Let us begin by taking a seat.
Find a posture that is comfortable.
If you are seated on the floor,
Consider placing a cushion under your pelvis to elevate your pelvis and drop your knees forward so your back is upright.
If you choose,
You may lie down for this particular meditation.
Today we are doing a sound meditation that explores the sounds in our environment and begins with a basic shamatha breathing practice.
Let us start by taking three deep purging breaths.
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth,
Releasing any tension in your body,
Letting go of any thoughts to be here now.
Allow your breath to come to a natural rhythm.
Notice the rise and fall of your chest,
The air as it exits your nostrils.
Notice any areas of tension in your body and take this moment to adjust your posture as necessary,
Allowing yourself to come deeper into this practice.
Now take a moment to expand your awareness by focusing on the sounds in your environment.
As we allow sounds to enter,
The practice is not becoming reactive to the sounds,
Not following a story about the sounds that you hear,
But just letting them be.
You can start with the own quiet of your breathing,
Listening to your breath,
And then take it outward from there.
You may be drawn to the loudest noises and if you find yourself being drawn to those,
See if you can pull back and hear other sounds,
Quieter hums.
In this practice,
Thoughts will arise,
Perhaps tasks from the day or something related to one of the sounds that you're hearing in your environment and your motivations,
Your intentions.
Bring yourself back to listening to the sounds without reactivity.
We will now sit quietly for three minutes,
Listening to our environment.
If you find this challenging,
You might return to the sensations of the breath.
Notice your mind as it wanders,
Bring it back to just being present to what's around you.
If you have a thought about the sound,
Just label it as thought and let it go,
And go back to the sensation of listening.
You may notice that certain thoughts appear in your mind as good or bad,
Or that if you're thinking about the meditation that that is perhaps a good thought.
For the purposes of this practice,
All thoughts are just thoughts.
They're neither good thoughts nor bad thoughts.
It's just all thinking.
You may see that the sounds elicit responses in your body.
Annoyance or happiness may show up as tightness or relaxation of the muscles.
Make note of this and then return to the sound.
Be with whatever is in your environment without acting on it or having it act on you.
As we practice this technique on a regular basis,
What it allows us to do is to let go of some of the reactivity we have to what we hear around us.
You can bring this practice into your daily lives,
Practicing listening to dogs barking,
To cats meowing,
To children laughing and playing.
Just being present to that without getting caught up in the story of it.
In these last minutes,
I would like you to offer yourself some gratitude for this sitting practice.
Take a few minutes to come back to our breath.
Notice its presence in our bodies.
Notice how sitting or lying down,
Listening and practicing impacts our minds.
And then when you hear the chime,
I ask that you take a few more moments at the end to remain in your posture and before coming back to our space together or to whatever space you are entering for the rest of your day.
