Welcome to this,
The first of three sessions of mindfulness meditation.
First on sound.
We're going to be using sounds to help us to focus our concentration.
So before we begin,
I'd like you to get yourself comfortable.
That might be sitting up,
That might be lying down on a beanbag on the floor,
Wherever you feel most comfortable.
You might want to have a bit of a fidget,
A bit of a wriggle around first,
And then when you're ready I'd like you to take a couple of really deep breaths in through the nose,
And then blowing out through your mouth.
Deep breaths in through the nose and then out through the mouth.
When you blow out through your mouth,
Imagine you're gently blowing a candle flame.
You don't want to blow it out,
But you want to blow at the candle flame so that it flickers.
If you'd like to,
You can allow your eyes to close at this point,
But if you want to keep your eyes open that's fine too.
During this exercise you're going to hear the sound of a bell like this one.
All that you need to do in this session is listen to the sound of the bell until you can no longer hear it.
We're going to begin,
Now that you've taken your deep breaths and you're relaxed,
By focusing on the sounds that you can hear wherever you are.
Listen first of all to the sounds that are closest to you.
And now move your attention to the sounds that you can hear which are furthest away from you.
Don't worry if you find yourself thinking about other things,
About your plans,
About things you've done yesterday,
Things you want to do tomorrow,
Conversations you've had with people.
But the moment that you realise you are thinking about things,
Try to focus once again on any sounds that you can hear around you.
In the next couple of minutes you will hear that bell three or four times.
Each time you do,
Focus your hearing and your attention on the sound of that bell until you can no longer hear it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Now you can shift your attention and your listening to the sounds that are furthest away from you,
Where you are now.
And gradually bring your attention to the sounds that are closest to you.
When you are ready,
You can gently open your eyes if they were closed.
Perhaps sit up straight,
Have a stretch.
You might want to talk to somebody about the different sounds that you heard while you were doing that exercise.
You might want to repeat that exercise two or three times before you move on to session two.
And again,
Don't worry if you found that your thoughts were wandering while you were trying to focus your attention on sounds you could hear.
This is perfectly normal.
The important trick when you notice that your thoughts are wandering is simply to gently return your attention to the sounds that you can hear.
We'll visit that idea a little bit more in session two.
