Welcome,
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center,
And I'm so glad to bring you this practice today.
As you're settling in,
But before you close your eyes,
You can kind of look at the floor,
Point on the floor.
I'd just like you to have a kind of peripheral sense of the space around you.
We're going to be moving a little bit from outside to in.
So just noticing where you're oriented to the rest of the space in the room.
If there's a window that's available,
You might have a sense of the view and a sense of the distance.
And then as it begins to feel.
.
.
Good to close your eyes.
I'd have you start with the sounds that are far away.
Allowing your ears to open and hear bringing awareness to this sense of hearing.
And really.
Opening,
Receiving any sounds that might be coming from outside the room,
If there indeed are any.
And then beginning to let the sounds that are in the room with you.
Come into awareness.
And depending on where you are,
Now some sounds might be constant and seem consistent sound of a fan,
A heater.
And other sounds will be coming and going.
Arising and then passing away.
There's the sound of my voice which is.
Doing something of both.
Always returning.
And I invite you to be curious.
As we arrive.
To allow yourself to notice preferences.
Or some sounds pleasant.
In your mind are some unpleasant unwelcome.
They could also be neutral sounds.
I'd also invite you to notice if your mind tends to label the sounds,
Identify them in some way.
And these are very natural,
Habitual ways to respond to sound as we first tune in.
And as we take some time hearing.
I invite you to begin to soften.
And see if the sounds match.
Can become something more like an orchestration.
I like to think of the orchestra pit as it prepares for performance when Can't really say that the sound is coherent.
All of the instruments are tuning up.
And it's just this whole play of sound,
Kind of cacophony.
Maybe where you're at right now doesn't have the sort of the volume of that kind of.
Orchestra pit.
But can you receive the sounds just as if life?
All the different beings.
That are going about their lives right now,
Whether that's critters or people.
Strangers or beloveds.
Together they are this unfolding musical.
And in this moment,
We're taking our seat in the midst of this dynamic quality of life as it plays out.
Things required of us.
We don't really have control over these sounds.
Can we make room for that?
And bear witness.
There might even be a part of us that can celebrate.
The lives of others going about their business.
And we're just observing.
Just noticing how sound.
Serves as an anchor for you tonight.
When and as the mind is pulled away or The heart is pulled away.
How does sound support you in coming home?
Coming home to this world.
That's unfolding around you.
Very much in the present moment.
Whether we like it or we don't like it.
It is nonetheless real.
It is here.
It is now.
And I invite you now to include in your awareness the body sitting here in this posture.
You might want to play with keeping some awareness on sound.
Or maybe you prefer to really just bring the attention now to this body here under gravity.
Bringing your attention inward.
Noticing the sensations in the body.
The tingling and buzzing.
Temperature,
Pressures.
You might notice those in the body generally speaking.
You might choose to focus your attention on a particular part of the body.
Some of you might also want to include in part or in whole the breath.
Shifting your attention as much as you'd like to include this body breathing itself.
How is the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation tonight?
Where do you notice it in the body?
And rather than thinking about what it's like to breathe,
Can you simply feel the breath as it comes in?
And then leaves.
Something like a wave rolling into shore and then receding again.
Taking a moment to see now how you're arriving.
Maybe there's a word or phrase that captures.
The moment.
Has it shifted from when we began?
Or maybe it's intensified.
I invite you as you're ready to return your awareness to sound.
Sounds that are in the room with you,
Sounds coming in from outside the room,
And including the sound of the bell,
Which I will ring three times.
You And as the sound of the bell recedes,
You can begin to move the body in a way that feels good.
You can make those movements as big as you'd like.
And then as always,
When the eyes open or lift their gaze,
Taking time again to really see the physical space you're in.
Thank you for your practice.
Did you feel supported by this practice?
Leave a short word or phrase in the comments to let me know.
I'd love to be connected.
Until next time,
Take good care.
