by Miriam Hall
This guided meditation takes listeners through all five of their major senses - sound, touch, taste, smell, and sight - as a way to freshen connection with the world around us and re-ignite creative inspiration.
Meet your Teacher
Madison, WI, USA
Transcript
This is a synchronization meditation. This offering is common for Nalanda Miksang photography, The school of contemplative photography I teach in. And it's often presented as a practice for photographers to do before they go out for a contemplative photography shoot. However, This synchronization meditation, Which attunes you with all of your senses, Can be quite useful also to ground before you do any creative practice and or if you are in need of some quiet time to connect to your senses. And a safe and quiet enough space, Knowing that quiet itself never fully exists, Nature and our man-made world is always making some sound. Encourage you to close your eyes, Knowing that it's possible that you may not be sighted or have limited sight. In fact, If any of your senses are not able to access the stimuli that's present, Please know that's okay. You can still do this meditation. If you are sighted, Close your eyes or lower them so that they don't take in as much information. We do this to begin because the sense of sight for many people is dominant. And our sense of sight has a characteristic that the rest of our senses tend not to have, Which is that sight is often looking for something. It's hunting in a sense. And so by quieting our sense of sight, We can not only attune to our other senses more strongly, But also learn on a somatic level what it's like to receive sensory information rather than hunt for it. First we will tune in to a sense of hearing. There are always many layers of every sense, And this is a brief guided meditation. But with any sense, And especially strongly with hearing, First you'll notice the more obvious louder sounds, Probably my voice, Possibly a sound of an animal in the space you're in, Traffic going by. Simply notice that first layer of sound, Sound that comes to you easily and is quite noticeable. If you notice yourself judging or naming or wishing that a sound would go away, Do your best to take a deep breath, Soften, And receive the sound as simply information. And as we soften and receive the most obvious layer of sound, Eventually we start to hear other more subtle sounds in the background, Children playing in a sprinkler outside. Other away traffic or sirens, The wind in the trees. Without a sense of searching, Rather relaxing into and receiving, Notice this next layer of sound. And finally, The most subtle layer of sound is not available to all of us. Though the sounds exist, We may not be able to pick them up. Perhaps you, Like me, Have tinnitus or restricted sound, Restricted hearing in some way. In that case, You can continue to relax with whatever layer of sound is available to you. As you stay with that layer, Another layer may open up. The sound of your own mouth as you swallow, Of your own breath, Perhaps even your own heartbeat, And any other far subtler sounds that you were missing listening to the first two layers. Please take a moment to savor your sense of hearing and thank your sense of hearing for all the gifts it brings you. These gifts from the practice and all of the other gifts you've received over your lifetime. Turn your attention next to your sense of touch. Some of us are exquisitely sensitive to touch, Temperature, Pressure, And some of us are numb to these sensations. Please do this practice at whatever level is available to you. If you find that feeling into your sense of touch starts to activate you in an unpleasant way, You can gently reopen your eyes, Take a look around the space, Or even especially if it's hard for you to sense sensations inside of your body, You can actively place your hand on a part of your body that feels safe and sense that, Or touch an object in your space and be curious about those sensations. With the sense of touch, Like with hearing, The most immediate and strongest sensations are usually what we notice first. So pressure, I'm seated on a chair, I can feel my butt on the seat, And my elbows on the arms, And my feet on the floor. If you're lying down, Perhaps you can feel your back, If you're standing, Feeling your feet, If you're holding an object, Feel its weight, And again, Often, But not always, You may start to notice subtler layers of touch. Your clothing, If you're clothed against your skin, The temperature of the air, Cooler or warmer than your body, Light breezes, A fan. And finally, You may also pick up on a layer of sensation that's happening internally. Again, This is not available to everyone. So if you are practicing with an object, Or making contact with the outside of your body, Please continue to notice the subtler and subtler layers there. If you are able to do interoception, Which is to say, Perceive what's happening inside of your body, Tune in to any sensations you're feeling. They could be pain, And if you have chronic pain, You could prefer not to do that. At this moment, See if you can receive it simply as a sensation. And also tune in to where things feel good or neutral. Maybe you feel the rumble of digestion. Your breath in your lungs, Throat, Nose, Or mouth. Your throat as you swallow. At whatever level you were able to do this practice, Again, Take a moment to thank yourself and your sense of touch. Touching is a powerful part of our experience as humans to be in touch, To touch, And be touched. Both metaphorically, Emotionally, And also literally. Then we transition to the combined senses of scent and taste. These two senses are not exactly the same. You can certainly smell something that you can't taste. But for the most part, You can't taste without smell, As many people have discovered during the COVID pandemic, Unfortunately. So we will explore them together. These two senses are also, Unless they have a lot of stimulus, Like you're eating something or smelling an essential oil, They are more passive. So it can be a lot subtler to notice what they're doing and what they're receiving. Again, If it's hard for you to taste your own mouth or smell your space, Which actually, Logistically, The brain can't do because we're so habituated. So most of us can't do that. You're welcome to smell something pleasant or taste something pleasant, But really linger and notice what happens in your mouth as you taste. Right now, I have a leftover taste of tea in my mouth, So I take a breath in, I can taste it more. Whether by simply noticing perhaps you're in a space where you have fresh breezes coming and different scents are coming in, Or you happen to be nourishing yourself with some food, Or more passively, Simply noticing, Spending a minute with your sense of taste and smell. Finally, Thanking your taste and smell for all that they give you, The pleasure and of course, Unpleasant information that's also beneficial, Like when we smell a gas leak or we eat something that's poisonous and our body lets us know. We're going to turn back to our sense of sight, If that's available to us. Before you reopen your eyes or raise them, Noticing what closing your eyes has given you, A sense of hopefully relaxed sight, Literally feeling your eyes fall back into their sockets. Some of the muscles at the back of your head where your visual cortex is, Or around your eyes softening. And even though you may be in a familiar space you've looked at a million times, One of the teachings in contemplative photography is that we are always seeing fresh, Always. So setting your dial as you reopen your eyes, Which I'll encourage you to do in a minute, Setting your dial to curiosity and noticing what jumps out first with a sense of the world coming to you instead of you searching for something interesting. Letting the most ordinary thing you look at constantly appear fresh as it actually does all the time. If you prefer, You can turn in a direction you don't normally turn in, Carefully if your eyes are closed, And then gently open them and notice what you notice. See how long your eyes can stay receptive, Rather than looking for anything interesting, Simply noticing what is, Much in the same way that your hearing and sense of touch and taste and smell do more naturally. Maybe your eyes return to a sense of hunting, A practical quality of trying to find the right book, Look at your keyboard to type an email, But for a little while see if you can be in a receptive and curious mode. Some of the indicators are that you notice more a sense of pattern or texture than thing-ness. At any given moment before we label what something is, In micro moments before, We actually experience it afresh and anew. Can you tune in to the lights coming in on a fabric, And before you think chair, Or even as you think chair, Noticing the play of the light in the fabric. Noticing letters as patterns, Colors. Noticing the bareness of a space of wall, Less as something that needs to be filled and more as a sense of open possibility. You can return to this sensory synchronization meditation at any time, And you can also do your own micro version of this. This recording is almost 20 minutes long, So you can do one where you simply tune in on your own into your senses, One by one. Can help you refresh during the day, See your familiar space in a new way, Or sense it in a new way. And especially if you're a photographer or an artist looking to create, This can help remind you that inspiration is available to us at all times. It's a human tendency to make patterns and see things as familiar and stop seeing anew. Stop noticing that things are constantly changing. Giving yourself this reminder is a lovely way to stay awake to every present moment. Enjoy.
4.8 (8)
Chrissy
July 12, 2024
Just lovely, Miriam! Thank you. 👁 👂 🫴 👃👄 I now feel ready to write! 😘
