Welcome to mindfulness of sound.
Beginning by bringing the body into a posture of alertness,
One that supports an attitude of gentleness,
Curiosity,
As well as willingness to begin again and again as needed throughout this practice.
Drawing attention to the sensations of sitting or lying down.
Noting sensations in the feet,
The legs,
Hips and buttocks,
The torso,
The shoulders,
The arms and hands,
The neck and throat,
And then the face and scalp.
And then on an inhalation,
Drawing awareness to the movements of the breath in the body,
Attending to these sensations wherever you feel them most clearly.
Following the breath by attending to the very first shift in sensation that comes at the very start of the breath,
All the way until the breath is fullest,
Noting the pause before the exhale,
And then noting the shift in sensations that happen on the exhale,
And then once again observing sensations in the space until the next inhalation.
Noticing any thoughts or ideas or images that may have arisen in this time.
These may be judgments of some kind,
Or they may be worries or planning or just daydreaming.
Each time you become aware of this shift in attention,
Flexing the mindfulness muscle to bring gentleness and firmness of intention to this moment as you draw attention back to the breath.
Thank you.
Now on an exhalation,
Letting go of awareness of the breath,
And on an inhalation,
Drawing attention to sounds.
The sound of my voice,
The sounds in or of the body,
Sounds in the room,
And sounds outside the room.
Noticing any thoughts or ideas or images that may have arisen in this time.
Noticing any tendency to categorize or identify the sources of these sounds,
And gently shifting instead into perceiving the qualities of the sounds themselves.
Qualities of volume,
Pitch,
Tone,
Duration,
Perhaps an ebb and flow of certain sounds.
There may be some very loud sounds present,
And there may also be some more subtle and quiet sounds.
Noticing whatever there is that's present.
Not striving for or trying very hard to sense sounds or to make sounds happen in some way,
But as best as possible observing all of these various qualities of whatever sounds come to you in a broad and spacious awareness.
Any feelings that come at you.
Checking in with attention,
Noticing if it has shifted away from awareness of sounds,
And for just a moment noticing whatever is present in attention.
Maybe silently noting thinking,
If thinking has arisen,
Or noting other sensation perhaps,
If some other sensation has drawn attention away.
And then on the next inhalation,
Gently and firmly,
Drawing attention back to sounds only.
As best as possible,
Observing once again the qualities of whatever sounds may be present in your awareness.
As we move towards the end of this practice,
On an exhalation letting go of focus on sounds,
And on an inhalation expanding attention to encompass the entire body.
Holding in awareness all that is present in this moment,
Sounds,
Movements of the breath,
Any other sensations in the body,
As well as any thoughts or feelings that may also be present.
When you are ready,
And to end this practice,
Slowly opening the eyes.
