Sounds and thoughts.
Taking a few moments to settle into whatever posture you're going to use for this practice.
Becoming aware of the breath.
Taking a few more deliberate in-breaths and out-breaths to connect with the feeling of breathing.
And aware of the body as a whole.
Maybe feeling the sensations of touch or pressure where your body meets whatever you're sitting or lying on.
Feeling sensations in the hands and shoulders.
Whatever's here.
Just gently attending to the field of sensations throughout the body from one moment to the next.
Aware of the breath.
Aware of the body.
Allowing the focus of attention to shift from sensations in the body to hearing.
Bringing attention to the experience of sound and allowing that awareness to open and expand.
Just being receptive to sounds as they arise.
And there's no need to go searching for sounds here or listening out for particular sounds.
Instead,
Simply opening the attention to be receptive to sounds from all directions.
Becoming aware of obvious sounds.
Aware of more subtle sounds.
Aware of the spaces between sounds.
Aware of silence.
And just being aware of sounds as sounds.
Noticing the tendency we all have to interpret sounds to attach stories and meanings to them.
And instead simply being aware of their sensory qualities.
The changing pitch,
The loudness,
The rhythm or duration.
And whenever you notice that your awareness is no longer focused on sounds in the moment,
Gently acknowledge where the attention went.
And after that small moment of meta-awareness,
Retune attention back to sounds.
Sounds arise,
They linger and they pass away again.
And when it's right for you,
Letting go of that attention to sounds and instead beginning to let thoughts move centre stage.
In the same way that sounds are experienced in the mind,
So too are thoughts are just experiences in the mind.
And just as sounds arise,
Linger for a time and pass away again,
So too thoughts arise,
Develop and pass away.
And there's no need to try to make thoughts come or go here,
Just letting them arise naturally,
As they will.
And if there are no thoughts obviously present right now,
That's fine,
Just sitting with that,
It's likely something will show up soon.
Like clouds in the sky thoughts arise,
They drift through the mind and they pass away again.
And whether these clouds are dark and stormy or white and feathery,
Just noticing them,
Letting them be,
Allowing,
Enquiring,
Resting in meta-awareness.
There are various analogies that might be helpful here.
The flow of thoughts can be like the carriages of a railway train passing through a station.
But it's not your train,
You don't have to get onto it.
You can just stand there on the platform,
Watching it go by.
Or maybe thoughts are like leaves on a stream,
Just floating downstream while you're on the bank watching.
And if any thoughts come to you with intense feelings or emotions,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
As best you can just note their emotional charge,
Feel their intensity and simply let them be,
As they already are.
And if your mind becomes scattered and unfocused,
If it gets repeatedly drawn into the drama of your own thinking and imagining,
Just come back to the breath,
Using the breath as an anchor to gently steady your focus.
Just letting thoughts be thoughts and observing matter awareness itself.
And when you're ready,
Bringing the practice to a close,
Opening your eyes and coming to move and just giving yourself whatever time you need to adjust to whatever comes next.
