Welcome to this meditative listening practice.
Whenever you are ready,
Fully invite yourself to be in the present moment today.
Begin by finding a comfortable,
Dignified sitting posture in a quiet space.
Don't sit too upright and rigid like a soldier,
But don't be slumping over either.
Sit tall with a straight spine.
Sitting in this way helps you to be focused and aware of any sensation as it arises,
So that you can connect with this sensation.
Temperature,
Sound,
Your breathing.
For example,
You can use your breath as an anchor of awareness to prevent your mind from roaming and ending up on some anxious train of thought.
When you're ready,
Gently close your eyes.
Notice how your feet are making contact with the floor,
How your butt is supported by the floor,
The chair,
Or the cushion.
Notice how your arms and hands are resting.
Allow your weight to sink down through these points of contact.
Wherever possible,
Allow any tension to drain down into the support and beyond.
We will now find some stillness within.
We will now find some stillness within.
Now,
Beginning to gently shift from the field of simple sensations in the body and allowing that to fall into the background of awareness,
We open our ears,
Bringing our attention to our ears as we become aware of hearing.
We have this beautiful gift of audibility,
Of hearing sounds.
Sounds come in a variety of ways,
Some in the form of pitches,
Tones,
Frequencies,
Even my voice right here.
You may notice that a sound comes from a sense of silence.
It then has a pitch or tone rising and falling,
Returning back to silence.
You may even notice that even in between the silence,
There are some sounds present.
Just being aware of this very fundamental aspect of hearing sounds.
You may notice that even in between the silence,
There are some sounds present.
Rising sounds,
Falling sounds,
Just sounds.
Taking a moment to know if you are trying or straining to hear sounds or don't hear anything at all.
And if so,
Allowing the pure sense of just being aware of whatever hearing is occurring.
Simply allowing yourself to be in a receptive place of just listening.
Recognizing and allowing.
Letting the sounds just be.
You may even notice that acknowledging all the different forms of sounds,
Your mind may become busy with images or stories,
Connected with the sounds.
Know that this is okay.
What is your understanding of senses?
Sounds appearing and disappearing.
Everything and going.
Just like the breath,
Just sounds.
Inhale,
Feeling the air going in through your nose.
Noticing the pause before exhaling.
Releasing,
Letting it all go.
Feeling how relaxed you are in this present moment.
Very slowly,
Beginning to withdraw awareness from hearing now as we come back to our surroundings.
Congratulating yourself for spending some well-deserved time for cultivating awareness.
Thanking yourself for even taking this time at all.
And now,
Gently opening your eyes.
Allowing your attention to move out to the outside world.
Starting to softly move your body and prepare for the most wonderful day ahead.
Full of endless possibilities.
Seeing if you can bring a fresh sense of curiosity and openness to all that you encounter today.
Namaste.
