Welcome to this sounds and thoughts meditation.
Taking your seat,
Sitting upright with your shoulders relaxed,
Head and neck balanced,
Perhaps with your chin slightly tucked in.
I invite you to close your eyes if that feels comfortable.
Otherwise just lower the gaze and soften the focus.
Bring your attention to the movements of the breath and the body for just a few moments,
Noticing the in and out breath until you feel reasonably settled.
Expanding the attention to take in the body as a whole,
As if the whole body were breathing,
Becoming aware of all the sensations within the body.
Remembering that you can always come back to the breath and to the body as an anchor if your mind becomes distracted or wanders away.
Remembering that you can always come back to the breath and to the body as an anchor if your mind becomes distracted or wanders away.
As you sit here,
Bring the focus of your attention now to hearing,
Opening the sounds as they arise,
From near to far,
Sounds from in front to the sides,
Behind,
Above or below.
Noticing any tendency to label sounds as they come,
Or to judge whether you like them or not.
Noticing how easily distractions can come,
How easily sounds can create a story.
And if you notice this,
Coming back to the sounds themselves and allowing them to be just as they are,
As if you were hearing for the very first time,
So that each sound heard was new to you.
Cultivating a sense of wonder for this ability to hear so much that we so often take for granted.
Seeing if it's possible to really hear the raw sensations of sounds,
The pitch or loudness or rhythm,
And the sounds within sounds,
As some sounds are easily hidden by other more prominent sounds.
See if we can be alive to these two.
And noticing as well if there is a quieter space between sounds.
Also being aware of the space out of which sounds arise.
Now letting the sounds fade into the background,
And bringing your awareness to your thoughts.
Maybe thoughts about what you are doing now,
Or what you are going to be doing.
Thoughts about the past.
Worries or modal settings.
Thinking you want to do something important to be doing?
Thoughts about the past,
Worries or anxieties,
Sad,
Happy or neutral thoughts.
See if it's possible to observe them all as they come,
Stay awhile and go.
There's no need to try and control your thoughts in any way.
Just letting them come and go on their own,
Just as you did with sounds.
So when thoughts arise in the mind,
Seeing them coming and going like clouds passing across the sky.
Your mind like the sky,
Your thoughts like the clouds.
Sometimes large,
Sometimes small,
Sometimes dark,
Sometimes light.
But the sky remains.
The sky doesn't refer some clouds over others.
Whatever thoughts there are,
See if it's possible to see them as events that are arising in the mind,
Staying around awhile,
Then dispersing.
Being aware of any emotions that come up as well.
Seeing if it's possible to be open to all no matter what it is.
From time to time you may find that your mind gets caught up in your thinking.
No longer observing your thoughts and feelings but lost inside them.
When this happens,
Congratulating yourself for waking up.
Taking a moment to acknowledge what your mind got caught in,
Then beginning again.
Renewing your intention to observe these mental events as they arise,
Stay awhile,
And dissolve.
If at any time your mind gets repeatedly drawn into the story created by your thinking,
Remembering it's always possible to come back to the breath and a sense of the body as a whole sitting and breathing as an anchor to stabilize your awareness back in the present moment,
Before returning again if you choose to focus on the coming and going of thoughts and feelings.
And for the last few moments of this practice,
Coming back now to focus on your breathing.
And remembering that wherever you are,
Whatever you experience,
Whenever you find your mind scattered and dispersed by the events of your day,
The breath is always available to nourish you and to help bring you back into the present moment to a sense of stillness and peace.
