It starts with listening
Click here to listen to Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet – Riding Bicycles Through the Muddy Streets
You were curious enough to open this link, right? And while you listened, you experienced a short moment of concentration, of focus. A moment where past and future did not matter, a moment where you were just listening.
There are not many times where we are surrounded by complete silence. And even then it is probably the smallest sound that will make us fully aware of the silence: the scream of a bird, the closing of a door, a rustle of the wind.
Being surrounded by sounds does not mean we always hear all of them. We are capable of filtering out background sounds, or even filtering out all sounds, until the unusual will warn us to pay attention: a barking dog, a siren, the doorbell. We are capable of applying a ‘judgement filter’, that can both make us extra vulnerable for annoying sounds, or make sure we shut these out. The judgment filter can also cause us to only hear our music and for example completely filter out the traffic outside our window.
disable the filters
With Music Listening Meditation, we try to disable the filters. We could just sit still and try to focus on all the sounds, near and far. It is an interesting practice, if you listen closely you might hear for example your breath, maybe your belly, your chair as you move, a bird close by, people talking, a bird far off, leaves in the wind, music from other places, cars, a plane. Keeping focus for a longer time can be very hard and it seems that the more sounds there are, the harder it is to continue to try and hear them all.
Music or “orchestrated sounds” make this a little easier, although two sessions of 20 minutes each can still feel long. I promise, over time it becomes easier!
It is important to open your mind and try to disable your filters. That includes the judgement filter. Of course it is perfectly okay to enjoy what you hear (please do!), but don’t let it carry you away. You can also get annoyed by sounds, but that too should not distract you from just listening. Stay curious always.
Okay, but why would we do this? For me, meditation is trying to reach a state where body & mind work together on a single focus. This can be by repeating a question, by following a guided meditation, by counting from 1 to 50 and back (yes, I have done that for many weeks and it is very boring and hard and frustrating how many times I would lose count), by watching a flower, or … by listening. Relaxation is what might follow from taking mind & body away from their usual affairs, or ‘buzz’ as I call it.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It is a journey for me, too, and I am happy to share my steps on the way with you. And to hear about your journey as well.
join a session in second life
When you join us for a session on Monday from 8-9 am SLT , or Wednesday from 12-1 pm SLT, all you have to do is take a seat and let the sounds be what they are, laid out for you, following one after the other. Almost like breathing.
We call it meditation, but never try too hard, let it happen and if something else happens … that is okay too!
Here is where we meet: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pelican%20Reef/31/156/22
You can read part 1 of my journey here: https://slmusiclab.com/2023/05/04/music-listening-meditation
Part 3: https://slmusiclab.com/2023/09/04/music-listening-meditation-3-we-listen/
Disclaimer: as you may have guessed, I am not a professional or even amateur meditation teacher. However, I strongly believe that there is a level of meditation that anyone can practice, in any given situation. To get away from the buzz.