The sounds of the world are always on .. from mother nature to inner city industry, our world is always humming away in the background.

Despite being constantly surrounded by a noisy sound scape, we are often only aware of the sounds we want to hear. A Listening Meditation teaches us how to open up to every type of sound, and remain entered and aware regardless of the nature of the sound.

When we widen our perception and open to all sound .. without judgement, analysis, comment or preference .. we anchor ourselves in the present moment, and

the symphony of the world breathing is our meditation

The first step in Listening Meditation is to simply notice what you are hearing .. a distant conversation, the wind in the trees, a dog barking, child laughing or rain on the roof. When you are inquisitive and interested in what you hear, the mind will slow to listen, each ear will acting like a giant antenna .. awareness expands and you will begin to gather impressions from near and far. It is delightful o realise that every location, every moment, has its own unique sound signature.

This meditation practice helps us become more skillful at sitting calmly through all sorts of noise and stimuli that may otherwise irritate, disturb or distract;

we do this practice in meditation so that we become better able to manage noise and distraction in daily life

* Settle into a comfortable position
* Close your eyes and focus for a moment on just your breath
*After a few minutes shift your awareness to the sounds that naturally present
themselves to you
* Spend some time building your awareness to the sounds that come to your right ear
* And then, the sounds that come to your left ear
* Expand your awareness slowly to sounds that are close to you (even inside your
body)
* Then, sounds that are outside the room, the venue, the street that you are on
* Listen with a ‘detached awareness’ allowing sounds to come and go, like clouds
floating across the sky
* Continue to return your attention to new sounds that come into your awareness
* And eventually, noticing moments where there is no sound
* Try to be open to all sounds that come into your awareness without judging, labelling
or making a story about them
* Seek to settle into a space where you notice sounds but are not distracted by them .. simple allowing them to arrive and depart

With attention the ongoing cavalcade of sounds around us becomes our meditation.

“.. when the call of meditation whispers, it does it with sounds
that return us both to fullness and to silence.”
Rolf Sovik