Find a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed.
Perhaps you have a meditation space where you can light a candle as you sit.
Or maybe you're sitting in nature.
Or perhaps you're just catching a breath in your car.
Wherever you happen to be,
Settle into a position where you are comfortable enough to travel inward without dozing off.
Once you are settled in,
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Now take a deep breath in through the nose.
Opening up your mouth and as you release this breath let your body completely relax.
Pressing the lips together,
Take another slow deep breath in.
An open mouth,
Breathe out any concern or worry.
Taking another deep breath and on the open mouth exhale release all of your thoughts leaving your mind completely free.
Now return your breath to a normal depth.
Exhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose.
Let your awareness settle on the sound of your breathing.
Can you hear your body inhaling and exhaling?
Expand your awareness just beyond the sound of the breath.
Can you hear any other noise in your environment?
Maybe you can hear cars passing outside,
Your neighbor's dog barking.
Maybe you can even hear kids playing in the street.
As you focus in on the sounds around you,
You may notice that your mind identifies what it hears.
So if you hear a car driving by,
You know it's a car.
For this practice try not to identify every sound.
Just focus on the actual experience of hearing.
Noticing how the sound rises and falls away.
Noticing how far away the sound is.
Noticing the direction the sound is coming from.
As you hear a sound,
Experience it fully but as it passes,
Don't continue to dwell on it.
Let it go and continue to open your awareness to other sounds.
Considerable.
Hold on to the stillness you have cultivated through this mindful practice,
But release the focus on sound as we transition into our deep listening practice.
You may have experienced a time where you got a feeling or an urge that you couldn't explain.
You chalked it up to your gut,
But you experienced a core part of you that is separate from your mind.
You may think of it as your gut or your inner wisdom.
Our mindfulness practices help us quiet the mind,
Which makes it easier to tap into those deeper parts of ourselves.
And now that we've cultivated a little more space between our thoughts,
We can sit with a question to see if our inner wisdom will respond.
So for today's deep listening question,
It is inspired by the archetype,
The sustainer.
Archetypes are key images,
Tendencies,
Personalities that tend to appear in every culture.
The sustainer is the peacemaker,
The upholder,
And the preserver.
The sustainer works behind the scenes,
Tending to the task of life.
They cultivate gardens,
They pay bills,
And they keep meals warm and mouths fed.
A part of the sustainer lives within us all.
Turn your focus inward as you consider what truly sustains me.
Sit with this question without trying to analyze or think,
Just allowing any answers to come up from deep within.
What truly sustains me?
What truly sustains me?
What truly sustains me?
What truly sustains me?
As you practice deep listening,
You may notice that your inner wisdom doesn't always use words.
You may have gotten images,
Or impressions,
Or even seemingly random thoughts.
Take a few moments to process what came up for you.
As you reflect on what sustains you,
Notice how simple yet powerful those images are,
And make sure you're tending those things that sustain you.
As we reach the end of today's practice,
Bring your palms together at heart center,
Slightly bowing your head.
Take a moment to reflect on your experience.
Were you able to connect with your inner wisdom?
Did you practice listening and being open?
Allow the experience and any insights you've gained to stay with you as you bring your awareness back to your physical surroundings.
Take your time and when you're ready,
Open your eyes if they were closed,
And just allow your body to take any gentle movement that it needs.
