Introduction To Mindfulness of Sounds

Welcome to Community Mindfulness Project's discussion about the practice we call Mindfulness of Sounds.

So in this discussion,

We'll talk about what is the mindfulness of sounds practice,

Why do we use sounds as the focus of our attention,

And then how do we engage in a mindfulness of sounds practice.

So let's start out with just what is mindfulness of sounds.

It's what we would put in the mind focusing practice bucket.

In any mind focusing practice,

We deliberately place and hold our attention on something of our choosing.

It might be on the sensations of the breath entering and leaving the body as in a breathing practice,

Or maybe sensations that we become aware of throughout the body as in a body scan practice,

Or the sensations of walking as in a walking meditation.

When we practice mindfulness of sounds,

We intentionally shine the spotlight of our attention on sounds that arise all around us and also within us.

And in this practice we attend to the raw sensation of sound.

We let go of the labels and any thinking about sounds.

We may also look for the space in between sounds.

And we approach this practice with an attitude of acceptance and kindness to whatever experience arises,

Which serves to strengthen our non reactive awareness capabilities.

We are cultivating the heart of our being mode,

Taking everything in exactly as it is.

So why do we use sounds as the focus of our attention.

There are several reasons.

One is that the practice of attending to sounds is a wonderful way to anchor our attention in the present moment.

When we live in our heads,

Much of our mental activity is driven by the mid range of our brain.

And that's the area associated with worrying about the future,

Rehashing the past and also ego involvement.

And when we begin to broaden the scope of our attention to the world of sounds,

We begin to activate the lateral networks of the brain.

And these are the areas of the brain that enable present moment awareness,

A sense of being grounded in the body and a broader perspective.

They balance the future or the past minded activity that we might be engaging in and the sense of I,

Me and my and ego related thoughts.

What we know is that we are most happy when various areas of the brain are integrated.

So both the medial and the lateral regions of our brain and when the mind and body are connected and mindfulness of sounds really helps us accomplish this.

Also,

Attending to the sounds within and around us can give us a sense of interconnectedness with our environment,

Making our perimeters seem less enameled,

More porous.

We may come to feel that we're part of a larger system of activity or being and that we're just one small part of the world around us.

On top of that,

Mindfulness of sounds can serve as an effective anchor in the present moment if you find that focusing on the breath causes a heightened sense of anxiety,

Which some people do.

This may be because of a past trauma or just simply because that's your experience.

So if you've tried mindfulness of breathing and find that it agitates you,

Try just tuning into the sounds around you.

Sounds are awful.

Also offer a wonderful reminder for the impermanent nature of all aspects of our experience.

So thoughts,

Sounds,

Emotions,

Moments all have beginnings,

Middles and ends.

They're here and then they're not.

This is a practice that's great at helping us remember that.

Holding our attention on the sounds that we're experiencing in the present moment also serve to strengthen our focus and our attention.

So we are gathering our attention around our present moment experience as it pertains to sounds.

And when the mind strays,

Which it does,

We gently but firmly bring it back,

Strengthening our attention muscle and practicing being aware of what we're attending to.

Last but not least,

We also become aware of our reactivity.

If we resist a sound or we cling to a sound,

We can practice acknowledging what's actually happening in the present moment and seeing it just for what it is,

Letting go of reactions that don't serve us.

So I remember one time when I was finishing up a silent retreat,

And it was the last bit of time before we would break silence and go back out into the world.

I was cherishing those last few moments.

And as I sat,

I heard birds chirping outside the window,

And I took great delight in that sound.

And then I heard a train pass by and noted that sound with some positivity,

Just sort of floating very peacefully as I sat there.

And then suddenly,

There was this group of people standing in the hallway carrying on a very loud conversation.

And despite three days of meditation,

I was thrown into a sense of indignation and injustice.

Didn't these people know that we were still observing silence?

How could they be so insensitive?

And then the epiphany came.

The sounds from the hallway were no different than the sounds of the birds outside or of the train.

They were just sounds.

What was different was my reaction to them.

And this has become my favorite moment from that retreat.

It's the moment I got to see inaction,

That so much of the suffering or discomfort in my life is caused by my mind.

It's not caused by what's happening in my life.

It's caused by my reaction to what's happening.

So in a way,

Paying attention to sounds becomes an equanimity practice,

Helping us to deepen our even heartedness and our even mindedness to all that arises in life so that we may respond with wisdom.

So enough about what it is and why we do it.

How do we actually practice it?

In mindfulness of sounds practice,

We allow ourselves to become aware of all the sounds that are available to us.

Those inside our own bodies,

Those in the room where we're practicing,

And even those outside of the room or the building.

And as we become aware of sounds,

We practice letting go of any labels that we may reflexively attribute to the sounds.

For example,

When we hear the sounds made by bird,

Instead of immediately thinking bird,

We simply try to take in the short high pitched sounds that we hear.

And we also notice the space between the sounds and any other sounds that are occurring at that time.

We may notice the beginnings and the middles and the ends of sounds,

As well as any reactions that we may have to sounds.

The attitude that we're cultivating here is one of openness and curiosity.

We're not striving to hear sounds.

And we try not to judge the sounds that do arise.

So just a few technical tips for engaging in a mindfulness of sounds practice.

When we practice mindfulness of sounds,

We have a choice of how wide we'd like our field of attention and perception to be.

We can narrow it to sounds that just come from inside our own bodies,

For example,

Like the rumbling of our tummies.

Or we can take in all the sounds that we perceive,

However broadly.

We can attend to one sound at a time,

Whichever one is more prominent,

For example.

And we can move our attention deliberately from that one to another sound as the new sound becomes more prominent.

Or we can relax the mind and attend to all sounds as they arise.

The former practice may have more benefits akin to a concentration practice,

While the latter one can have the effect something like an open awareness practice or an equanimity practice.

And a sense of play and curiosity can be employed to notice your own experience as you widen or narrow the field of attention.

What happens to your concentration,

For example,

As you allow the mind to relax and be very broad as it takes in sounds?

Just looking at this with curiosity.

And curiosity and caring can also be really effective partners as we take note of our reactions to sounds.

If we hear the incessant sound of our neighbor's dog yapping,

For example,

Can we notice our annoyance?

And then can we play with responding to the dog as we would respond to a bird chirping?

And if the dog is yapping because it's playing,

Can we maybe take joy in its enjoyment for a moment before returning to just taking in sounds in their raw format?

And if we arrive at a place in our practice where we're simply perceiving raw sounds without labeling them or building stories around them any longer,

We may just want to notice if that's a different physical experience for us than when we're constantly attributing sounds to what we think is making them.

When the mind wanders,

As it does,

We simply smile,

Perhaps make note of whether we've caught ourselves at the beginning of a thought,

Mid-thought,

Or as the thought is moving away from us,

And then we return our attention to the sounds around and within us.

So we hope that this discussion will serve you in some way,

And may all beings everywhere feel connected to the world around them.

Take care.