Mindfulness of sounds and thoughts.
As you sit here,
Bring in your focus now to hearing.
Opening up to sounds that arise from near or far.
Sounds inside the room.
Sounds outside of the room.
Sounds inside of the body.
And the silence between those sounds.
Notice any tendency to label sounds as they come and go.
How we have a tendency to judge whether we like them or not.
And how easily we can create a story and if you notice this,
Coming back to the sounds themselves.
And allowing them to be just as they are.
As if you were hearing for the very first time.
Cultivating a sense of wonder for the ability to hear sounds.
Seize them as events that arise,
Stay for a while and then disperse.
Really hear the raw sensations of sound.
Their sound,
Their pitch,
Their loudness or rhythm.
Becoming aware of any emotions that arise with sound.
Just being open to it all.
Now allow sounds to fade into the background.
And bring your focus now to thoughts.
See if it's possible to observe your thoughts as they come,
Stay a while and go.
See your mind as the sky and your thoughts as clouds.
Sometimes they're light,
Sometimes they're dark.
But the sky remains.
Notice if there's a quieter space between thoughts.
Let us now spend the next few minutes focusing on our breath.
Our breath can stabilize our thoughts and feelings.
Bringing us back each time to the present moment.
Giving us a sense of awareness.
Awareness where we are,
What we are experiencing.
So use your breath each time to bring you back to the present moment.
And as we bring this meditation of sounds and thoughts to a close,
Remember the breath is always here.
Always here to nourish you.
And bring you back into stillness and peace.
