Welcome to the sound meditation.
Please take a moment to make yourself comfortable.
You may choose to sit in a chair or the floor.
Whatever is easier for your body.
Get settled and begin to feel heavy and grounded in your seated posture.
Feel the chair or floor under you as you notice your breathing.
If you are holding on to anything in your hands,
Please place it aside for this meditation and rest your hands gently on your legs,
Either palms up or palms down.
If it feels comfortable to do so,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
If you'd rather keep them open,
Gently rest your gaze a few feet in front of you.
As you get settled into your seated posture,
Begin to rest your mind.
Let go of any thoughts about where you have just been or where you might be headed next and arrive here in this moment,
In this space.
As your thoughts go to the past or jump to the future,
We're going to use sound to focus your attention and bring you back to this moment,
To the here and now.
Begin to notice your breathing coming into your body and leaving your body.
There is no right or wrong here,
No need to change or alter your breath.
Just notice your breathing.
Notice where the body is breathing.
Are you breathing more from your belly,
Your stomach,
Or your throat?
Again,
No need to change or alter,
Just notice what is occurring.
As you focus on your breathing coming into your body and leaving your body,
Draw attention to your nostrils and see if you can hear the breath at the moment it enters you and the moment it leaves.
Just notice what is the sound of your breathing.
If your mind wanders away from the sound of your breath,
Notice the wandering and kindly point the mind back to the sound of the breath coming into your body and leaving your body.
Let go of any labeling of the sound,
Just hear it as you breathe in and breathe out.
Now begin to expand your hearing and listen to what other noises are happening around you.
No need to label them,
Just hear them and experience them.
Now begin to expand your hearing beyond the space in which you sit.
How far can you hear?
There's no need to think about the sound,
Just hear them or perhaps the absence of them and hear the fullness of this moment right now.
If your mind wanders away from the sound of your breath,
Just kindly point your attention back to what you are hearing and do so in silence for the next few minutes as we rest in the stillness of sound.
Now begin to bring awareness back into your body,
Feel the chair or ground beneath you.
You may want to wiggle about,
Move your toes or your fingers as you slowly open your eyes and refocus your gaze.
If it feels comfortable to do so on your next inhale,
Make this one the longest one yet and hold it for a few counts before a nice long smooth exhale.
Thank you for sharing your practice.
