Hello and welcome to this mindfulness meditation.
In this practice,
You will be focusing your attention on the soundscape around you.
To get started,
Find a comfortable seat.
Keep your shoulders relaxed and invite a sense of length into the spine.
Keep your eyes open for a moment allowing the gaze to soften without focusing on anything specific in front of you.
Now shift your focus inwards as if you're looking behind or into your eyes.
Sit with this gentle inner gaze for a moment.
Now gently close down the eyes.
We will start with a few rounds of the reset breath.
This involves two quick inhales through the nose and then four counts to exhale through the mouth.
Let's begin.
Breathe in deeply through the nose.
Take another quick inhale and an exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in again.
Take a quick sip of air and breathe out.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale.
Take a sip of air and exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four.
One more round.
Inhale.
Inhale again and exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now allow the breath to return to its natural rhythm and shift your focus to the body.
Sensing into the entire body all at once.
Observe any sensations or feelings that come up.
And notice the parts of your body which are in contact with the surface beneath you.
Now I invite you to listen to the soundscape around you.
Pay attention to the general hum and buzz of your surroundings.
There is no need to identify or interpret what the sounds are.
Try to avoid judging if they are good or bad.
Simply listen with interest and curiosity like you would to music.
If you find yourself thinking,
Simply acknowledge the thought.
Remembering it is normal to think during a meditation.
Try to listen to your thoughts the same way you were listening to the sounds.
Notice them appear and disappear.
Then move your focus back to the soundscape around you.
Focus now on the sounds you can hear far away in the distance.
Try not to focus on a specific sound.
Instead,
Listen to the general soundscape in the distance.
Noticing the sounds come and go.
And now just focus on those you can hear close by.
Noticing the sounds appear and disappear.
As we start to wrap up this practice,
Shift your focus back to the breath.
Invite some deeper breaths into the lungs.
Gently reawaken the body by wriggling your fingers and toes.
Whenever you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes.
Take a moment to sit with yourself and reflect on your experience in today's practice.
See if you can take this present moment awareness with you throughout the rest of your day.
