Welcome friends.
I invite you into this practice of sitting with sounds and thoughts.
So I invite you to take a seat,
Perhaps you're sitting in a chair with your feet on the floor or maybe using a stool,
Whatever makes you comfortable.
And so taking your seat,
Just noticing a sense of just sitting there,
Becoming aware of the sense of your weight flowing down into the seat in your chair or the stool.
And noticing a sense of being grounded and rooted.
Perhaps just noticing yourself being held by the chair or the stool.
And also noticing being held by the floor or the ground beneath you being held and so you just sit.
And as you're ready,
Becoming aware of your breath,
Just noticing how it's always breathing in and out.
No need to force it,
Change it,
Disturb it,
It's just there for you.
So perhaps you can just bring your attention to your breath inside your body.
Just being present.
Noticing your breath inside your body.
And perhaps you begin to notice the sounds around you,
Whatever's happening around you,
Whatever you notice that you can hear.
Maybe there's lots of sounds,
Maybe there are just a couple.
Noticing whatever your ears receive.
Noticing how songs come and they go.
Maybe there are some of different pitches or frequencies.
Just noticing.
Perhaps maybe your mind wanders if it strays a bit,
That's okay.
I'm not judging,
I'm just noticing that you can bring your awareness and your attention back to the sounds you need.
Maybe you just reground yourself and then return to noticing the sounds.
Maybe you notice your breath and then notice the sounds.
And as you're ready,
Maybe you expand out and you notice your thoughts.
Perhaps it's a little struggle or a challenge,
That's okay.
No judging.
Perhaps you restart by noticing your groundedness once again.
Coming to the sense of noticing your breath inside your body.
Noticing the sounds as you did once before and now.
Noticing or becoming aware of any thoughts that are coming up to you.
Perhaps you just open yourself up to this intention of spacious awareness.
Maybe just an awareness that extends out into all directions.
Perhaps maybe you imagine yourself sitting on the top of a mountain and there's a clear blue sky above you.
And you can experience the clarity and the spaciousness of the sky.
And so maybe in the sky you notice there how your thoughts can just float by.
Maybe they just move by like different weather patterns in the sky.
Maybe some come and they go and they come and they go.
Maybe some linger.
Maybe some thoughts are cloudy.
Maybe some thoughts are clear.
Maybe you don't try to hold on to them or change them.
Maybe you just notice.
Just let them be in this space of awareness.
This spacious,
Spacious place of awareness.
So that maybe you can just let them come and let them go in their own time,
In their own way.
Perhaps you notice if there are any strong emotions that come around,
Any thoughts,
Just noticing.
Not judging or changing,
Just noticing.
Perhaps if it's helpful you just come back to your grounding,
Come back to your body,
Come back to your breath.
Always knowing,
Noticing that.
Wherever you get overwhelmed or over-involved in any of the thoughts or emotions,
You can always come back to your sitting and your grounding and your body and your awareness.
Just being there.
And then perhaps if you choose,
Opening yourself once more to the sounds and the thoughts and allowing them to be in this place of spacious,
Spacious awareness so they can come and go.
The sky of mind,
This spacious awareness,
Thoughts coming and then going.
And as we begin to prepare to end this meditation,
Maybe you just once more bring your awareness to just sitting in your chair or your stool and breathing.
Noticing your body sitting here breathing and holding the sounds and the music of your life.
Holding both silence and sound.
Just allowing your thoughts and feelings and allowing your body to anchor you as you come and sit here.
