Listening Mindfully

Sometimes all that is required  of us is that we listen to what is being said. We don't need to comment, to offer an opinion, to agree or disagree or to offer a solution.  When we listen mindfully we are present with the speaker, not second guessing what they have to say, approving or disapproving their content or waiting for a gap to say something and thereby hijacking the conversation. We drop the notion of having to  influence or persuade or the need to alter their content in any way than it has been presented to us.

Often we stop listening because we have a voice in our own head that won't be silenced due to  the internal running commentary on our lives which  constantly judges, evaluates and works things out.  Sometimes we can't listen because of our own opinions and strong judgements, biases and even prejudices. Sometimes we don't listen because we are distracted by our own worries and concerns and sometimes we don't listen because we are so tired, so worn out that we just don't even have the energy to listen.

When we are truly listening we  give the speaker our full attention. We find stillness inside of us and remove the element of impatience, censorship, distraction and agitation. When we listen the speaker can hear themselves talk and that is maybe all they need from us, we might need to add very little because the very act of our listening has at some level been healing.

In Native American traditions there was the ritual known as the talking stick. When the person held the talking stick they were given  permission to speak and they held the full attention of the group with out being interrupted by others.. When we allow people to speak in groups without been interrupted, censored or ridiculed, we develop a capacity to have the patience to listen with respect and to value the truth of others not because we necessarily agree with them but because to speak your truth and to be witnessed is a basic human requirement.