Skip to main content

Mindfulness Of Sounds And Thoughts

Mindfulness Of Sounds And Thoughts is an exercise taken from the Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion audio collection. Some people find that mindfulness practices which focus on an anchor within the body may initially feel less comfortable than practices which use an external anchor. This short mindfulness exercise introduces the listener to the practice of mindful attention by focusing on the sounds around them.

Download or send

Choose your language

Audio track (MP3)

A therapy audio track designed for skills development.

Audio script (PDF)

The script for a therapy audio track. Read along with an exercise, or record in your own voice.

Tags

Languages this resource is available in

  • English (GB)
  • English (US)

Techniques associated with this resource

Introduction & Theoretical Background

Core to compassion focused therapy (CFT) is the ability to notice and engage in distress, and then to take wise action to relieve or prevent it. An important first step in doing this is through attention training and mindfulness, which help us to develop skills in noticing, turning towards, and engaging in things that might be painful or distressing.

Mindfulness Of Sounds And Thoughts is an exercise taken from the Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion audio collection. Some people find that mindfulness practices which focus on an anchor within the body may initially feel less comfortable than practices which use an external anchor. In this introductory mindfulness exercise the listener is guided through the process of focusing their awareness on a variety of targets including sounds around them.

Therapist Guidance

The Psychology Tools For Developing Self-Compassion audio collection is for anyone who wants to learn more about the ideas and practices of compassion focused therapy. It has been designed to be versatile, so it is suitable to support work with therapists who have been trained in compassion focused therapy, or to be used as a stand-alone collection of exercises. To assist the integration of the exercises into their clinical work, therapists can download the scripts for each exercise and use them in-session.

Individual tracks from the audio collection can be downloaded as .MP3 files, which can be played in most media player apps.

The simplest way to share an audio track with your clients is by using the Psychology Tools ‘Email a client’ function. After obtaining their consent, you can send it directly from this page by clicking ‘Send securely to my client’. Your client will receive a secure email containing a unique link, and when they click the link, they will be prompted to download the .MP3 file onto their device.

References And Further Reading

  • Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology53(1), 6-41.
  • Gilbert, P. (2020). Compassion: From its evolution to a psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 3123.
  • Irons, C., & Beaumont, E. (2017). The compassionate mind workbook: A step-by-step guide to developing your compassionate self. Robinson.
  • Irons, C., & Heriot‐Maitland, C. (2021). Compassionate Mind Training: An 8‐week group for the general public. Psychology and psychotherapy: Theory, research and practice94(3), 443-463.
  • Leboeuf, I., Andreotti, E., Irons, C., Beaumont, E., & Antoine, P. (2022). A randomized controlled study of a French compassionate mind training. Mindfulness13(11), 2891-2903.
  • Savari, Y., Mohagheghi, H., & Petrocchi, N. (2021). A preliminary investigation on the effectiveness of compassionate mind training for students with major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness12(5), 1159-1172.