Posted on by Deborah Cook

Practice Mindful Listening

“To truly listen depends on a kind of inner silence. It requires that we empty ourselves and make space to receive something new. This entails a fundamental letting go of self-centeredness. We have to be willing to set aside our own thoughts, views, and feelings temporarily to truly listen. It’s a wholehearted, embodied receptivity that lies at the core of both communication and contemplative practice.”
– Oren Jay Sofer –

This world today. So much discord, human and climate driven disasters, spiraling out of control. How do we take it in and process, to find sustainable, perhaps even new, solutions? Can we, you and I, just take a moment to still ourselves and listen? Can we begin together, to hear the seed sounds of a new way? Starting close in, find a moment to settle into some silence, and listen. Maybe to the breath…..maybe to the heart beating….maybe to that knot of grief in the stomach. Begin with attending to this moment, with kind attention and compassion for yourself, to what is true, for you. If that’s a little too challenging in this moment, can you, in a moment of quiet, listen to the leaves rustling in the trees, the gurgling of a stream or the lapping of waves, or perhaps the geese making their way across the sky? Can we start there, centering to begin again from a place of mindful presence and a felt connection to all living beings?

“Paradoxically, being good at listening to others requires the ability to listen to yourself. If you can’t recognize your own beliefs and opinions, needs and fears, you won’t have enough inner space to really hear anyone else. So, the foundation for mindful listening is self-awareness.” (From Mindful.org).

“It takes practice to be a really good listener. We might start by listening like a baby does upon encountering a sound for the first time, with full curiosity and wonderment. Then, perhaps we listen like a child, noticing music, rhythm, and the variety of noises. Next, we expand our attention to tune in to the messages coming from all directions and multiple levels of experience.” (from Spirituality and Practice) And, of course, returning to the breath and centering back in the bodies as needed.

For a lovely mindful listening experience, link HERE

Finally, words of peace and the need for powerful listening here from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village community:

“ Let us create islands of non-violence and peace in our hearts, in our homes and beyond, via email, phone and video. Let us live every moment seeing those we think of as the enemy as not separate from ourselves—as our own blood, skin and bones—and let us not allow hatred to take over. Let us come back and take care of our feelings with calm and clarity, holding our sadness, fear, anger, and despair and resist the temptation to blame, punish, and have to choose a side. Let us generate compassion in our own hearts, and radiate it out in every direction to all experiencing great loss, fear and pain in this moment. The (most recent) war is complex and difficult to stop, but it is also impermanent. Its cessation now depends on our capacity, as human beings, to listen deeply, resist polarization and discrimination, and take concrete steps towards lasting reconciliation with love in our hearts.”
Peace. Shalom. Salam. Amani. Ashtee. Paix. Maluhia. Waki Qiwebis. Shanti. How do you say Peace?

If you are interested in a regular mindfulness practice, please join me weekly for my live-on-Zoom guided mindfulness practice sessions. In a friendly small group setting, we practice and learn together. The sessions are offered freely, donations are accepted, and appreciated. Join me Mondays at 6:30pm EST for some easy movement to ease out of the day and 7pm EST for a 25 min guided meditation. Contact me for more information! And please feel free to share this with others who might be interested! 🙏

✨✨Namaste, Deb Cook ✨✨

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