Mindfulness of Sound as a Cognitive Intervention
Meditation means dissolving the invisible walls that unawareness has built.
- Sadhguru
Did you know? - Approximately 65% of a human's daily thought is either redundant or negative (Mora & Kraus, n.d.) Obviously this is a problem, but how do we fix it? It is retraining our brain and the dialogue that happens between our ears to ensure that we are challenging those redundant or negative thoughts, and replacing them with a positive outlook. Sound can be a key tool to retraining our brain, a type of cognitive intervention, as sound as been proven to be a useful skill in increasing a person's awareness. That is why this month's meditation is a mindfulness of sound - it is an easy yet effective way to improve and increase your awareness, and be in the present moment.
I first learned about mindful sound meditations during my six-week meditation course at the University of Michigan and since then, I use it regularly. I have found it to be very successful because there is always something to be heard around us - as well as inside of ourselves. Please enjoy this month's video, linked below!
If your attention wanders during the meditation, I have found that a good strategy is to practice the three Rs:
- Recognize what has grabbed your attention
- Release it
- Return to following the guided cues
By having a process that you follow when this occurs can keep you from the negative self-talk that easily arises when your awareness wanders - "I suck at meditating." or "I'll never get this right." By shaming ourselves, we are creating a response to a natural occurrence in meditation that can lead us to resent or not enjoy meditation in the way we are meant to. Next time your mind wanders and you use this strategy, let me know how it goes for you!
I wish you all a great "new morning, this being seen again, new and newly alive", from David Whyte's beautiful poem that ends this month's discussion. Thank you all, and I hope you enjoyed.
Sadie
de la Mora, G. & Kraus, M. (no date). Are you one of them? The vast majority of Americans are frazzled by something at work. Retrieved on July 6, 2020 from https://www.delamora.life/mindfulness-sound.
The blessing of the morning light to you,
may it find you even in your invisible
appearances, may you be seen to have risen
from some other place you know and have known
in the darkness and that that carries all you need.
May you see what is hidden in you
as a place of hospitality and shadowed shelter,
may that hidden darkness be your gift to give,
may you hold that shadow to the light
and the silence of that shelter to the word of the light.
May you join all of your previous disappearances
with this new appearance, this new morning,
this being seen again, new and newly alive.
-David Whyte
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