Open Heart Guided Soundbath Meditation
by Matt Borghi
Open Heart Guided Soundbath Meditation is a breathing meditation that uses what's happening around you, sonically, either within the natural soundscape or with made sounds, as a mantra for focus. Soundbath Meditation is a hybrid of mindfulness meditation and vipassana (insight) meditation and combined with Pauline Oliveros Deep listening practice. Soundbath Meditation was created by Matt Borghi and originated at the Ambient Soundbath Podcast.
Transcript
Welcome to the sound bath meditation.
This meditation works best listening at low to medium volume,
If you're listening in open air,
But also with headphones,
Getting the volume to a place where it's just about even with the threshold of the soundscape or the outer world sounds around you.
For some,
Turning the volume up,
Whether open air or on the headphones,
Serves to create a greater sonic focus in whatever makes you comfortable,
But be mindful of your hearing and protecting it.
Going to begin by getting comfortable.
There are no special positions required for this practice.
The sound bath meditation can happen lying down,
Sitting in a chair,
Sitting in a recliner,
Sitting on the floor in a lotus style position,
Or cross-legged,
Or in whatever position you feel comfortable in for an extended period of time.
About an hour,
An hour can be quite long for some new to this practice.
So feel free to shorten it and let yourself be okay with not completing the full hour.
The point is to relax,
Get in touch with your being by relaxing your breath and immersing yourself in the sound.
Sound bath is intended to be just that,
A bath of sound where you immerse yourself in the tones,
Textures,
Timbres,
And flow of music.
Let's begin.
Comfortable sitting position.
I prefer with eyes closed.
Begin to focus on your breath.
Scan your body,
See if you can feel your heartbeat and as we move into the sound current and the flow of the sound bath,
Just relax.
May fall behind you.
You are here now,
Immersed in the sound.
Take a deep breath.
Inhale it.
So it fills your whole body.
Sigh it away.
The breathing becomes an anchor to pull you deeper into the sound.
So now we're just breathing.
Breathing in through our nose and we're breathing out through our nose.
Breathing out through your mouth is acceptable too.
I like to breathe in through my nose and watch with my imagination as the air comes in,
Courses through my body,
Nourishing all the cells with oxygen.
With each breath providing me a state of well-being.
So we're breathing.
In through your nose,
Breathe out.
You don't have to sync with my breathing.
Breathe in whichever way is comfortable for you.
The point is,
You're breathing in through your nose.
Breathe out through your mouth,
Whichever way is comfortable for you.
The point is breathing.
We breathe in this portion of the sound bath meditation.
That's our focus.
The calming sounds are meant to provide an on-ramp to deep breathing and the experience of going into ourselves.
If you're new to this,
It may be hard to focus on your breath.
It may be hard to focus on the sound.
It's okay.
Just breathe.
It's just that simple.
Feeling the breath nourish our bodies.
Our breath is with us everywhere all the time.
It is there to ground us,
Anchor us,
Help us focus,
Relax us when we're feeling anxious.
It's always there.
It's one of the most beautiful things about your breath.
It's always there.
We just breathe.
My voice and my guidance are meant to assist you as you move into the sound bath.
As this goes on,
I will be speaking less.
I'm your guide,
But this is your journey.
Your journey deep into sound and deep into well-being.
So we just breathe.
Just breathe and we focus on our breath.
How does it feel?
With some meditation,
The goal is to clear your mind.
Other meditations have mantras that you might chant or focus on in some other way.
There are mandalas.
Those are visual pieces that you focus on.
They become your focal point,
Focus and concentration.
Within the Zen school,
Meditation is a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
It's a way to help you focus on your breath.
See if you can feel current of the electricity that created these tones.
See if you can sense that impulse created these sounds.
Move into the sound.
Explore it.
Vibrate with it and let it vibrate within you.
That is the beauty of the sound bath meditation.
We're not fighting our thoughts.
We're not fighting our experience.
We're being with it.
We're embracing it.
Just breathing.
Just breathing.
You may be starting to feel warm fabric of the sound coming together with your breath.
And wrapping you in a warm sense of well-being.
Like a warm flannel quilt on a cold night.
That warmth is restoring your being.
It's centering you with yourself and with the world.
The sound bath creates calming state of mind.
When your thoughts wander,
Just go back.
Tones,
Textures,
And timbres of the music.
Ground yourself there in the listening and then in the breathing.
You're still just breathing.
Breathing and listening.
As we're moving deeper and deeper into this state of mind.
Into this state of being.
Into this state of wellness and healthfulness.
You're getting in touch with yourself.
Some of us,
Because of traumas we've experienced,
Find ourselves to be scary and dangerous places.
We may not want to traverse our inner landscapes.
Because we might be scared of what we find.
But I assure you,
In spite of what you may reveal,
Only good can come from mining the depths of your soul.
It may,
As Lao Tzu says,
Be a journey of a thousand miles.
But we begin with one step.
Begin with one breath.
We begin with this moment.
The state of calm,
Relaxed well-being within ourselves.
Can and should be the safest place available to us.
We find that safety in our breath.
We find that safety in the flow of the music.
In the immersion of the sound bath.
Through it,
To ourselves.
We come to safety,
Knowing that we're in touch with the Source.
All is one.
And the sound bath meditation is one portal of many.
And one that I've found has worked quite well for me through the years.
So,
Just breathe and find that safety in yourself.
It's okay.
Everything's going to be okay.
You have your breath.
You have a gateway to inner peace.
Our minds,
Sometimes,
Can try to overrule that.
Just breathe.
Just breathing.
Continue to breathe and focus on the sound.
Breathing and the sound.
Think still.
Deep in the sound.
You're doing wonderfully.
Calm.
Go to the core of your being.
Breathing and we're listening.
The sound bath is intended to be just that.
A restorative and rejuvenating experience.
That gets you in touch with your being and yourself.
Get there listening.
Just breathe.
Feel great to the sound,
To your breathing,
Well-being.
Smile.
Feel that feeling.
Your being.
Your breathing.
You're listening.
You're present.
You're fully here.
All the books that have been written about the abstractness of now or the present moment.
You're there.
Breathing.
Being.
You're listening.
You're alive.
Include our time together.
You may want to bring your attention and your awareness back to your body.
Moving from listening and feeling the ebb and the flow and the rhythm of your heartbeat and your breathing.
Feel your arms,
Your legs,
Your fingers,
Your toes.
Nourished and restored your body through this experience.
The sound bath is a bath for your soul,
For your being.
And through this practice,
Move forward in restoring your being.
Bring your attention back to your body and be breathing.
The sound bath meditation is not magic salve for reality or escapism.
Instead,
The sound bath serves to create an always accessible portal to yourself and into the world.
The state of mind that you get from a sound bath meditation is always available.
And it's yours.
Thank you,
My friends.
This concludes your sound bath meditation.
