Welcome back.
I'm excited to share a listening game together.
Find a way to get comfortable with your body.
You can do this standing,
Sitting,
Or laying down.
And you can sit in a chair,
On the couch,
On a bed.
You can lay down on your belly or your back,
Whatever feels comfortable for you.
There's no wrong way to do this because only you know what will feel best in your body at this time.
And then you can allow your eyes to gently close or you can keep them open if you prefer.
If keeping them open finds something to look at that's not moving so your eyes won't have to do a lot of work right now doing this practice together.
Take the biggest breath in that you've taken all day and then blow it out.
And gently turn on your ears.
So if you're not sure what that means maybe give your ears a gentle rub,
Gentle tug on your earlobes.
Imagine that you were turning them on the way you were turning on a machine or an oven or a piece of equipment.
So gently turn your ears on and then turn up the volume.
So turning up the volume on your hearing and your listening might mean that you turn down the volume on other things,
Not talking,
Not moving,
Or not looking at things.
So you try to bring all of your attention to your hearing and then what I want you to do is simply listen.
Notice whatever sounds you hear.
Maybe there's traffic,
Rain,
Or wind.
You might hear my dogs barking or the hum of an air conditioner or a heater and you don't need to name these sounds by saying oh that's the air conditioner.
What I want you to do is simply listen.
Allow the sounds to be just what they are and notice if you can hear them.
Imagine that you had gigantic ears on your body or your ears had microphones that were attached to them and it's as if this sound was everywhere.
It was in front of you and behind you and inside of you and your whole being is listening.
Notice if you hear the start of the sound and maybe it starts to fade and you might hear another sound or if it has a beginning and an end and if you feel like your mind is wandering or keeps going to other places that's perfect.
Keep calling it back to the sound.
Keep turning the volume up on your listening.
See if hearing these sounds feels comforting or soothing.
Notice if for a moment the sounds got really loud without you having to do anything.
Again calling yourself back over and over again to the sounds.
In a moment I'll be calling you out of this listening game but know that you can return to this at any time that you want anywhere that you are in your day or in the night to just pause turn up the volume on your ears and see what you can hear.
Now begin to wiggle your fingers and toes gently move and stretch if your eyes were closed allow them to open back up.
I'm so glad we got to share this together and I look forward to seeing you and hearing you and talking to you and being with you next time.
