Hi there,
Welcome to the guided meditation,
Attending to the Ear.
Find a comfortable seat.
This could be on a chair with your feet flat on the ground or on a cushion with your hips higher than your knees.
Most importantly,
You should feel comfortable and your spine should be in a neutral position,
Up tall.
Let your hands rest in your lap or on your thighs to support a softening of the shoulders.
Close your eyes or keep a soft gaze forward and downwards towards the earth.
Now close your lips and breathe gently in and out through your nose to a count of five.
Let's do it together.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Let all the tension release from your belly,
Shoulders and chest.
And let's do it one more time.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Now focus on the sound of your breath from your nose or mouth.
How does it feel inside your body right now?
Are you calm?
Are you anxious?
Are you feeling peaceful?
Is this exercise making you feel impatient?
Now bring your attention to the sounds around you and be present with these sounds without giving it any form of a label.
How do you feel inside your body hearing these sounds around you?
Irritable,
Peaceful,
Calm,
Impatient,
Tired,
Serene.
Notice the vast array of awareness that is in your mind and how it drifts from the sounds around you toward the sound of your breath and back again.
Is your mind creating a story around these sounds?
Are past associations with the sounds coming up for you?
Separate your experience of sound and how it comes into your mind's awareness about what the sound is.
And at this point,
Ask yourself if you could experience the sound if you didn't have a name for it.
What is it like to just hear the textures of sound and not think about its source or function?
Remember that the name I'm using Remember that the name unknown sound is itself a form of labeling.
And so open yourself to listening to everything that is in your surroundings.
Notice too that when we label sounds,
Some sounds get labeled as pleasant and others as unpleasant.
So as much as possible,
Let it all be equal,
Simply sound.
Notice how the sound itself is continuously moving,
Changing,
Coming and going.
So too through this process is your experience of sound.
And we sit here curious,
Experiencing sound,
Being present with the sound and staying open to what arises.
Continue to return your attention back to your ear when you notice that the mind has wandered.
Remember that it is not just the sound Remember that everything that you notice through sound,
Sight,
Smell,
Taste and sensation is filtered in its unique way through your unique mind.
And that noticing this has the potential to change you,
To change all beings around you and the potential to change your world.
And now with this learning in mind,
You can now slowly open your eyes without yet leaving your seat and take in the world around you.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
You may come back to this meditation to cultivate your awareness to be more aware.
Cultivate your awareness to be present with the sounds around you and cultivating your practice for attending to the ear.
Salaam.
