We start by getting in a comfortable but alert position.
Whether you are sitting on a chair or on the floor,
You can try to raise the top of your head towards the ceiling and at the same time let the rest of your body relax into the seat.
You can have your eyes open or closed.
If they are open,
You can either have them fully open,
Look at an object in front of you a couple of feet,
Or you can also have them half open and defocus your gaze.
And today we limit our attention to only external sounds.
You have the option to either listen to only one sound and return your attention over and over back to that same sound.
You can also let your attention freely wander among external sounds.
If you notice a sound,
You pay attention to it.
You always have the option to use the noting and labeling method.
So whenever you notice a sound,
You label it with the word here in your mind and after you label it,
You keep listening to that sound for about three seconds and then you repeat that process.
You can let your attention wander from one sound to the next.
Any pattern is fine.
The third option is that you just listen to all of your auditory experiences at the same time.
So you don't pay attention to any one particular sound.
You just let all sounds be there and notice everything that you're hearing.
Try to keep a steady pace with the labels.
If there's not a lot of breaks in between the labels,
There's not going to be a lot of breaks in your concentration.
The pace of the labeling should be something like this.
Here.
Here.
Here.
And if your attention is pulled to any other experience,
Whether you're thinking,
Feeling your body,
That's all good.
Every time you notice that and you return your attention to external sounds and you start labeling again,
You're also strengthening your concentration.
Whenever you're noticing any sound,
You can try to detect details like the location of the sound.
Where is it coming from?
How loud is the sound or silent?
Is it a pleasant or unpleasant sound?
Trying to detect those details.
Develops your clarity.
And being equally open to pleasant.
And unpleasant sounds.
Develops your ability to stay cool.
If you notice experiences in your other sense categories,
Somatic experiences in the body or visual experiences.
Even with your eyes closed,
You might be detecting something.
In front of your eyes,
Just the darkness or shimmering.
It's all good.
We don't need to make any experience go away.
We also don't need to change any experience.
In order to be able to pay attention to sounds.
We just let everything be there as it is.
Try to be cool.
With all of the experiences that are outside of our focus range.
And return our attention over and over back to sounds.
It's possible that the moment you notice a sound and you label it,
That it disappears.
If that happens,
That's okay.
Then you just try to listen to the silence that follows.
And if the sound is still there after you label it,
Then also good.
That gives you the opportunity to detect details like the location of the sound,
The volume,
The flavor.
Okay.
Great job,
Everyone.
