I meditated this morning and realized there were few if any sounds coming from the street outside my home. Traffic usually provides noise from cars and trucks as motorists make their way along the suburban road in Conshohocken, PA, some 14 miles outside of Philadelphia.

The Corona Virus must have deterred many of the drivers who are busy with their routine rounds. There were hardly any sounds from the tires meeting the road and the buzzing of the cars drifting by. My small borough is like a ghost town with hardly any traffic on the main thoroughfare of Fayette Street. I walk at least two miles a day and see other people exercising either alone while walking their dogs or pushing baby carriages. We are all silent until greeting each other with a smile. (Dogs included!)

The absence of noise that greeted me today was amazing. It was different from what I usually experienced. It was as pure as can be and fulfilling at the same time. I did nothing but let my senses take in the emptiness. I began to focus on my feet, my ankles, and then my legs as I let my mindfulness travel toward my thighs, my hips, and then onto my buttocks.

——————

I heard a grumbling sound and smiled inwardly as I realized my stomach was trumpeting its need to be fulfilled. My focus slowly made it toward the chest and then my back and I relished in the soothing calm and easiness that permeated my shoulders. They were relaxed, drooping, and resting in the peacefulness my awareness was providing my body, my mind, and my very spirit.

Silence can be golden if we listen to the sound coming from within!

My scanning stopped as I made my way to my head because I heard a car drive past. One lone car. It was a welcomed sound, one of which I was grateful to hear after placing my radar in the wild blue yonder to listen to anything passing by. The “nothingness” had opened my appreciation of the sense of hearing. I felt blessed. I felt rewarded. I felt one with the soundless nature this experience was offering to me.

This is what meditation is all about I finally realized. Focusing on the moment, the present moment and experiencing it without a thought, a worry, and a concern about anything except for right now.

And as importantly, enjoying that treasured moment  . . .

Now, let’s get coffee and experience the richness of that moment one mindful moment after another!

For another look at meditation outside my house please see Practice trashed at home.