Inner World of Yoga – Day 10
Inner World of Yoga Day 10
By Wendy Kolanz
True Listening – The Art of Experiencing
True Listening Text Version
Have you ever had the experience of meeting someone and being fully engrossed in that initial conversation? So much so, that you actually forgot yourself? It doesn’t happen often.
True Listening is the art of experiencing another with no agenda, no dialogue within you, or silently composing your reply.
When we are in conversation we seldom really listen to what the other is saying. We hear words, and instantly form opinion, have judgment, compose our reply. This all goes on in our mind during the time the other is speaking.
In true listening, we develop the art of experiencing the other through our senses, with no mental dialogue.
This kind of total immersion in experience is something we have all had. I have friend who is a gardener, and she commented that when she’s out there playing in the dirt, time flies. Before she knows it, 2 or 3 hours have passed and it seems like minutes. She has been totally engrossed in the sensory experience of the act of gardening. Everyone has similar experiences where they lose track of time.
In this practice of true listening I’m asking you to take this quality of total immersion in the sensory experience and apply it to your next conversation.
