A common hurdle faced by 21st century meditators is the issue of noise pollution. You settle down, set your timer, perhaps play a recording of a guided meditation. You’re really beginning to feel yourself fall into pure concentration when all of a sudden you hear a car horn. Or a dog barking. Or someone starts the washing machine.

It happens to me everyday. Today, however, I decided to try something other than just bringing my attention to my breathing. I decided to broaden my awareness and make the ambient sounds around me the focus of my meditation.

The rules were simple

1) I wasn’t allowed to strain my ears. I wasn’t allowed to ‘reach’ for a sound

2) I wasn’t allowed to focus on one sound at the exclusion of all else

3) I also had to be aware of the how the resonance of the sound made my body feel

I quickly realized how many ambient noises occurred in my immediate environment that I was filtering out. I heard the hum of electricity (this created a tingling almost buzzing sensation throughout my whole body). I heard footsteps in the apartment above me (this lead me to sit up straighter and try to deduce which of the occupants of the apartment it was based on the heaviness of their step. However, when I noticed that I was doing this I stopped. I didn’t want to focus on intellectual reasoning while meditating). I also noticed the text alert noise of my previously mentioned neighbours’ phones (even identifying two distinct text alert sounds. A different one for each phone. The text alert sounds I found made my heart rate briefly spike. I found it unpleasant, and intend to investigate this further)

I was also made keenly aware of the wind outside of my apartment. The sound was consistently present but always changing.

After several minutes of letting my mind acknowledge each sound and then moving on I decided to try holding all the sounds in my head at once. As if I were in the centre of an accidental orchestra.

I started with holding the electrical hum as this was the only one of the sounds that was perfectly consistent. Also, I liked the buzzing sensation it gave my body. I then added the wind since it was ever present. Holding these two sounds in my head was very rewarding and unlike what I had anticipated. I was eager for another footstep or text alert so I can add the auditory spike to my accidental orchestra. However, as soon as either came I lost focus on the consistent sounds, plus the footsteps or text alerts were only present for a moment so I couldn’t really ‘hold them’.

Once my timer went off and I stopped my meditation I reflected on the 2007 film August Rush. It’s the story of an orphaned musical prodigy who blindly ‘follows the music’ while looking for his parents.

I was reminded in particular of a scene where he enters New York City for the first time and is bombarded by all of the sounds around him. However, his brilliant musical mind organizes it all into a ‘street symphony’. You can watch the scene below

I myself am no musical genius. The height of my powers were holding two sounds in mind, and even then I wasn’t organizing them. Just being aware. But I am curious, is phenomenon like in the above clip possible? Can working on your working memory in regards to sound allow you to hold more of them in your head. Will musical theory or experience help you shape these sounds?

Comment below if you have any insight to any of these questions. Or if you yourself are familiar with this sensation or even routinely experience this.