Welcome to this meditative listening practice.
Begin by just taking a nice deep breath.
And as you exhale,
Just allow your body to settle in to whatever you're sitting upon.
And as you take another deep breath in on the exhalation,
See if you can allow any tension or tightness to slip away on the exhale.
And as you breathe comfortably and easily in whatever way feels good to you,
Just notice your breath for a moment.
The in and the out.
Seeing if you can notice the rise and the fall of your body or the way the air enters and exits your nose.
And see if you can use your breath as an anchor for your awareness.
Just becoming aware of the breath.
And if your mind wanders away,
That's okay.
That's what minds do.
Just notice where it went and gently bring it back to your breath.
And noticing how your arms and hands are resting as you breathe.
Understanding what's happening with your feet.
And as you continue to breathe and allow the tension to just melt away,
Begin to shift your awareness from the sensations of your breathing in your body and just allowing that to fall into the background of your awareness.
Bring your awareness to your ears.
Bringing your attention to your ears and become aware of hearing.
Hearing sounds.
Sounds come in various forms.
There's pitches and tones,
Frequencies.
Even my voice.
You may notice that the sound seems to come from a place of silence and then has a rising and a falling and a returning to silence.
And you may even notice that in the silence there are sounds present.
So just becoming aware of this very simple aspect of hearing sounds.
You may notice that you're trying to hear sounds and that's okay.
Just see if you can shift to just the awareness of the sounds.
Whatever hearing is occurring in your ears,
Just allow yourself to be receptive to just listening.
Listening and allowing.
Just allowing the sounds to just be.
You may even notice that as you hear sounds,
They become associated with pictures in your mind or images.
That's okay.
That's what the mind does.
Just notice that.
Become aware that that's happening.
And then as best you can,
Just take a moment to bring your mind back to the sensation of hearing.
Noticing just how the sounds are received by your eardrums.
Disappearing and disappearing,
Coming and going much like the breath.
Noticing the sounds and noticing your breathing now again.
The in and the out,
The rise and the fall.
The way your body feels when you're breathing.
And now very slowly,
Begin to move around in your body,
Wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Perhaps even giving yourself some kudos for participating in this hearing meditation today.
And then allowing your attention to return to the surroundings around you.
And knowing that your day is full of endless possibilities.
I'm Kelly.
Be well and have a wonderful day.
Namaste.
