Mindfulness Audios Download: Listening

Daily Mindfulness Practice: Free Audio Download

by Monica A. Frank, Ph.D.

The following is part of a series of audios to teach how to practice mindfulness. Developing your ability to focus on the present moment can reduce distress and improve well-being.

Listening

Index for Mindfulness Audios

Additional reading:

Some tips for using these audios:

Start with the Understanding Mindfulness audios to learn about mindfulness.
These short practice exercises are to help train your brain to be more mindful when engaged in daily activities.
The audio format is just for convenience to help learn the material. You can also read the transcript. When you practice, however, you should engage in the behavior mindfully without listening to the audio.
The best way to train your brain to be more mindful is to practice in short sessions throughout the day while engaged in your normal activities.
The descriptions are an artificial way to help you get started. Eventually, the practice of mindfulness is being aware of what is described without using an inner verbal description.
Mindfulness can be done throughout the day in the many different activities of the day. This exercise is to focus fully on the experience of listening and noticing all the different sounds around you. Although mindfulness can be relaxing, it is really about being present with your immediate experience even if it is not entirely pleasant. This is a good exercise to learn to tolerate all experience since not all sounds are pleasant.
For this exercise, try different environments such as a quiet room, at a park, in a crowded cafeteria.

Next Exercise

Listen

Transcript of Audio: Listening

Allow yourself to sit quietly and listen. As you listen you may notice a variety of sounds. You may notice internal sounds or sounds that your body makes. You may notice background noises that you normally don't notice. You may notice sounds that you usually ignore. Just let yourself fully experience the sounds around you. Let yourself fully savor each sound. Notice the nuances of each sound. Does the sound stay constant or does it vary? Does it have any variations in the intensity or level of the sound? Does it contain other sounds within it? Let yourself notice the differences. Notice the beauty within each sound. If a sound is annoying to you, let yourself just “be” with that sound without any judgment. Does the sound change or become less annoying as you let yourself “be” with that sound? Allow yourself to notice the meaning or intention of the sound. Where is the sound coming from? If you turn your head, does it sound differently? Can you locate the sound in the environment around you? Notice all these differences as you let yourself just listen.