Listening Meditation: Exploring Your Unique Soundscape

Hello and welcome.

Today we will be putting an emphasis on listening in our meditation,

Allowing sound to be our anchor or point of focus.

This is available to us anytime,

As even silence has its own auditory quality.

And I have found that cultivating the ability to take sound as an anchor to be really useful in today's world,

Which I think we can all agree,

Is pretty noisy,

Both literally and metaphorically.

It's important to remember that we can use the presence of noise,

A crowded room of people,

The distraction of hustle and bustle,

As a chance to practice mindfulness,

To pull ourselves out of the emotion of the moment and just observe what is actually happening around us by listening.

I'd like to start this listening meditation by inviting you to listen to a story relevant to this topic.

So let's just settle in just as we would if we were doing a body scan,

In a relaxed and upright posture.

Perhaps your eyes are closed or perhaps they are half open and fixed on a point just ahead and down.

Either way,

Let's just be relaxed together.

Your hands are at rest and you are mentally committed for the next handful of minutes to be here,

Be in the now,

With the present moment as the point of power.

So let's take a deep breath together and again,

Listen to the sound of our own breath as it's taken into the lungs and then released.

Listen to your own contribution to your current auditory environment.

Let's continue breathing in this way,

Slowly and deliberately listening to the field of awareness in which you are a vital part.

When I first started meditating regularly,

Which was probably about 15 years ago now,

I was part of several groups who would meet together for one-hour meditation sessions once a week.

My favorite group met on Sundays at a dance studio downtown.

Since we met on Sundays,

The studio was usually very quiet,

Very calm,

Peaceful.

The sun shone through the windows and bounced off the polished wooden floors,

Glinting off of the mirrors.

It was very soothing and the sort of setting that one might associate with meditation.

I'm sure you can picture the space and imagine,

If you will,

The peace of the silence there.

On this particular day,

However,

I have no idea what was going on in the studio next door,

But it sounded like a cross between full-scale demolition and heavy metal music,

Which began right as our group leaders started talking about the focus of our meditation that day.

I immediately began laughing,

As did some others,

But I remember distinctly that the faces of the two women across from me were horrified and even angry.

The leader of our meditation perceived this and also obviously realized that while this sudden onslaught of harsh sound might pose a difficulty for some,

It also provided us as meditators with a very valuable opportunity.

Without missing a beat,

She simply said,

And I'm paraphrasing a little here,

It would appear that our neighbors are giving us a valuable gift today,

And that is a chance to practice meditation in a real-life context of extreme noise.

Today,

We will focus instead on listening.

I encourage all of you to accept the noise and simply allow it to be a part of the life that flows through you as we sit together.

I will never forget that experience,

Because in that moment,

She underscored what meditation is really for.

It is acceptance of whatever we perceive.

It is the removal of resistance to whatever we perceive,

Not judging or evaluating,

And simply letting it be or letting it pass,

Regardless of the qualities and characteristics of our external environment.

And just as with any other skill,

The more we do this,

The easier it becomes.

And in so doing,

We strengthen the synopses to accept what is happening,

To pause,

And allow the sensation or feeling to pass rather than reacting in the moment.

We may not necessarily enjoy whatever is happening,

But we're not putting energy into resisting it,

Especially as resistance makes things larger than they really are.

Today,

As we have taken sound as our anchor,

Let's take a few moments to sensitize our ears to what is happening around us,

Becoming aware of our auditory field of awareness.

So what sounds are in front of you?

Just make note.

What sounds are next to you?

What about the sounds behind you?

This is our soundscape for today,

And our task is to acknowledge it without judging,

Resisting,

Or evaluating.

We welcome these sounds,

And with that welcome,

We explore them as we would a beautiful stone found out in nature.

The textures,

The colors,

The sensations they bring up in the body.

We might play with the distance of the sounds here,

Beginning with those sounds that are right next to us or within us even.

Perhaps the sound of my voice and the silence in between the words that I speak,

The breaths I take as I am speaking.

We might then expand our listening out further to listen to sounds a few feet away and then yet further still to sounds that are outside of the room we're in,

To other parts of the space that we occupy.

And now,

Perhaps we expand even further to encapsulate the entire soundscape that is available to us,

Consisting of sounds within,

Near,

And far from us.

We have one very simple job here,

Which is to listen to what is and then allow it to be,

To simply and elegantly receive our auditory experience.

We are subject to the sounds around us,

But we are also active contributors with our breath or perhaps the slight sounds of our shifting if we move positions.

And all of this happens on its own timeline,

In its own way,

Separate from us but alongside us.

This fascinating dance of sounds that comprise the soundtrack of the present moment while you,

Meanwhile,

Are simply receiving,

A curious and calm observer.

And in this moment,

We are taking the opportunity to experience the sounds of our environment and the self differently.

Perhaps these are sounds that you recognize are here all the time,

But you are only just now slowing down to recognize their particular qualities,

To distinguish them,

To name them,

To receive them on a conscious level.

And perhaps,

As you've been sitting here,

Your mind has been doing its job,

Which is to present you with thoughts.

And now,

We're going to bring the field of awareness around us into the internal space of the body and experience the sounds within.

And just like our surroundings,

If someone asked us what sounds the body consistently makes,

We might not know and we might not know what sounds the body consistently makes,

We might not come up with much,

But it's always working,

Always vibrating,

Always generating its own noises and frequencies.

So just take a few moments to cast your awareness through your own body and notice any sounds within.

A heartbeat,

Stomach gurgling,

Lungs taking in and releasing air,

A swallow or the tongue moving around in the mouth.

There's actually lots to work with.

We just need to take note of our own aliveness.

Now,

Let's experiment by making an intentional sound of our own with the out-breath.

Find the breath in the body and notice the sensation there.

And then let the next out-breath be audible,

Whether it's simply air coming out more loudly or maybe you even choose to vocalize a bit.

It doesn't matter what it sounds like.

No good or bad here.

Just imagine that your lungs are a balloon and you're suddenly releasing the air from the balloon.

It makes noise with the release of the pressure,

Right?

So just let your lungs be like that balloon and just let whatever sound wants to come out emerge.

Remember to listen to the sounds that emerge.

Listen from the inside out.

Once you've gotten the hang of letting the sound come out with the breath and listening to those sounds,

Consider adding in the intention to release any tension you've become aware of during our time together just a bit more with each breath.

And notice if in your concentration,

If your shoulders are now hunched up around the ears,

See if they can relax.

Or perhaps your face has become tense.

And if so,

Just allow the jaw to slacken and the brow to smooth,

And notice if the corners of the eyes can relax yet further.

Just keep breathing,

Letting the sound of the exhale be audible,

If it will,

And casting your attention methodically through the body from head to toe,

Inviting any points of tension to come across them,

Or at least noting them if they're not yet ready to go.

And once again,

You may find that the mind has,

Again,

Been presenting you with thoughts.

Maybe it's become restless with the very focused attention you've been placing on sound and is trying to elbow its way in with a story about what's happening.

A story about any tension you've observed.

Just thank it for its attention and then return the focus to gentle,

Receptive listening.

Now,

Let's take one last layer into our practice,

And that is one of intentional vibration using the wonderful apparatus that we call the voice.

Don't worry,

This is not singing.

It doesn't matter what it qualitatively sounds like.

It's been proven that the world around us and in us is vibrating at all times,

At different rates.

We can add to this magnificent world of vibration with our own voice to achieve certain effects.

Today,

As we're focused on listening,

Let's play with the word om,

Which is considered the original vibration or sound of the universe from which all other sounds can emerge.

We will chant this together slowly and very intentionally three times.

Be aware that here our focus is not on performing or singing per se,

But on the vibrational quality of the sound itself.

So with this,

We will notice how the sound feels in the body as it's generated there and listen as it emerges from the body and interacts with the other sounds we've noticed in your soundscape.

Om Om So let's pause and just reflect on the experience of generating the sound in the body.

How did the vibration feel?

Just give it maybe a few words.

I know for myself,

Because I've been talking during this whole meditation,

My voice is a little tired.

And so for me,

It felt at first a little scratchy.

It felt a little forced.

And then as I settled into the experience of the vibration in the body,

That's all I focused on.

Perhaps you also noticed once the sound stopped,

Once the vibration that you made with your body stopped,

How the silence that followed it seemed somehow larger.

You might also ask yourself here,

Does the sound that you made intermingle with other sounds that you've already observed in your environment?

Perhaps do a few more,

Pausing in between each one and just experimenting.

You may also adjust the tone to create a slightly different vibration for yourself.

Perhaps do three more.

I will remain silent so you can focus on your own sounds.

Okay.

Go ahead and finish your last one.

And then let's just check back in with sensations in the body.

After all of that intentional vibration,

What do you notice?

Can you notice any difference?

If not,

That's fine.

And if so,

That's also fine.

Just silently make note.

And let's take a few moments to cast the awareness just listening to what is there.

Are you differently aware of the symphony of sounds available to you there now that you've intentionally generated a few of your own?

And now once again,

Let's widen our awareness to perceive ourselves as a vibrating entity within a whole field of other vibrational entities,

Not all of which are audible to human ears,

But they vibrate nonetheless.

Just open to receive the aliveness of everything around you.

Listen with all of your senses in this relaxed place that you've cultivated with your attention and your awareness.

You can return to this relaxed place within yourself with your attention and with your listening at any time.

It is always here for you,

A home in the midst of the silence and the noise of the world,

One part of a larger field of vibration.

And with this next breath,

You may begin wiggling fingers,

Toes,

Perhaps moving the neck around or circling the wrists.

You may remain in this posture for as long as you wish.

I thank you for your gentle attention today and for your listening presence.

Namaste.