Creating a Soundscape Meditation
Plant your feet, listen with your heart.

Soundscape mediations pull us right in to the present moment by inviting us to listen with our hearts, wherever we are.
I first learned about this calming, nervous system-regulating practice in the book Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana, and have found myself embracing it regularly ever since. Pausing to enjoy a soundscape invites us to slow down and appreciate the life swirling around us in the present moment. This pause practice also helps usher our nervous system from the “go, go, go” mentality to a place of calm, resting in the moment. It is a little snack break for our ears that nourishes the mind, body and spirit.
Exploring Soundscapes
Where to practice: Anywhere!
The summer months are the perfect time to try this out as we may find ourselves outside more often and in new places as we travel. This is also a great exercises to try out at a gathering, listening of sounds of community, when your home is in the motion of a daily routine, at the beach, a place you visit often, when you are at work, the grocery store, the gas station, at the barn, the animal shelter - seriously, anywhere.
We will start by imagining three “layers” of sound: the sounds that are the farthest away from you, the sounds closest to you, and the sounds in-between those two places, in the middle.
The Practice
Pause, wherever you are. You can stand or sit down.
Take a few deep, natural breaths.
If appropriate and safe, close your eyes or soften your focus.
Soften the jaw, drop the shoulders.
Feet, softly on the earth.
Settle.
Open your ears.
Tune in to the sounds farthest away from you. You don’ have to identify the sound, just listen. Let your attention dance to each sound.
Now, tune in a little closer, to the sound between you and the most distant sounds. What do you notice?
Move even closer, to the sounds of your breath. In. Out. Slow. Calm. Deeper still, your heartbeat. Your own music.
Imagine all three layers of sound together, like notes on a sheet of music, creating a symphony of this very moment, never to be experienced again. All sounds, together, floating in the ether, the pulse of life in the universe. Let the vibrations flow through you. All, together, one song.
Bring your palms together, express gratitude for this small moment, to acknowledge the gift that is the present.
Happy listening,
A.C.
Learn more about this practice in Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory by Deb Dana, Sounds True, 2021.