So part five of the six elements meditation,
The element of sound and mindfulness of sound,
Of listening,
Of hearing and also exploring through that the shared experience of silence.
So if we invite sounds to take centre stage within our awareness,
See if you can keep your awareness nice and open and light.
And although we're going to be most interested in the sounds we can hear,
Acknowledging there'll also be the breath,
Sensations in the body,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
And allowing them to also be within our open awareness,
But just slightly in the background as we pay particular interest to the sounds that we can hear in this moment right now.
And just as we begin,
If you want to spend a little time just tuning into the body,
Noticing the sensations of the body,
Feeling the weight of the body and feeling the breath in the body,
Noting how you're feeling and aware of the thoughts that are passing through your mind just to acknowledge these other aspects of the present moment,
And then opening up your awareness to the sounds.
So the idea is to become aware of the sounds and accept whatever sounds are there for you in this moment.
Just allow the sounds to come and go through your awareness.
And then that feeling of letting go,
Of letting be,
Allowing the sounds to just be as they are and allowing yourself to relax into the experience of listening to sounds.
So aware,
Accept,
Allow and let go.
So as I begin this listening mindfulness practice,
I find it useful to break down the different types of sounds I can be listening out for,
Just in case I'm missing any out of habit.
So I can listen to the loudest,
Most obvious sounds.
I can listen to the closest sounds.
I can listen to any continuous sounds.
I can listen to the most obvious sounds.
And listening out for all the occasional sounds,
Including the quieter sounds and the more distant sounds.
So take a few moments to really explore the environment of sound around you,
Noting all the different sounds.
Keeping that awareness nice and light and open,
Not concentrating.
But allowing the sounds to come and go within your open awareness.
Still aware of the body,
Thoughts,
But just paying more interest in the sounds you can hear being alert to all the different sounds.
Another useful little technique to help maintain our interest in experiencing the sounds is to acknowledge that in every moment the blend and mixture of sounds that you're hearing,
Where you are right now,
Will be completely unique.
No two moments will have exactly the same combination of sounds.
Another thought you can have is to imagine what the experience would be like if you were listening to sounds for the very first time.
As we continue to be open and alert to all the different sounds we can hear,
We're going to see if we can now add an experience of listening to or being aware of,
Or in some way sensing the quietness,
The silence.
So one way I describe this to myself is to think of there as being a silent space within which all sounds come and go.
Just as objects exist in space,
Then experiencing sounds as existing within a silent space.
So this is a quietness or a silence that doesn't require the absence,
The ending of sounds,
But coexists along with sound.
It's the space within which sounds come and go,
So they exist together,
Between,
Behind each sound,
This space and this experience of a quietness,
A silence.
Rather than actively trying to listen to silence,
I find it more useful to listen out to the most distant and the quietest sounds I can hear,
And then just allowing this feeling,
This sense of quietness to gradually come upon your awareness.
I also find it useful to just be aware of the physical space around me,
And experience,
Hear the sounds occurring within that physical space,
And then feeling the quietness,
The silence of that space.
I So remembering just to allow your thoughts to flow freely in the background of your awareness.
Still the way of the body,
The breath,
How you're feeling.
And then simply choosing to be more alert and more interested in the unique blend of sounds in each moment.
Just allowing those sounds to come and go within your open awareness and within that quiet silent space.
And if you do begin to get a sense of that quietness.
Then we can use this idea again of the foreground and the background of your awareness and bring that silent space from the background more into the foreground of your awareness.
Allowing the sounds to just move into the background.
So being more interested in the quietness and the silence in the space within which the sounds are.
Less interested in the sounds themselves.
And gradually allowing the awareness to be filled and absorbed by that sense of quietness and silence.
Rebecca.
So the final thought for the commentary before we have a few minutes of silence before we finish is to be aware that all our individual experiences of sounds in this moment will all be different.
We're all in different places,
Different times,
Different environments.
We'll all be listening to different sounds and even if we were together in the same room,
We'd still be hearing the sounds in our own way,
Our own associations.
But when we start to experience the silence,
Then there is just one experience of silence.
So as I connect to and become aware of that silent space,
Being aware that that's a space that we all share,
Whatever each of us is hearing,
Whatever sounds are coming and going,
We can all share this one silent space.
So a few more moments,
Another minute or two,
Just relaxing into this experience of being present with all the sounds you can hear,
Keeping your awareness nice and light and open,
Noticing the occasional quietest,
Most distant sounds,
Being open to an experience of quietness,
Of silence,
Also coming into your awareness and enjoying that silent space that we can all share together.
Beautiful.
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