Just Listen To The Sound

Inspired by a story about my infant son, I guide us into awareness of the sound around us. How often do we take a moment to listen? What if the soundscapes around us could empower us to find space for more authentic choice in our lives? Recorded live for the Healthy Minds Program.

Transcript

So I have a fun little story for all of you. We're going to do a practice that was inspired by someone who's been my greatest teacher for the past year and a half. He's about 16 months old. And I was out for a walk with him this morning in the woods. We're taking a kind of wagon ride and I put a bunch of balls in the wagon with him. And one of the things he loves to do, I guess it's something about babies exploring their agency, But he loves to throw the ball out of the wagon because he knows daddy will walk over and pick it up and put it back. Right. So we're walking through this. You can picture this nature trail. We're walking through the trail. It's throwing the ball out. I keep picking it up, Putting it back. It's throwing the ball out. Keep putting it back. So he's throwing the ball outside the wagon, Picking it up, Throwing the ball, Picking it up. And then at one point he goes to throw the ball and he just stops. He goes. And he just freezes. And I think typically what I would do in this situation is I would. Oh, Go ahead, Throw the ball, Buddy. Come on, We'll throw the ball, Whatever. But in this moment, Especially, I was just thinking about reflecting on what to guide for this practice. And I waited, And I said, How long is he going to pause for? It's very rare for a 16-month-old to pause. So pause. And then halfway through this pause, I realized what he was doing was he was listening to a sound. There was like a garbage truck in the distance that was screeching, Like, Ehh, Ehh, Ehh. And he was just listening to the sound. And I just thought how interesting that he's so present in the moment, In his awareness, That in the middle of this game, Even though to me, Because I was expecting him to be so into this activity, He just completely abandoned the ball game in an instant. And just was like, Now I want to listen to the sound. And his hands kind of drifted down and he was just listening to the sound. So it's, I think, A wonderful little moment to recognize that pure sense of awareness. Like how often do we as grownups, Adults really take a moment to listen to the sound around us. And also there's a kind of hidden moment in there where I realized that my own ongoing practice of awareness over the years. Is sort of what empowered me to have that space for choice, That instead of immediately, Reactively saying, Okay, Buddy, Throw the ball. I was able to actually just take a pause and notice him. And that's also an example of awareness. So I think in honor of this great teacher, His name's Oliver. What I thought we would do today is an awareness of sound practice. But with that, Find yourself a comfortable position. Something that just feels natural yet awake. And if you like, You can close your eyes. Or if you can want to keep your eyes open, You can find a point to stare at. It usually is helpful to not kind of look around all over the place, But to sort of find a spot to stare at. Find your seat. Just take a moment to fully arrive here. Good morning, Addy. And really this first minute of practice is just a chance to settle in. It's kind of like if you had a snow globe that's been shaking about all morning or whatever time it is where you are. And we're just setting it down and letting all the particles. Fall to the ground. So nothing to do for this first minute, Just to fully arrive. Settle into the moment. Whatever you're experiencing right now is perfectly okay. If you're noticing nothing, That's fine. If you're noticing discomfort or lots of thoughts or anything like that, Just let it all happen for now. It's all part of the process. No need to play tug of war or resist or fight anything. Another few moments to fully arrive here. Now when you're ready. I want you to immediately wake up to your sound environment. All the sounds in your environment. There's no need to gradually settle in. Come online. And be fully present. With any sounds that might be in your environment. You might notice sounds that are far away. You might notice sounds that are close. You might notice persistent droning sounds. You might notice acute sudden sounds. It's all good, Just notice whatever's present. In your auditory environment. If you notice yourself getting swept away by thoughts. There's no point in trying to stop the river. The idea with awareness practices like this is to just see if you can climb up on the riverbank and let the river go by. While you pay attention. To thoughts. There's no need to resist the thoughts. Just let them come and go. And bring your attention back to the sound you notice in your environment. It's very typical to notice things like boredom or drowsiness. These are very typical issues that we face in these kind of practices. There are also things we can just accept, But there are some strategies. If you're feeling a lot of drowsiness, Maybe instead of closing your eyes, You could open them or you could readjust and straighten up your posture. If you're noticing a lot of boredom, And even if you're not noticing a lot of boredom. It can be really powerful too. Really stoke the flames of curiosity. Honing in on those sounds, What do they sound like? Try to get into the details so they become as fascinating as a book or a television show or whatever it is, Because they are that fascinating. What is this mysterious experience of sound? What does it sound like? Where you are right now. What does it sound like from your perspective? What does it sound like to be you in this moment? For each sound that you notice. You might notice a kind of envelope to the sound. You might notice certain sounds arising. Out of nowhere. You might notice certain sounds fluctuating in volume, So getting slightly louder or suddenly louder, Slightly quieter or suddenly quieter. You might notice layers and textures to sound that what you originally thought was just one sound like the radiator is actually like a low vibration and a subtle hum. And then there's another higher pitched layer. Really getting into detail there. And then you also might notice that moment, A kind of mysterious moment where a sound vanishes, Just like poof, It's gone into nothing. So really honing in on the clarity of detail. How the sounds change over time can be really powerful. And if this is. Challenging for you, Just continue doing what you're doing. Your effort is well spent training the skill of awareness. Whenever you notice your mind wandering. Just celebrate that moment of choice and come back to noticing the sounds in your environment. If you feel like you're getting the hang of this and you have some momentum. You might consider including your thoughts in this practice as sound. So the same way you might hear a car. You know, Slowly swell up, Arrive, Drive by, And then vanish. Or you might hear a bird saying. You might notice your thoughts in the same way as if they are natural sounds, Because in some ways they are. The last few moments here, Just letting go of the practice, Taking your time to transition at your own pace, No rush whatsoever. Okay, Great.