My mindfulness today was done by listening to podcasts in town. I was in the relatively busy marketplace, with cars going past and people chatting, so I decided to do some work on mindfulness of noise.
I listened to a podcast called How to Meditate with Noise: A 3-Minute Practice for Anywhere by mindful (linked to in this article). I listened to it with one earphone in and one ear free to act as a microphone, picking up the noises I could hear (an ambulance screaming into the distance, chatting people, a motorbike growling past) and focusing on simply listening and not trying to identify them.
The sun felt so warm on my back while I was sitting in the marketplace, and it reminded me of the sensation I get from loving-kindness meditations, so I decided to listen to one of those too.
I listened to Loving-Kindness Meditation from Sharon Salzberg – The Mindful Practice Podcast from mindful (on Soundcloud here, transcript here). It was more instructive, describing the steps that make up a loving-kindness meditation rather than slowly guiding me through one. I listened to the podcast and then followed the instructions, silently repeating thoughts that described my kind wishes towards myself as I walked on to my next commitment.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I share joy with others.
May I have physical health.
May I feel calm.
I didn’t manage to attempt the visualisation section, but I will leave that for another time. I did find that doing the loving kindness meditation on the way to my next activity left me with a little more energy and ability to cope with a more testing person – indeed I have decided to use this person as someone to wish good things for when I next do the loving-kindness meditation described in the book Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions
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