Well done for listening!!

I've had some really wonderful feedback from our listening meditations this week, so here is a bit more about the process, as well as how to do it if you want to try again.

Meditation is an age-old practice in mindfulness. In a listening meditation, the goal is to keep your awareness on every sound around you, without forming thoughts or judgments about them. By continually bringing your attention back to one central point, your mind will calm, as you systematically let go of all unnecessary thoughts and feelings. Just as a computer can be running many superfluous processes, which slow down efficiency and performance, so, too, our brains run many processes which only diminish our focus and well being. Meditation is a practice that will reboot your mind and leave you feeling fresh. Remember, though, it is a practice. This means that you will get better the more you do it; so let go of expectations and stick with it.

So, here is the practice:
Start by listening to your own breathing
After a few breaths, expand your awareness to a few feet away
Then slowly, take your awareness out a little further until you feel your awareness expanding as far as you can hear.
Stay here a while, bringing your mind back to listening whenever you find yourself thinking, judging or following just one sound.
Then slowly bring your awareness back, closer and closer, to your breathing.
On an inhalation, open your eyes and notice how clear-minded and refreshed you feel.