Just Listening

So first of all let's set ourselves up to meditate and we want to have a posture that's upright and dignified and also relaxed.

Sitting in a way that allows the spine to be upright,

The chest to be open,

The heart to be open.

Sitting in a way that allows us to breathe freely into the upper chest and not holding ourselves rigidly or having a posture that will become uncomfortable.

Sitting at ease and relaxing the muscles in the back of the neck so that the chin slightly tucks in.

And when the muscles in the back of the neck are tight,

The chin is raised and we tend to do a lot of excited thinking.

And when the muscles in the back of the neck are overly relaxed,

Then the chin comes down toward the chest and we tend to get caught up in heavy feelings or in stories that are dreamy or depressing or that drag us down.

So sitting with the back of the neck long but relaxed,

The chin very slightly tucked in toward the chest.

And this allows us to be more aware of our thoughts without getting dragged into them and to be aware of our feelings without getting sucked down into them either.

And if your eyes are still open,

Just allowing them to gently close and just becoming more aware of what's arising right now.

Being aware first of all of the outside world,

Of the space and the light and the sounds around you.

Aware of the space in front of you to the sides,

Behind you,

Above and below.

Aware of any sounds that are arising in your environment,

Wherever they may be coming from.

And now,

Becoming more aware of the physical sensations arising from the body,

Just noticing them.

And perhaps also just noting now how you're feeling in this moment,

Without judgement.

Just observing what is the feeling tone of your experience.

Perhaps it's pleasant,

Perhaps it's unpleasant,

Perhaps you're not sure.

And any of those things is okay.

It's just where you're starting from.

So having checked in with your overall experience,

Just acknowledging what's arising for you right now.

Beginning to turn your awareness more fully to your auditory sense.

Just being gently aware of the sounds around you.

What are you hearing?

What's arising for you right now?

And there's no need to strain,

To listen.

Just relaxing.

Sounds come to you.

You don't need to do anything to make them arise.

They just show up of their own accord.

And if there's silence,

Then just mindfully attending to the quiet around you.

And any sounds arising are not distractions.

They're opportunities for us to practice mindfulness.

And listening in this way,

Mindfully,

Helps to calm the mind.

But also,

The more we're attentive to sounds around us,

The less we're able to pay attention to sounds inside of us.

Thoughts that are arising and that we may normally get caught up in.

And we can pay attention to the auditory field surrounding us in every direction.

So first of all,

Becoming particularly aware of all sounds arising from in front of us.

So just relaxing.

Allowing those sounds to come to you.

Or if it's quiet,

Paying attention to the silence in that direction.

And now at the same time as you're paying attention to these sounds arising from in front,

Becoming aware of whatever sounds are arising behind you.

And so you're paying attention to these two directions at the same time.

Being attentive to the space in front of you,

The space behind you.

And there's no need to strain in order to do this.

And so letting go of any effort you might be making,

And just letting the mind be still.

Letting the mind rest in an awareness of sound in front of us and behind us.

And you can be aware also of sounds arising from the sides and above and below.

Aware of sound as a 360 degree phenomenon.

Sometimes it can feel as if your mind is filling the space around you.

Your attention is filling the space around you.

And sounds are arising effortlessly,

Passing through the space of your awareness.

We just allow that to happen.

Not judging any of these sounds.

Letting go of any reactions we have to any of these sounds.

Just allowing them to be.

Whether it's the sound of a truck,

A passing airplane,

Music,

Voices,

Someone moving around.

Things we might sometimes prefer not to be there,

Not to be happening.

Just allowing them to be.

And we can recognize and accept that we can't do anything about these sounds.

But right now,

In this moment,

The kindest thing we can do for ourselves is accept them.

We can't change them.

We can't make them stop.

We can't switch them for sounds we'd rather hear.

But what we can do is be accepting.

And you may notice that the more you can maintain this attentiveness to sounds in the outside world,

The less thinking arises.

Even if just a little.

Mind becomes calmer as we listen.

And if thoughts do arise in a way that's a distraction,

That catches your attention,

Those thoughts that want us to hook onto them,

Become absorbed in them,

We can regard the arising of these thoughts as a kind of mindfulness spell.

It's as if they've arrived to remind us that we've temporarily forgotten to be mindful of the sounds around us.

We've allowed our mindfulness to slip.

And so we can welcome those thoughts as valuable reminders to come back to a more open,

Spacious,

Receptive and mindful way of being.

And perhaps you can smile a little as you're being mindful of sounds in this way.

And just see if that changes your appreciation of any of the sounds you're hearing.

As you're being attentive in this way to the outside world,

To the sense of space and sound surrounding you,

You can be aware also of the sense of light coming through your closed eyelids.

Aware also of the physical contact you're making with the world.

The body touching the floor,

Touching your seat,

The air touching your skin,

And whatever calmness,

Whatever mindfulness has arisen through this period of practice,

We just appreciate and value that right now,

As we allow it to connect more fully with the outside world.

As we begin to move the body,

And allow the eyes to open.