In this meditation,
We're going to be focusing on sounds and thoughts.
So make yourself comfortable,
Ideally on a chair or a cushion.
Close your eyes and begin to open up your senses and your ears to pay attention to the sounds that are happening around you.
Sounds from in front,
Sounds from behind,
Sounds from above and below and sounds from the side.
Standing like a tree in the wind,
Let these sounds come to you and when they do,
Listen to them intently.
Try not to determine what the sound's origin is,
So not to give the sound a story,
But just listen to the sound in its own right and study it.
Be open to sounds that usually go unnoticed,
To a slight pop or creak in the body,
To birdsong outside,
To small bangs from pipes in the wall,
Even to your own breath.
With these sounds,
Listen to every part of them,
The beginning and the end,
And listen to the silence that they leave behind.
Now if you let the sounds fade into the background for the minute and bring your attention to focus on your thoughts,
Watch them as they bubble up and appear in the mind and then scatter into different thoughts or fade away to reveal new thoughts.
Study how many thoughts you are having at one time,
Observe them coming and going,
Appearing and fading,
Like clouds in the sky,
Your mind the huge expanse of sky and your thoughts the clouds,
Some light,
Some heavy,
Some dark,
Some bright.
Rather than being pulled into these thoughts,
Sit back and observe them travelling above us.
Imagine watching yourself standing in a field with these thoughts like clouds appearing and moving and disappearing in the sky above you.
If you do notice yourself getting lost in the story of your thoughts,
Congratulate yourself for waking up and then pull yourself back to observing the thoughts.
Don't worry if you keep getting lost in the thoughts,
As long as you realise you have,
Then return to your observing position.
Maybe now it's on a cloud itself,
As if you are sitting in the sky with these thoughts gently flying past you.
Watch them as they appear,
Observe them,
Acknowledge them and watch them as they dissolve.
Right now your mind is free to do as it please is,
But you are aware of everything that is happening in there and it's fine.
Just observe.
Now for this final part of the meditation,
You bring your awareness back to your breath and focus on it wherever it feels strongest to you in the body.
Coming in and out,
Give it your complete attention,
Being each breath.
Gently start to remember your surroundings,
Get a sense of where you are in the world and how you feel.
Begin to open your eyes,
Break into a smile and take this awareness into your next moment and with you for the rest of the day.
