Sound, Silence, and Nature: An Exploration in Deep Listening
Written by Kirstie Kleine Jaeger
Welcome to the second edition of Notes from the Sierra: a monthly offering born from the voices within our own community.
This series is a space for the wisdom of lived experience, the elemental insights that shape our work, and the inspiration we draw from the mountains, forests, and beyond. Each month, someone from our teaching, guiding, or creative circles will share a reflection—a story, a lesson, a moment of relationship with nature or Self.
The only parameters we offer: make it honest. Make it from the heart. Make it real. Rooted in place, shared in the spirit of connection.
Read on for our second entry from Kirstie Kleine Jaeger of INNER ETHER…
April 3, 2026
Have you ever walked into a forest and felt something shift? The trees, the wind, water somewhere nearby, the silence between all of it.
Maybe your shoulders drop, your breath slows, and you feel a sense of calm without having done anything to get there.
Sound is working on us all the time. We just don't always notice.
Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing, and the field of forest therapy that grew from it, have been studying this for decades. Time spent in nature, simply listening and being present with all the senses, lowers cortisol, slows the heart rate, and promotes relaxation. The body responds to sound long before the mind catches up.
Photo provided by Kirstie Kleine Jaeger
Sound Reaches Places Words Cannot
Sound doesn’t need the thinking mind to have an effect on us.
Rhythm regulates the heartbeat. Resonance loosens tension the body has been holding, sometimes for a very long time. This is why a song can bring tears before you've had time to register feeling sad, and why sitting near moving water can feel like something is being rinsed through you.
Sound has a unique ability to move what's stored in the body. Emotion, tension, grief, things we carry around without realizing. In the right conditions, the body is given permission to simply receive, and sometimes, to release.
Photo provided by Kirstie Kleine Jaeger
A Sound Ceremony and What It Offers
A sound ceremony is a communal act of deep listening.
An inquiry into sound, vibration, and the stillness that lies beneath.
The sounds of instruments like crystal singing bowls, drums, gongs, chimes, and more are often used to create a field of resonance that the body can soften into. It's not uncommon to experience emotional or physical release, the kind that can feel like grief and relief arriving at the same time.
Last summer I led a breath and sound journey in Yosemite with the Balanced Rock community. Nestled within the beautiful mountains and forest, I felt the power of deep listening in nature.
Photo provided by Kirstie Kleine Jaeger
The Role of Silence
The most underestimated aspect of sound healing lives in the space in between.
In the transitions, the spaciousness between sounds, the silence.
Nada meditation is an ancient practice built on the understanding that all of existence arises from sound. Through deep listening, sound becomes a pathway into stillness. It's in that quiet where the deeper settling can happen.
Often, it's the silence that moves people most.
A Deep Listening Practice for Your Next Walk
Next time you’re out on a walk, find somewhere to pause, sit or stand, and close your eyes.
Next time you're out on a walk, find somewhere to pause, sit or stand, and close your eyes. Start by simply noticing what you hear. Don't label or analyze the sounds, just let them arrive. The birds, the wind, the crunch of leaves, the distant water. Let each sound come and go without following it anywhere.
Then go a layer deeper. Notice the silence between sounds. The pause after you hear a bird, the space between gusts of wind. See if you can listen into that space as much as the sounds themselves.
After a few minutes, bring your attention inward. Notice what's happening in your body. Your breath, any tension, any sense of ease. You might find that the external listening has opened something internally too.
This is deep listening, and it’s available to you anywhere, anytime you're able to slow down enough. We’re always in relationship with sound. This is your invitation to listen more deeply, to the sounds around and within.
MEET KIRSTIE
Kirstie Kleine Jaeger is a certified trauma-informed breathwork and sound facilitator based in NYC. She is the founder of INNER ETHER, a practice where breath and sound meet to guide the body into remembrance.
She is currently deepening her practice through forest therapy training, drawn to co-creating with nature and the practice of deep listening. She approaches her work as both a student and guide.
Kirstie offers group breathwork journeys, sound ceremonies, and 1:1 sessions in NYC and virtually.
View upcoming experiences at inner-ether.com / @innerether