So take a moment to offer your body any adjustments that it may need to help you feel comfortable and present.
If it's helpful,
You can shrug the shoulders up to the ears,
Draw the shoulder blades back together,
And then on an exhale let the shoulders drop.
Perhaps doing that one more time,
Drawing them up to the ears,
A little squeeze,
Drawing them back,
And then on an exhale drop.
You'll notice the body naturally wants to sigh when you do that.
Taking a moment to also relax the jaw,
Drawing it away from the top teeth.
And if it's helpful,
Opening and closing the hands a few times slowly.
So that when the hands come to rest,
There's a gentle natural curl in the fingers,
Neither too rigid nor clenched.
And today we'll work a little bit with mindfulness of sound.
Allow yourself a few moments to just notice sounds that may be taking place around you.
There may be sounds in the very room or space you're in.
There's the sounds that you hear from this practice or from my voice.
Whenever your mind goes into thinking or storytelling of any kind,
Try to see if you can come back to just immersing yourself and listening to sound.
Let your mind find a sound that it associates with.
Let your mind find a sound that it associates with as being neutral.
Doesn't stir up any particular feelings.
Taking a moment to notice if the sound is rhythmic or smooth.
If you could see the sound,
Would it be one straight steady line or a series of waves?
Or some other shape?
Notice what happens in your mind when you try to pay attention to something neutral.
Perhaps it feels easy or a bit challenging.
And whenever the mind wanders,
Just gently keep bringing it back to listening to the sound.
Letting your attention go from that particular sound as you exhale.
And as you take a next breath in,
Let yourself find a sound that you hear that is pleasant.
Let yourself notice what it's like to shift and open your awareness now to this other sound.
It could be a sound that is near or far.
Notice what happens in your mind when you pay attention to this pleasant sound.
If the sound you're listening to has gaps or is intermittent,
Notice what happens in your mind as you await for the sound to reappear.
We're able to notice our anticipatory mind.
And whenever the mind gets busy doing something or starts telling a story beyond the sound itself,
See if you can gently come back as if you're listening to a symphony.
And you're trying to catch the very next note.
Checking in with your body if it's picked up any tension again.
Inviting yourself to release a little bit of that as you exhale.
Coming back once again to listening.
You may notice there's a certain richness to the experience,
Something else you're able to notice about perhaps even a very familiar space just because your eyes are closed and you're listening deeply.
Allow yourself to enjoy the next three breaths.
And when you're ready,
Letting your awareness return back.
