What's Already Here? Listening Meditation In 3 Movements

This practice brings our attention to three layers of sounds, first with the sound of our own breathing, then to the sounds of our immediate context, and then out into the wider world. Through the metaphor of the body as a microphone, this practice helps us tune ourselves to notice what is around us, what is already here.

Transcript

Welcome! My name is PJ and today we're going to listen to the sound of silence or rather to the sounds that are always here just waiting for us to notice them. In this practice we're training ourselves to hear beyond the immediate, Beyond the surface, To notice what we might normally ignore. So this practice was inspired by the composer John Cage's 4 minutes and 33 seconds. This is a piece often called the silent piece. In it, A piano sits at a piano for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds and plays nothing. That's it. Of course, Some people think this is absolutely absurd. There is something amusing about an auditorium full of people watching someone sit at a piano and not play anything. But here's the deeper thing. Cage wasn't creating silence. He was reframing what listening is. Suddenly, The background became the performance. A radiator's hum, A distant airplane, Someone's coat rustling, The heating system, Feet shuffling. All of it moved from ignored background to the thing we're actually paying attention to. And perhaps most importantly, Instead of just being passive audience members, The audience became a full part of the performance. They were making sounds and they were invited to notice themselves. So today, Instead of ignoring the sounds around us while we meditate, We're going to make them all the center of our focus. Because when we learn to listen this deeply to the world, We learn to listen more deeply to ourselves and to each other. This is a listening meditation then. Let's begin by inviting in an attitude of curiosity to see what might arise today. Settle into whatever position calls to you, Sitting or lying down, And take any movements or adjustments you need to find stillness. Gently close your eyes, Allowing your face to soften. Releasing your neck and your shoulders, Allowing them to sink into whatever is supporting you. There's nothing to fix and nowhere else you need to be. Notice how it feels in your body, This body body that you're in right now. Breathing without needing to control or change the breath in any way. With each exhalation, Release down a little closer into the support beneath you. And as you settle, An invitation, Start to perceive your whole body as a sensitive microphone. You aren't just listening with your ears, You are reaching out with your whole being to listen. And before we reach out for the sounds outside of ourselves, Reach inward. Take a moment for a quiet gut check. Notice the sensations present in your body right now. Do you find any tension in the jaw? Maybe a warmth in your chest? Perhaps a restlessness in your legs? Meet whatever you find with gentle curiosity. I invite you to experiment with an accepting presence, An internal space wide enough to welcome whatever arises. Our first movement today begins closest in with the sounds of your own life, Your body. Listen as you breathe through your nose and listen as you take a long sighing exhale out through your mouth. Let's just stay with that. Find your way to hearing your inhale and your exhale without controlling, Just noticing. Can you hear the sound of your own life moving in this moment? What is it like to truly hear yourself breathing? If you can, Notice whether you can hear your own heartbeat. If not, That's fine. No striving needed here. Simply staying with the rhythm and the particular sounds of your breath. That's enough. If you notice yourself wondering whether you're doing it right or trying too hard to hear, Just notice that. With compassion, Let that go. Come back to exploring the sound of your breath in this body with curiosity. Breathing, This is the sound of you alive. Now let's explore our second movement. Let's expand outward into the immediate space you are in. Moving into the sound of the room, Imagine yourself as that microphone, Picking up every detail of the room around you. What do you hear? Is there a hum of a heater or air conditioner? The air moving? A clock ticking? A floorboard settling? What is the particular quality of quiet that is this room around you right now? Let's stay here with curiosity. And if your mind wanders, Return to the sound of the room around you. Imagining yourself as a microphone, What sounds are here now? And now bring your attention back to yourself breathing, While also noticing a sound in the space around you. Watching yourself, Listening to yourself and the room at the same time. You're both a listener and the one being listened to. And now for our third movement. Reach to the sounds beyond this room, Beyond the walls or the immediate context around you. Reach out to the sounds of the wider world. Traffic, Maybe birds, Perhaps the distant murmur of voices. The wind and trees, A plane overhead. What do you find there? And if your mind wanders, Reach back out to the wider world and the sounds there. Take a moment now to move back inward from wider world to the immediate room or context. And now to your self breathing. Let's try that the other way. See if you can bring your attention to your self breathing and staying connected there. Bring your attention to the sound in the room around you as well. And with your attention on yourself and a sound in your room, Can you now layer in a sound from the wider world? Can you hear all three areas at the same time? They are all here happening together right now. And in this moment, Bringing curiosity and the space to include it all. Now once again, Imagining yourself as that whole body microphone. I'm going to give you a longer period of time to experiment, To play a bit here, To move at your own pace through those three movements. Beginning with yourself, Moving into the wider room and then back out to the world around you. And then moving back inward when it feels right to you. And when your mind wanders, With compassion, Bring your attention back to a sound in one of those three movements. I'll be back soon. As we come to the close of our practice today, Gently release the focus on sounds. Take one deep breath into the center of your being. And as you exhale, Let go of any effort remaining with the practice. Just breathe. I leave you with this to carry into your day. What else in your life might have a fuller sound than it first appears? And here's an invitation. At some point today, Can you bring this quality of listening into just one brief moment? Hear yourself listening. Watch yourself listening and see what happens. When you're ready, Gently blink your eyes open into a soft and steady gaze. Thank you for practicing this essential human skill with me today. And I'd love to know what you experienced or what came up for you during this meditation today. So please let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.