Mahasi Sayadaw was a Burmese Buddhist monk in the late 1800’s who popularized the idea of LABELLING that was a support for Vipassana or Insight meditation. Historically sustained awareness and deep concentration states of Jhana were believed necessary before one attempted insight. Mahasai Sayadaw was more interested in Momentary concentration. The moment to moment awareness of experience without the need for deep concentration to access insight.
This was a technique where one would use one word labels to identify the experience. For example for thinking one would label the experience as thinking, planning, judging, imagining. For physical sensations one would say squeezing, pressure, throbbing, heat. For actions one could say jumping, runnning, hitting. We experience multiple sensations in any moment and it would be impossible to label all of them. Therefore we end up labelling what is dominant in the moment or what we are inclined to be interested in.
Conventionally we automatically subconsciously after contact with a stimulus place a perception on it. There is a knowing that we are seeing an apple, hearing a bird, tasting ice cream, smelling a flower, touching the soft skin of a baby or thinking a thought of anger. The problem of perception is that there may be a knowing of what is present but that does not necessarily mean one knows what they know. Meta-awareness.
In intentionally labeling the experience one is bringing meta-awareness to the moment. It supports continual awareness. This labelling of the continuous flow of experience is indicative of the impermanent nature of what is being experienced. In labelling one has to step back and observe what is present. This is helpful in non-identification with the sense of self. It helps one anchor into the experience as it is and limit the secondary meaning making and selfing.
Putting feelings into words has been shown to help manage negative emotions. Matthew Lieberman using an x-ray of the brain called a functional MRI demonstrated that individuals who labelled their emotions had an increase in the parts of the brain that are important for emotional regulation and planning, while a decrease in areas responsible for fear. Lieberman, M.D. (2007). Putting Feelings Into Words. Psychological Science 2007 Volume 18 Number 5
If you name it you can contain it
Labeling our emotions helps to control them. We are able to self-regulate our reactions more effectively.
I would suggest you experiment with labelling during your meditation. I would invite you to sit up straight and close your eyes. Now bring awareness to whatever arises and label it. As you become comfortable with labelling bring it to your life moment to moment.
by Dr. Phil Blustein
January 16, 2026