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In part 1 we looked at how seeing can help you develop a more spiritual side to yourself. Now we continue with that theme by exploring hearing.

There is seldom ever a time that any of us can experience complete quiet. Our hearing is important to us in many ways yet just like when we are seeing our brains filter out the many sounds that surround us. In this post we will explore how we can learn to hear the sounds around us.

Stop doing anything, sit still and listen

It is better that you stop what you are doing right now so you can concentrate on the listening. This is not vital but it will help. When you are used to doing this exercise you might find you can continue with what you are doing and still hear the sounds around you.

Start with the distant sounds

What can you hear that is a long way away? Perhaps a car on a road or a bird singing in a tree? These are noises on the edge of your hearing – not the ones close to you. The may be the hardest to hear but you need to start with them.

Name the sounds

Now try and name the sounds you can hear. If it is a car then just think quietly to yourself that it is a car. You must name the sounds throughout this exercise.

What kind of sound is it?

What kind of sound is it? Is it mechanical or natural? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Is it musical or not?

Now think about the noises in your room

I want you now to move your attention into the room in which you are sitting. You will still be aware of the distant noises but now they do not matter to you. What noises can you hear in your room? Name the noises and think about what kind of noise they are. Try to hear as many as you can.

Now think about your own noises

You might think that you don’t make any noise but you do – and I’m not just talking about the unpleasant ones here! Can you hear your breathing? Is your stomach making any noises? Listen as hard as you can to these noises.

Here we end the exercise

This exercise can be a great introduction into prayer and meditation. We are not going there now but feel free to explore.

Hearing is helpful but can be distracting

There are many noises to enjoy in life but noise can also drive us to distraction. Practice listening every now and then but also try to learn the skill of stopping listening. We can’t shut our ears like we can shut our eyes but our brains can help us to stop most noises from being a distraction to us.

Be kind to others

I just want to add a last request to be thoughtful of other people with the noises you make – I’m thinking about things like mobile phones and mp3 players etc. by the way. We can’t help making noise and sometimes they are important to our work or our sanity. But have a care for other people who will also hear your noise.