”
Repeat whenever you’re pulled into narratives about sensations. Each cycle dissolves one more layer of “problem” and reveals pure, alive presence beneath.
For more pointers and suggestions, check out this link to vince-bot using the website as its knowledge base.
Vince Schubert YouTube Channel
Free online meetups every Saturday at 9 pm (Sydney Australia time)
and one each Monday 7 am ( Sydney Australia time)
and each Wednesday at 4 pm (Sydney Australia time)
and every Friday 7 am (Sydney time) - never published.
You can check your local time here:
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Please note that it's always the same time on the same link. Arriving late and leaving early is fine.
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Audio files can be found here:
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..and more here; WakingUpWithMarius
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..and remember - lots of little bits make a big bit. ❤️