Instructions:

• Find a quiet environment, indoor or outdoor, where you can sit or lie down comfortably. Prepare drawing paper, colours and a device that can play music. Choose a playlist or piece of music that you like and that has a relaxing or motivating effect on you.
• Close your eyes and start the music. Bring your attention to the rhythm and flow of the melody. Breathe deeply and allow the music to enter your mental space. Focus on the feelings the music evokes in you, noticing how it affects your emotional state and mental energy. Relax into the sound and let the music guide you into a state of calm and concentration.
• Immerse yourself in the sound experience. Concentrate on the variations of the melody and the rhythm and try to focus on any kind of image or picture that the music evokes, helping it develop and becoming gradually clearer in your mind.If you perceive that your body starts moving in tune with the music you're listening to, don't fight this urge: naturally follow the flow, trying to mentally record the ways the music is affecting you.
• Keep listening to the music, immersing yourself completely in the multi-sensorial experience. Be gentle with yourself and enjoy the moment of calm and concentration that the music offers.
• After listening, get your colours and paper and try to draw the images that appeared during your listening experience. Be spontaneous! This drawing is a gift that you make to yourself: there's no judgment, no evaluation, only freedom and appreciation.

Advice:

This activity is inspired by SQUILT – Super Quiet Un-Interrupted Listening Time – a method based on immersive listening, used in musical pedagogy for enhancing music appreciation in children and youngsters, that is increasingly inspiring educational activities for adults, too. More info here: squiltmusic.com. 

If you like it, you can combine the activity with journaling, noting down the way that different listening experiences affected you. You may use a revised version of the SQUILT chart: divide a page in 4 quarters, each devoted to tracing down Listening (e.g. What did I notice in the music? Was it instrumental/with words? Was the tempo slow/fast? Which instruments were playing? etc.); Body (e.g. What kind of physical reactions did I perceive? How was my heartbeat? Did I move, and if so, what did I do? etc.); Visual (e.g. Did I see anyone/anything while listening, and if so who/what? Did they change/remain the same? Which colours were more present? etc.); Mood (e.g. How did I feel while listening? Did I notice any change, and if so of what kind? etc.)

If you have less time at your disposal, you can try a variation of the activity by doodling/drawing directly during your listening experience.