mindfulness meditation with the goal of scanning the soundscape from internal to progressively larger spheres. mindfulness in this context implies an attempt to change one’s perspective from looking though the senses to looking at the senses. observe how you observe things, pay attention to how the experience of sound changes over time, how some sounds have a texture, how some sounds are the signs of other things happening, which can cause reveries, and so on.
go outside
start by getting set up outside. it’s certainly possible to do this indoors, but there’s an obvious limit on the distance of sounds you can hear. I enjoy standing in the middle of my pasture when doing this exercise. for a visual reference to where I typically stand, scroll around in the photosphere below.
your mileage may vary on location. some places that are more distant will have sparser sounds, especially in the winter. some locations will have a source of noise very close by, like a highway, which can limit the distance you can hear. every soundscape has something to teach, so please be open to the sounds around you.
get ready to listen
the specifics are yours. the subtleties of this process are not the point. there are many routes that lead to the same outcome here. I like to begin with my eyes closed. I find it easier to focus on the sounds around me when I’m not looking. vision is so ingrained as our primary sense, that it can be useful to isolate it and just listen. but if you find this distracting or counterproductive, please find your own way.
for a start, try setting a timer for 10 minutes. this is enough time to get a feel for the exercise. if you enjoy it, jump in for longer. the longer you listen, the more infrequent sounds you’ll hear.
listen
begin by picking a sound the emanates from your own person. ideas for this include: the sound of air in your nose as you breathe, the sound your heart beating, the sounds of digestion, whatever you can find that helps. listen to this for some time, being careful to only focus on it. stay close. imagine walking in a dark forest with only a candle to light the way. only the most closest sounds should be audible in the light cast by that metaphoric candle.
transcend
it’s easy to say, harder to do, but the soundscape should facilitate this. transcend the inner most audible space and listen outside that. listen to your immediate surroundings. imagine a series of concentric spheres. again this will vary depending on your actual surroundings. try to notice your original sound from the inner space while you find the next layer. some examples are the sound of leaves blowing in the wind, the wind itself, nearby birds, pets, rain drops, etc. stay in this new layer for some time also. try to mentally isolate the sounds. note if they vary in intensity over time. if the wind is blowing, can you hear it before you feel it? are there sounds which are correlated with other sounds?
repeat
continue to repeat the transcend step, extending the range you are listening for each time. when your timer goes off, you should be straining to hear the most distant sounds possible in your location. some examples are road noise, lawnmowers, airplanes, gun fire, church bells, trains, tugboats, etc.
pay attention
let the sounds wash over you. consider their sources, what stories they tell. can you put something together that you didn’t realize about your environment? if you find your mind wandering off the task at hand, you should be joyful that you caught it, not upset for wandering. joyful that you woke up and noticed you were off task. this is the mode you want to encourage, so that you will simply keep going.
one aspect of paying attention for me is connecting the sounds with my mental model of the space I’m in. I am looking for anything that violates this model, or even those things that fill in details. I can hear sporadic rifle fire outside right now because it’s rifle season for deer. but don’t stop there. specifically, the hunters are zeroing in their rifles, taking shots every few minutes, following looking through a spotting scope to see exactly where the bullet hit, and then making adjustments to the sights.
by the end of the exercise, you should be focused on listening out into infinity, grabbing anomalous bits and fitting them into your mental model.
exaptation
exaptation is the repurposing of a trait that evolved for a specific purpose for some other purpose. in our case, use the skill of transcending that you develop by listening further out, to help pull yourself out of your senses, out of your head, any time you feel the need. this exercise could also be done by sight as well.