Health & Fitness
Enjoy the Sounds of Your Croton-Ossining Summer
Croton Yoga Instructor and Patch Blogger Elisha Fernandes writes about how listening to the sounds the summertime.
The sounds of summer…what does that make you think of? Crashing waves on the beach. Splash of the water as you dive into the river, sand moving between your toes, bees buzzing, sizzling sound of the grill, laughter…so many amazing sounds.
In a recent thoughtful and mindful teacher training with Little Flower Yoga, we learned a meditation that encourages us to listen to sound. Each layer of sound is unearthed, and the attention is focused distinctly on the sounds permeating throughout that area. What was unique about this meditation was that instead of immediately recognizing it with a label as I did in the first paragraph, we were encouraged to listen and to express what the sound was, through words, sounds and movements. Try it out…
Take a comfortable seat. Settle down a space that you really enjoy being, either in your own backyard, outside, by the Croton River, or anywhere else you feel safe and relaxed. We will be here for a little while.
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Take a deep relaxing breath in through your nose, and out through your nose. Breathe in deeply, comfortably and fully. Release all if it out through your nose. Do this a few times until you feel at ease.
Now, open your ears and listen to the farthest sound you can hear. Try not to strain your body, but softly, just quiet yourself and listen. What type of sound is it? What does it make you feel like? Continue to listen for the next minute or so….
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Bring in the scope of your listening realm a little closer. Listen. What sounds do you hear? How do they feel? Keep listening for another minute….
Listen to the immediate area around your body for the next minute…
Turn the scope of the listening within your body, as if you have turned your ears to the inside of your body. Bring all the awareness inside of you. Listen to your breath, the sounds of your insides…what do you hear? Feel? Smell? Taste? One more minute here…
Taking your time, slowly take a deep breath in your nose and let it slowly release out your nose. Begin to move your body to bring back your awareness. Slowly bow your head down, turn the corners of your mouth up, and open your eyes.
Enjoy the sounds of summer
Namaste
Elisha Fernandes Simpson CKYT, RYT, aka laughing hearts yoga teaches family and kids (ages 7 -18) yoga and organizes free bi-weekly yoga classes for people with breast cancer. Become a friend on Facebook's laughing hearts yoga page.
