Finding a way to sit up just a little taller.
Finding the chest lifting,
Allowing your shoulders to kind of sink away from your ears.
Taking a moment to really settle into a solid meditation posture,
Whether you are in a chair or on the floor.
Finding really everything stacking evenly on itself.
We imagine our spine as the column that holds us upright,
Knowing that each notch in the spine connects perfectly to the one below it.
When we find that just right posture,
Everything aligns and there's really no work to do to maintain that posture.
It's like everything kind of locks into place.
We find that there might be like a little mini aha moment.
You can feel breath move freely,
Noticing all the space that you have to breathe.
You can let your eyes close,
Or you might decide to keep them open,
Gazing in one spot.
The practice of meditation really at its core is cultivating concentration,
Nurturing the ability to not be distracted.
It's a really long,
Slow,
Incremental journey.
You may not notice the benefits right away,
But practicing even for five minutes a day to focus on one thing can help grow that response in your nervous system.
So choosing your anchor,
The place to fix your attention,
Is really our first step.
It might vary from time to time in your life depending on what's going on.
Your anchor can be listening,
Listening to the sounds without fixating on any particular one.
Just engaging your hearing.
As mental chatter arises,
You can notice it.
Very gently with kindness,
Set it down.
Sometimes it's helpful to say like,
I'll come back to you later.
Each time you set down the mental activity,
The thought,
The worry,
The plan,
And actively choose to listen,
That's a win.
That's like one rep on the bicep curl.
Strengthening our ability to focus.
Doesn't have to be a very intense concentration.
It might take the form as a more relaxed openness.
Just sitting back and listening.
Bird singing.
Wind chimes.
Traffic going.
Airplanes overhead.
Tapping into an understanding that you're constantly bathed in sound.
Using these movements to really bask in all of those vibrations.
Allowing the sounds to come to you rather than sending your awareness outward.
Each sound wave is moving through the same air that you breathe.
The same space you move through.
Same space you're sitting in.
Take the time to drop out of busyness.
Set aside thinking.
Just be with the sounds.
Excellent practice to develop concentration.
Thank you.
You can start to notice what is the quality of your inner landscape.
Do you have any particular reactions to sounds?
Are there some sounds in your field that you find pleasant?
Maybe some you find unpleasant.
Maybe some are neutral,
Not pleasant,
Or not unpleasant.
Without judging the sound or your reaction to the sound,
You can just notice what is the feeling tone of this listening exercise.
Do you have any particular reactions to the sound or your reaction to the sound?
Notice what kinds of sounds draw your attention.
You can notice if there is a story to each sound.
Does your mind build a narrative,
A judgment?
If you catch your mind starting to tell a story,
You can notice that.
Label it as thinking and set it down with kindness,
Without any drama.
Gently return to your anchor,
Returning to listening.
And truly giving your full attention to all of the sounds as one field.
Allowing your mind to expand and you're listening to extend beyond your home,
Maybe out into the street and down the block noticing what is the farthest away sound that comes into my field.
As you notice sounds coming and going,
You can look for space between sounds.
Savor that stillness.
Might begin to feel the ego dissolve into that field of sound.
Seeing a little space between sounds and the one who hears them.
Limb you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you and meditation the sound of the bell you are welcome to continue sitting for as long as you like.
