The Art of Listening

How many of us really listen?

Do we simply wait for someone to stop talking to begin speaking?

Or perhaps we can’t wait for the speaker to stop and begin talking?

Perhaps the problem arises because we have so much in our head that the continual chatter bubbles over into speech.

Can you stop your mind chatter?

If you can’t, then chances are you are not listening.

We could class the chatter of the mind as a western mans disease. As we travel through life, we gather thoughts, emotions - usually resulting in anxiety or a lack of ease within our being. All this means too much internal noise and the inability to listen properly.

Words are often a somewhat limited way of communicating; words don’t always fit the emotion wanting to be expressed.

If you can develop true listening you will “hear” what the person is really trying to say and it may lie under the words used.

Practise with nature - take a walk in the bush and see if you can listen to the sounds. When you are really listening there will be no thought operating; simply space. Try hard to tune in to that space and you will truly “hear” and feel connected with to the sound.

It takes practise to develop the Art of listening. But once you achieve it, you will find that the communication in your life will improve dramatically.