Mindfulness of Sounds and Thoughts Guided Meditation

Getting into a comfortable and alert posture, closing your eyes if you like.

And then when you're ready, on an in breath, following that breath all the way in and down into your abdomen and allowing your mind to settle here in your abdomen.

As you follow in awareness, the changing pattern of physical sensations as your abdomen expands on each breath in and contracts on each breath out, as best you can, following each breath all the way in and all the way out.

Now when you're ready, shifting the focus of your awareness away from your breath, and onto what you're hearing, just opening yourself to any sounds that arise.

And then listening to these sounds simply as sound as patterns of pitch, volume, tambor and duration, just allowing sound to be here in your awareness without thinking about the sounds that you're listening to, without trying to categorize or name or label them.

Just notice that sounds are arising and sustaining and fading away. Noticing the tendency we have to want to categorize or label or name the sounds, as voices, footsteps, door closing, and so on.

Whenever you notice yourself starting to categorize or label or think about what you're listening to, see if you can't let go of this tendency.

Let go of the thoughts that you're having about these sounds relate directly to what you're hearing simply as sound as patterns of pitch, volume, tambor and duration, sound coming and going through the soundscape like clouds passing through the sky.

And now letting go of an awareness of sound, and bringing your awareness to your thoughts and whatever's going through your mind.

As best you can, just treating these thoughts as mental events, events arising and passing through the thoughts scape of your mind.

Relating to your thinking just as you did hearing and treating your thoughts the same way you did sounds, not focusing on the content of your thoughts or what they mean.

Not thinking about the thoughts that you're having. And just stepping back and watching and observing your thoughts. just noticing these mental events coming and going through the thought scape of your mind. Like clouds passing through the sky.

If you find yourself getting caught up in your thoughts are lost in them. You can try stepping back from your thoughts and relating to them as if you were sitting at the movies, watching your thoughts being projected on the screen in front of you. Watching each thought for as long as it remains on the screen.

And then once it passes off the screen, allowing it to pass from your mind and not thinking about it once it's gone. And then noticing as a next thought appears on the screen, and watching that. Just watching your thoughts unfolding on the screen, as if you were watching a movie.

And anytime your mind starts to wander, and you find yourself thinking, rather than just watching your thoughts, remembering that your breath is always right here in the present moment. And you can always use an awareness of your breath as an anchor, to help pull you out of your head and out of your thoughts and bring you back into the present.

Once you've calmed your mind and reconnected with the present, once again expanding your awareness to take in whatever is going through your mind while still maintaining an awareness of your breath in the background, to help prevent your thoughts from carrying your mind away.

As you watch and observe thoughts coming and going through the thought scape, like clouds passing through the sky.

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