What is Mindful Listening and how can it help us?

I had a powerful revelation this past week after a low point, where I felt the limitations of my own judgement and fear. I could feel that it was literally preventing me from doing ALL the various things I wanted to accomplish, creatively and in service to others. I had to take some focused time of self care and introspection to accept these controlling, judgmental, fearful parts of myself.

JUDGEMENT.
CONTROL.
FEAR.

What would you gain in YOUR life if you could befriend this part of yourself, notice that part and soften around it by using curiosity and playfulness, not pushing it away? There are infinite perspectives to one truth, as in the analogy of five blind men trying to describe what they are touching (the elephant). We know what we know, and we know what we don’t know. But we don’t know what we don’t know. Judgement is rigid and stunts growth. How can we come back to a basic practice of awareness, and how does this soften the hold that these three forces can have on us?

Mindful Listening is a way to practice listening in a mindful way. Mindfulness is a practice of engaging the observational mind to notice what is occurring in the present moment without judging it. When we apply this to listening in particular, we can notice the sounds all around us, short and long, high and low, pleasing and not pleasing, constantly changing, and observe with curiosity, without limiting it with judgement. Like all mindfulness, lifting off judgement and adding enjoyment, playfulness, curiosity, helps the practitioner to stay in the present moment, not to get stuck within their own preferences of sound, and appreciate all that is.

You can do your OWN PRACTICE TODAY (right now?) by simply setting a timer for 5-20 minutes and closing your eyes, asking yourself: What am I hearing right now?  Just notice, with curiosity. enJOY!!!

 I wish you CURIOSITY and PLAY in practicing what helps you lift off judgement and control this week. 

Have a deep listening week.