Go ahead and find a comfortable seat.
You can also do this practice lying down or seated in a chair if you prefer.
Take a few moments to do all the fixing and fidgeting you might need to feel steady and comfortable.
In essence to fully start to commit to your arrival.
Move your shoulders up,
Down,
And back so the heart potentiates forward or if you're lying down on the ground so the heart is supported.
Eyes can close.
Few moments just to slacken the jaw.
Relax the features of the face.
Let the fingers,
The palms be soft.
Belly relaxed.
Eyebones heavy and feet and ankles just relaxed and easy.
This meditation is focused on embracing the silence.
So how we're gonna start is just dropping into the breath which usually aids us in our arrival.
So go ahead and exhale down and out and find empty.
Inhale through the nose for five,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold the breath at full,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale through the nose for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold the breath out,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Again inhaling for five.
Exhaling for five.
Holding the breath out for five.
And again inhaling taking the breath in.
Notice when you get to full that natural pause at the top where there's not as much movement happening.
Hold it there for five.
And then releasing the breath out through the nose for five.
And when you get to the bottom of the breath again not that much happening just holding the breath out.
And taking two more full cycles on your own.
And just relaxing the counting of the breath and already observing a shift in your energy.
A bit more of you here in this moment.
Keeping your ears open and attentive.
Listen for any external sound.
This can be something outside,
A car driving down the street,
Something in your home.
And just bringing your attentiveness to it without attaching to it.
Observing it as just the movement of life.
Something that can never be stagnant or completely still.
And just noticing and observing the changing dance of sounds that you hear.
And allowing space for it without getting overly involved in anyone's sound.
Notice also the space between sounds where you hear one thing and then a pause before another movement of sound.
And what you'll start to notice is that you become aware of more subtle sounds because your listening has deepened.
And just saying yes to these moments of silence in between sounds and in between the movement of my voice and silence.
Take a few moments to follow anyone's sound to its completion.
So maybe it's the car down the street that you listen for the end of the sound.
Rather than seeing this silence as something foreign or something we need to fill.
Just saying a hearty yes to it,
Embracing it,
And noticing even the subtlest movements.
What you might start to notice is as we get quiet the internal sounds become louder.
Habitual thoughts,
Beliefs we carry about ourselves,
Shallow breathing,
Need to disassociate,
Check out,
Or fill the space,
Make something happen.
All of our tendencies come forward when we pause because there's nothing we can do but be with ourselves.
So now taking that same attentiveness you cultivated from external sound to internal sound.
Similarly not attaching to any one thing you hear,
Feel,
Or think.
Allowing everything to be exactly as it is.
But just paying more attention to the natural changing states of movement and the internal sound that is present for you.
When we hear a car passing down the street,
We don't attach to it or get angry at it.
Or yell or overreact to it.
Use the same observation with any internal sound you're hearing or noticing.
Letting it be as it is,
But just noticing its movement.
What internal sounds are coming up for you that are the loudest?
Is it a thought?
An emotion?
A feeling?
What's coming up for you?
And just giving permission for whatever came up to be as it is without getting overly involved in it.
Now noticing anything that's coming up that's more subtle,
A little bit more under the surface.
Thought,
Feeling,
Emotional state.
And once again just noticing with a sense of neutrality,
Sound as sound,
Not making any one state more desirable than another.
Anyone sound more desirable than another?
And just for the last minute here,
Sitting or lying down in silence and saying yes to the external and internal movement,
Sound.
Embracing the silence and the subtlety that comes forward in it.
And just for the last minute here,
Sitting or lying down in silence and the subtlety that comes forward in it.
Start to slowly amplify the movement of the breath.
Feeling the breath extend outwards to fingers,
Toes,
Crown of head,
Tailbone.
And taking a few moments to open up the eyes and come back into your space.
Without rushing to get up,
Just looking around,
Acknowledging your space,
Acknowledging yourself sitting here.
And taking this sense of embracing these moments of stillness,
Of silence where we get the gift of noticing the subtlety of life.
Embracing that rather than seeing that as something to fear.
I hope you can carry this practice with you for the rest of the day.
Take care.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
