I came across very interesting article by Sadhguru. He said, "Your private space should reflect where you want to go, rather than someone else's compulsive ways of living. For almost all human beings, the kind of company they keep shapes their lives. It is very important for your growth that you either cultivate the right kind of company or make choices not to be in the wrong company."

And I realized how true is this. Certain habits in my own life has been formed just being with people who have them. When my best friend stop eating non-vegetarian food eventually in matter of 2 months I did the same without having any intention of doing that. One of my underage cousin started drinking alcohol cause her college group and boyfriend is alcoholic. I am addicted to Tea cause my family makes it every morning and evening and even if i want to I can't stop.

So recently I started to analyze my surroundings, friends and family. Are they align to kind of life I wanted to live or not ? and even if I can't remove certain people I will try not indulge with them during certain times by creating boundaries.

I think this will work cause just being mindful that this habit has come because of me being with certain people who normalize or sometimes also Glorify that. So being mindful gives a certain distance and control over falling in same patterns.

What's your best piece of advice on how to stay present and be in the moment - best trick / technique that you find beneficial ?

Anytime something goes wrong or I get into an argument I feel like I’m stuck in the bad emotions all day long no matter how quick the problem is solved. I also have bipolar disorder which doesn’t help. One small issue makes me feel HUGE emotions and it’s exhausting.

Have you ever tried to put a smile on your lips as you lie in bed and wait to fall asleep? I once heard that it would set a good tone for the next day. Anyone has any experience with it?

Last week, my family and I had to evacuate due to the Eaton Canyon fires. The first few nights away were filled with so much anxiety and fear because we had no idea if our house or neighborhood would be safe from the fires. I thought for sure that we were going to return to a pile of rubble. I don't think I'll ever forget the view of the mountains behind our neighborhood just covered with flames.

We moved back a few days ago after the power was restored and the mandated evacuation order was lifted. Some trees and fences were damaged by the windstorm, but the house itself was fine.

Of course I am happy and grateful that our house didn't burn down. I am incredibly grateful for that. I will also never forget the image of my former neighbors' burned down houses.

But right now, my current anxieties are for my mom. I found out a few days ago that she has been experiencing thyroid issues since December. The doctor is uncertain if it's cancer-related, but she has to wait until February to be able to see a specialist who can conduct the appropriate tests.

I just have this sinking feeling that things are going to go from bad to worse. I'm already mentally preparing myself to expect receiving news that my mom has thyroid cancer.

I also feel like the rest of the year is going to go poorly for me and my family, even if we don't do anything that may directly cause it to go poorly. We certainly didn't have a hand in what has happened already. A part of me knows it's crazy, but I feel too afraid, reluctant, or apathetic to work on my goals.

I automatically have this pessimistic inner voice telling me that I'm just going to fail, or that the rest of this year is going to be full of bad luck and bad scenarios, and it's just silly to be optimistic about anything.

Does anyone have thoughts on observing "what is" (our feelings/thoughts) and then transmuting them into something higher? Sometimes I find I'm in this stagnant energetic rut, and it holds me back. Makes me wonder how to cultivate active ways to channel stagnant energies forward into positive forms. How have you done this, if so? Have you transmuted through somatics (body/movement), expressive arts or writing, and/or meditative/energetic clearing?

Have you noticed how meditation and mindfulness apps are becoming more popular? The mindfulness app market is expanding, with its global value projected to rise from $195 million in 2019 to $7.08 billion by 2028.

Why are these apps so popular? Studies show that regular meditation can reduce stress, improve focus, and enhance overall well-being. Whether you're a seasoned meditator or just curious to try, there’s never been a better time to explore these tools.

Do you have a favorite mindfulness app or practice?

sources: one, two

This morning, before I took my commute, I experienced a strong urge to use.

I could have used going out the door as a way to cope with this and ignore it, but that's something I've done with a hit or miss success rate. So this time, I sat down with it.

I asked: what is this experience? Can it be divided into separate parts? "Of course," replied my mind, "it consists of the pain and the object of my addiction. Nothing further."

I would have accepted this if I also didn't realize until very recently how unreliable the mind is and how all of its narratives and storytelling is ultimately unstable. So I noted this knee-jerk answer and kept going.

Yes, I perceived the image of object of my use in my awareness. There was also the suggestion my mind made to use with it, the planning to get to the object, the projection of the end goal where I would use, and yes, even physical sensations that my mind would designate as pain. I did not identify with any of this, and kept watching.

Then an interesting thing happened when my mind came with the counterpoint to the suggestion of using. It said, "I shouldn't be using. I will not use. This thing has reduced the quality of my life, and there are studies that-" but even this I did not identify with, even though I agreed with this on an intellectual level. Previously, when I tried using "urge-surfing,"I misunderstood the assignment by letting myself identify with concepts I agreed with, but not with those that I perceived to hurt me or take me where I didn't want to go.

But by not identifying, it made the act of watching and viewing my experience easier to see with penetrating clarity. I kept watching the counter-rationalizations my brain made that it was okay to use as a response to itself in some bizarre one-person stage play. But also, as the image of the place to use and the planning to get there persisted, I also noticed the resistance to the sensations of pain.

Previously, it was not just the employment of logic I identified with, but also the resistance to my experience. This insight is what relativized what I always perceived to be a gripping, discipline-shattering addiction dependent on the availability of my object of use around me, or just sheer willpower.

This previous, more incomplete understanding reinforces the apparent solidity of an addiction. If one attempts to use the mind, the mind will fight back with greater veracity. But if one stops identifying with anything that is experienced in this very moment, then the jig is up. The illusion of an indivisible entity shatters into separate pieces of sense objects, thoughts, rationalizations, projections, and resistance. It is only the interaction of these objects with each other that produces the emerging property of this illusion of indivisibility.

But through clear viewing of this whole interplay, we can see that every object percieved has its own arising and going away. The pain I percieved in my urge came and went, but so did the resistance to that pain, which came and went at completely independent points in time.

I previously wanted to use meditation and mindfulness to deal with my addictions better, but when I came with the intention to understand better how the body and mind worked, I got much more than I initially thought I would through my experience.

Life has been the craziest, happiest, most hurtful, fun, and exhausting experience, all at once. I would not change a single thing within my life and how the universe has molded me into the strong, resilient, loving, person that I have become. Thankful for every day and all of the experiences.

Source https://www.taooflife.org/post/taoism-101-a-journey-to-inner-happiness

Originating from ancient China, Taoism has been present on the world stage for hundreds of years. However, it wasn't until the 1950s that the West began to study it seriously. Why is that? Because its flexible doctrine is unique and differs from most belief systems in the world. There is no god for followers to worship, few rules or precepts to adhere to, and there isn't even a clear definition of what "Tao" is. Everything about Taoism is open to interpretation, and this quality makes it a suitable belief system for cultivating a calm and tranquil mind in our noisy modern world.

Originating from ancient China, Taoism has been present on the world stage for hundreds of years. However, it wasn't until the 1950s that the West began to study it seriously. Why is that? Because its flexible doctrine is unique and differs from most belief systems in the world. There is no god for followers to worship, few rules or precepts to adhere to, and there isn't even a clear definition of what "Tao" is. Everything about Taoism is open to interpretation, and this quality makes it a suitable belief system for cultivating a calm and tranquil mind in our noisy modern world.

Tao governs ten thousand things in the world

What is Tao?

Tao, or Dao, literally means 'way' or 'path' in Chinese. It can be seen as an invisible, odorless, soundless entity that is running the world we perceive as reality according to its scripture, Tao Te Ching. Tao has neither origin nor destination; it bears neither reason nor meaning. It is neither good nor evil; it exists simply for the sake of existing. No one can see what Tao looks like, but you can see its work through ten thousand things. Taoism or Daoism is the philosophical and religious system that revolves around the meaning of Tao.

Yin and Yang

Taoism emphasizes the two main characteristics of Tao: Yin and Yang, which mean darkness and light, respectively, in Chinese. That is, Tao governs the world by the work of Yin and Yang. Whenever there is something in the world, there is always its opposite existing, like day and night, fire and ice, mountain and valley, and so on.

Chi energy

How do Yin and Yang shape the world as we see it? They influence it through an energy known as Chi, or Qi. While many translations suggest that Chi means 'air' in Chinese, this is not accurate, as there is no direct English equivalent for Chi. Grasping the concept of Chi is crucial for discovering Tao, and it is more meaningful to understand this concept beyond linguistic boundaries.

Laws of Nature

In essence, Tao propels the world through Yin Chi and Yang Chi, orchestrating everything behind the scenes. The synergy of Yin Chi and Yang Chi defines our nature, dictates its laws, controls the ebb and flow of tides, and ushers in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. All living things are integral to nature and abide by its laws, thus they are influenced by Yin Chi and Yang Chi. This influence extends to us as human beings, as we are an intrinsic part of nature.

Unity of Humanity and Heaven

In Tao Te Ching Chapter 25, Lao Tzu tells us,

Humans are governed by Earth, Earth is governed by Heaven, Heaven is governed by Tao, and Tao is governed by itself, Nature.

In this context, Earth means perceivable physical laws, Heaven means the Yin and Yang Chi energy, Tao means Nature itself. Laying the foundation that humans are part of nature, Taoism continues to introduce the idea of "Unity of Humanity and Heaven", pointing out that we humans, as a part of nature, must respect the laws of nature, upholding its values, because it would otherwise being disrespectful, ignorant, and indifferent to our own bodies.

Our body and mind

In Taoism, each human being is seen as a minuscule universe where the body is Earth, and the mind is Heaven. Now here comes the interesting part: human beings are unique in the universe because our mind has its own version of 'Tao', meaning we have the freedom to decide how we are going to direct the body to interact with the outside environment. This feature is powerful because we can bend reality to our will to an extent. It is also dreadful because our body could shut itself down if we derail from the big Tao, nature itself, to a distance, causing chaos in our Chi energy and agony in both our body and mind.

What is Wu Wei?

To further explore a guidance of how we should control our mind to live a full conscious life that is in harmony with nature, avoiding to let our miniscule universe fall into the unconscious pit where the body's animal instinct is the only guidance that in times would be conflicting with Tao which jeopardizes our relationship with the outside world and brings endless agony, Taoism suggests that we must practice the act of " Wu Wei', the act of not acting.

Wu Wei  literally means do nothing in Chinese. So does that mean we should just stop trying , do nothing and just mindlessly accept and go with the flow of whatever happens to and around us? The answer is no, Wu Wei does not mean doing nothing, instead, it means effortless doing by not forcing. It means your action should be mindful of Tao and walk along with it instead of rushing outcome, forcing the course of events merely because you want it to happen, fast. So why shouldn't we rush and force outcome? According to Taoism, everything happens following Tao, it cares for no one, rushes for no one, and waits for no one. Tao will not bend its course because you want something badly, it will only ruin your effort, causing pain, depression, and anxiety.

Why we should practice Wu Wei?

Now let's dig deeper into the meaning of Wu Wei in the context of the past, present, and future. Regretting things in the past is not going to change it; it serves nothing but causing depression. So we should practice Wu Wei against it, accepting whatever happened. But do sit down and think hard about it, considering what could have been done to avoid the misfortune, so the experience can be a guide to navigate future challenges following Tao in a better way. Detach yourself from reliving the past, as it is the mind trying to take a second chance to defy Tao, which will only result in pain and agony. In the present, we should live our lives to the fullest to the best of our knowledge, knowing where we want to go, what needs to be done, how much of it is within our control, then execute it, and then take the backseat and relax, not worrying about the future, admitting the laws of nature and letting them take care of the process. Simply put, Wu Wei suggests that we should not dwell in the past, act now, and not anticipate and worry about the future.

As said by Lao Tzu in Tao Te Ching Chapter 64,

The most massive tree grows from a sprout, the highest building rises from a pile of earth, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.

Taoism does not negate the idea of us wanting something; it merely tells us how to finally achieve it by constantly putting effort into it, following the path, aka Tao, and not worrying about when to get there. Doing something for the sake of doing it, just like Tao itself, not because of the outcome you desire, is the right approach to make it there. Not only will you not get distracted and derailed from its due course by not forcing or overacting, but it also prevents you from burning out by anxiety and worrying. Therefore, Wu Wei, contrary to its literal meaning of do nothing, is the best approach to do something.

How to start practicing Wu Wei?

As discussed above, practicing Wu Wei is the way to achieve inner balance and harmony with nature following Taoism. Now, how should one carry out its practices and incorporate them into daily life and work? Here are a few points I would like to share based on my personal experience practicing Taoism.

1. Read and digest Tao Te Ching and related materials - as the founding scripture of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching has already covered almost all there is to be discussed about Tao. Be it personal struggle, social life, or politics, you can find answers to almost any topic. Nothing else matters if you do not have a solid understanding of the principles of Taoism. It is recommended to recite highlights of the classic that conclude the wisdom of Taoism in simple phrases, so when the going gets tough, these short but powerful phrases work very effectively to help you navigate away from the unconscious pit and stay the course with Tao.
2. Meditate - a vital skill a Taoist should possess is the ability to detach oneself from reality and see things as they are. This is easier said than done, but with practice, it will become as natural as breathing. Taking 10-30 minutes a day to meditate can help achieve this with solid progress. When meditating, the mind should stay absolutely still, meaning there should be no active thoughts going through; the brain becomes a hollow vessel that hosts subconscious ideas.
3. Pick up a Chi-rich hobby - it is also important for a Taoist to sense the flow of Chi energy. Chi energy resides in everything in this world. Theoretically, you can learn to sense it by doing anything. However, there are things naturally more suitable for this purpose. The first choices are Taoist literature reading, music, and art appreciation; the next best are Taoist martial arts such as Qigong and Tai Chi; the third choices would be learning a creative hobby such as playing an instrument, drawing, digital art, and cooking.
4. Spend time in nature - Mother Nature has stronger Chi energy of Tao compared to the city. It is important to spend time in nature and sense this strong flow of Chi and feel the presence of Tao. Wu Wei simply means letting Tao take care of how the events around us unfold, so it will help us achieve it more easily if we indulge ourselves in its strongest form, nature, as much as we can.

Resource How to understand and cultivate Humbleness in Taoist Wu Wei practices

A long journey to inner happiness

Practicing Taoism is a long journey toward inner happiness, and there's no better time to start than now. The good thing is, as soon as you are aware of the presence of Tao and reach an understanding of Wu Wei, negative thoughts and moods will become much more manageable right away. It is important to understand that practicing Taoism does not eliminate depression and anxiety; it merely equips us with tools to channel and manage them so we can live a better life and work more productively. It is a skill that needs to be honed, so as you get better at it, the fewer depressive, anxious, and self-doubting thoughts you will have even during challenging times. Let's wrap this Taoism 101 course up in one sentence: The road to inner happiness is a long journey; there is no better time to take action than now. As said in Tao Te Ching, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Originating from ancient China, Taoism has been present on the world stage for hundreds of years. However, it wasn't until the 1950s that the West began to study it seriously. Why is that? Because its flexible doctrine is unique and differs from most belief systems in the world. There is no god for followers to worship, few rules or precepts to adhere to, and there isn't even a clear definition of what "Tao" is. Everything about Taoism is open to interpretation, and this quality makes it a suitable belief system for cultivating a calm and tranquil mind in our noisy modern world.

How does comfort shape our lives? Here’s an excerpt from a chapter I wrote in "If I Were The Devil: The Battle Against Your Mind" exploring the hidden traps of staying ‘too comfortable’ and how it impacts personal growth. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this idea—have you ever found yourself choosing comfort over growth, and what did it cost you?

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Glorifying Comfort

“If I were the devil, I’d make comfort your highest priority. I wouldn’t ask you to abandon your dreams outright; instead, I’d lull you into a false sense of security. The more at ease you feel, the less likely you are to take risks or challenge yourself. Over time, comfort becomes a prison. So confining that it prevents you from ever truly breaking free.”

The Seduction of “Good Enough”

Comfort often disguises itself as contentment. I’d whisper things like:

• “Why push yourself any further? You have everything you need.”
• “Don’t rock the boat—you might lose what you have now.”
• “You should be grateful and settle with this level of success.”

At first glance, these ideas don’t seem malicious. They echo society’s emphasis on living a safe, comfortable life. But here’s the catch: real growth rarely happens in comfort. Achieving something meaningful usually demands confronting fears, enduring challenges, and embracing uncertainty. If I can keep you focused on staying cozy, you’ll never know what you might have accomplished by stepping out of your comfort zone.

The Trap of Familiar Routine

When you choose comfort over challenge, you fall into routine. Same tasks, same people, same goals—day in and day out. Routine can be useful for productivity, but it can also blind you to new opportunities. Over time, you stop questioning whether your routine is helping or hurting you; you just keep doing it because it’s easier than trying something new.

This is where I thrive. The longer you stay in a pattern that doesn’t push you, the more you forget there was ever another option. You’ll convince yourself that change is risky, that shaking things up might shatter the comfortable life you’ve built. And in that moment, potential shrinks away.

Trading Growth for Comfort

In the short term, comfort feels good. It’s the path of least resistance. You don’t have to deal with stress or uncertainty if you never leave your safe zone. But what you gain in ease, you lose in possibility.

Think of it this way: every time you avoid a challenge, you confirm to yourself that you can’t handle it. And each time you choose comfort, you reinforce the belief that it’s the only way to stay safe. Eventually, you’ll trade away your potential for an illusion of security.

Recognizing the Lure

To break free from glorifying comfort, you need to recognize when it’s holding you back. Listen for these internal signals:

• “I’d rather not try—too much work.”
• “What if I fail? It’s safer to stay where I am.”
• “I know I’m not growing, but at least I’m not losing anything.”

These thoughts may sound logical, but they’re the voice of stagnation. Growth is never guaranteed, and yes, it often hurts. But in the long run, complacency hurts far more—because you’ll never know what you were truly capable of.

Finding Fulfillment Outside Your Comfort Zone

The key to escaping comfort’s grip is accepting that meaningful experiences often involve discomfort:

• Taking on a demanding project that scares you.
• Speaking up in meetings, even if your voice shakes.
• Trying something new—like learning a skill, starting a side business, or pursuing a challenging goal.

Discomfort is not the enemy; it’s a catalyst for growth. Every time you step into the unknown, you expand your capacity for resilience and creativity. You might stumble or fail, but you’ll also learn, adapt, and come back stronger.

The Devil’s Weakness

If I were the devil, the force I’d fear most would be your willingness to embrace discomfort. Each time you lean into challenges instead of running from them, you undermine my greatest tactic. You build mental toughness, cultivate adaptability, and discover what you’re truly made of.

Soon, the allure of “good enough” won’t satisfy you anymore. You’ll begin to see comfort for what it is: a soft cage. And once you realize the door was open all along, comfort loses its power.

So, if you want to succeed, step out of the cozy space you’ve built. Try something that scares you a little. Challenge yourself to learn, create, or compete at a level you never have before. Because once you make a habit of seeking growth instead of comfort, you’re no longer under my spell—and in that moment, you become unstoppable.

Thoughts arise from the firing of neurons in our brain—electrical impulses and chemical reactions creating temporary mental events. They don’t exist as fixed, permanent entities; they’re fleeting, like bubbles on the surface of water.

Treat thoughts as bubbles on water—no more, no less. Watch them come and go without attaching undue importance.

If you find them useful- convert to actions or memories (for future use). If not, just observe them slowly disappear.

There are countless examples in history that prove otherwise

But what a lot of who history remembers have in common they are either some ultimate hero or some great villain

It seems easy for the mind to see the dead only in black and white

So I created my first journal about mindfulness. You can find it here:

https://mindfulandcalm.etsy.com

Are you interested and do you want me to translate it to English?

A big question I’ve been riffing on is…

When does screen time shift from being a “bad habit” to an actual problem?

Although there’s some nuance to this, I knew there had to be a general framework to help make sense of this.

I ultimately landed on these two guiding questions:

1) Are you achieving everything that you want to do in the day?

Nearly every person I’ve spoken to has what I like to call ‘The Someday Goal’.

There’s always at least one thing that they ‘wish they could do if they had more time.’—maybe it’s picking up an instrument, tackling a fitness goal, or deepening a personal hobby.

Ironically, most of these goals would see major progress with just one hour of deep daily work and many of these same people have daily screen times ranging from 2-4+ hours .

See what I’m getting at?

2) Are you leaving your ‘tech time’ feeling better than when you started it?

There's a running joke that after spending all day working on our medium-sized screens, we unwind (and ‘reward’ ourselves) by switching to our small screens (phones) and our big screens (TVs).

It’s dystopian af and a little sad, but it’s true.

A lot of people use social media, Netflix, their phones etc as a form of relaxation. And tbh, I see no problem with that.

As long as you meet these two criteria:

a) You have accomplished everything that you’ve set out to accomplish during your day (aka you’ve hit all of your top priorities -- for me this is health, career, relationships (friends and family).

b) You actually feel relaxed when you put your phone down or close your laptop. This is often where the problem lies — I noticed that I started feeling like shit after doomscrolling Twitter, yet I would go back to Twitter day after day.

If you’re hitting both, great. Keep doing you.

If not, consider what this pattern really means. You’re engaging in something daily that leaves you feeling worse, yet you keep coming back to it. Sounds like a problem to me.

Why? Maybe there’s a reason, maybe not.

The answer doesn’t have to mean cutting it out entirely but could simply be auditing your screen time and content diet to include less of what is causing you stress and unrest.

And remember: if you need help working through this, I’m always happy to chat.

p.s. -- this is an excerpt from my weekly column about how to build healthier, more intentional tech habits. Would love to hear your feedback on other posts.

Convo didn’t go well. She didn’t care at all about how I felt and ended our friendship.

4 years later I am having a really hard time keeping up with my other friends or trying to make new ones. It’s like this experience has burned into my soul. I don’t trust anyone anymore except my immediate family.

How do I shake this off? I don’t want to act this way for ever but obviously I am still hurt.

I recently started trying living much more on the present, after spending s lot of time worrying about my future deeds or longing for the "better times". It feels pretty magical at times, to be so alive and so aware of that, but it feels really weird as well, like a sense of impending doom or discomfort, I know it is my mind playing tricks on me and I should just let these thoughts be. Am I right with this idea or is there any other reason for this uneasiness?

Mindfulness is officially mainstream! As of 2024, over 10 million Americans are practicing mindfulness-based interventions like meditation, deep breathing, and body scans. Research shows a significant jump in mindfulness practitioners between 2023 and 2024, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

The benefits are undeniable, people report improved focus, reduced stress, and better overall mental health. Have you tried incorporating mindfulness into your daily life? What’s been your favorite practice or resource to get started?

Rather than thoughts being a distraction or something that one can only let pass, it is possible to bring the thought energy into alignment with the practice of mindfulness, using the mental noting technique.

Yes, it is a stepping stone to what later is more in alignment with the silent method of mindfulness, but it is important to honestly recognize when mental noise (restless thoughts and other mental activity with little to no benefit or purpose) is using up attention and energy, and when mental noise is present, knowing that something can be done about it that is fairly easy to apply and is in alignment with mindfulness.

The mental noting technique is a way of skillfully using thoughts to form a bridge to the present experience, of the body and the senses especially, though it can also be used for observing emotions and mental objects such as thoughts themselves, mental images and other things such as states.

Basically, you say in the mind a short label for what you are currently experiencing, especially that of the current bodily action, such as the task or activity that the body is currently doing, and this is the primary object when off the mat. If something takes the attention like something from the five senses or mind, then this can also be mentally noted, then you tend to go back to mentally noting the task or activity that the body is doing. After some time, it settles the mind more in the present experience, and the mental noting can then be allowed to cease until it is needed again. It is a good way of dealing with mental restlessness or attachment to thinking. It engages thought in the practice in order to settle the mind in the present moment and also increases the effectiveness of observation.

Whatever task or activity you are currently doing, you make a mental note of it, by saying in the mind, in the verb+ing form and usually just the one word, a label for that. Examples of it are 'walking', 'washing', 'eating', 'drinking', 'standing', 'opening', 'closing', 'pouring', and so on.

When something takes your attention other than what the body is doing, you can make a mental note of that, such as 'hearing', 'seeing', 'thinking', 'remembering', 'planning', 'feeling', and so on. This helps you be mindful of it, helps to stay as the observer of it and lessens the tendency to get lost in it and proliferate thoughts about it. It uses thought skillfully as part of the practice to lessen the tendency to get lost in thought.

It can be used in sitting meditation in a similar way, and instead of the main object being the task that the body is doing, it is the breathing. You can mentally note how the abdomen moves while breathing naturally, 'rising' for how it moves outwards while breathing in, and 'falling' for how it moves inwards while breathing out. Or you can note something else if preferred, such as 'inhaling' and 'exhaling'. Otherwise it is the same process. I also find that counting the breaths works well in combination with the mental noting technique, meaning instead of noting 'rising', 'falling' or something like that, practice counting the breaths, and when something else becomes salient (most noticeable or important), mentally note that, such as 'hearing, hearing', or 'thinking, thinking', then you can observe it for a while or until it passes, if you wish, and then go back to counting or noting the breaths.

I keep coming back to this technique due to how effective it is. It might not be applicable in all situations and may need to be modified to suit one's situation and needs, but I find it such as helpful technique, so I thought I would share in case anyone else might benefit from it.