Noting

In the twentieth century, a Burmese monk named Mahasi Sayadaw taught a simple way to meditate that anyone could learn, monk or not. Sitting quietly, you note the belly as it moves with the breath, "rising, falling", and softly name whatever else comes up: "thinking", "hearing", "itching".

His meditation centre in Yangon drew students from all over the world, including many Westerners. Several of them went home and became teachers, and his noting method became one of the foundations of what is now called the insight, or vipassana, movement.

Worry tends to pull us inside it: one thought leads to the next, and soon we're living in a story about tomorrow. Noting gives you a way to step out, one word at a time.

When something arises, you name it gently, in a word or two: "worrying", "planning", "sadness", "hearing". No analysis, no judgement. Then you let it go and come back to the breath. The tone matters: soft, like noticing a bird, not like stamping a form.

Modern research points the same way. In a 2007 study at UCLA, Matthew Lieberman and his colleagues found that simply putting a feeling into words reduced activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in alarm.

• ACT

  Name the story: "ah, the not-good-enough story again" turns a thought into something you notice.

• Hindu & yogic traditions

  The witness (sakshi) is the awareness that watches thoughts without being them.

Sit comfortably for two minutes. Rest your attention on the breath, and each time something pulls you away, name it softly in a word, then come back.

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A worry about money pops up while you're noting. What do you do?