Meditation for mindful listening.
Sit comfortably with a straight relaxed back or if you prefer lie down on the floor bending your knees and planting your feet about hip distance apart and allow your hands to rest gently on your belly.
Close your eyes,
Relax your temples,
Relax your jaw and relax your lips.
Moving your attention to your forehead see if you can soften and around your eyes especially that small part we tend to wrinkle up when we're concentrating.
Let all the tension go.
Lying here taking a deep breath in and in your own time letting a deep breath out.
With your hands gently resting on your belly notice the rise and fall,
The rise and the fall.
As your attention falls into the pattern of your breathing giving your full attention to your rhythmic breath.
Allow your shoulders to relax.
Let them soften releasing all the tension as you feel yourself begin to soften and melt and relax and tune into your breath and with each breath you take letting go just a little bit more.
Keep your focus on the breath returning again if your mind wonders and noticing where you feel the breath to be the most noticeable right now.
Is it strongest in the rise and fall of the belly of the diaphragm or in the expansion and contraction of the lungs under your ribcage or it might be the gentle air flowing through your nostrils and onto your top lip.
Wherever you feel it follow the breath all the way in to the end of the inhale and then as the breath comes to an end follow the breath all the way out.
And now as you lie here relaxing deeply and fully I'd like to draw your attention to how you listen to other people.
One of the things we most desire as human beings is to hear to be heard and to be fully understood and yet time and again in conversation with another person we rush to create our responses before they have even finished speaking.
We start to concern ourselves with what to say next with what our opinions are and with how to influence the other person.
Rarely do we fully listen.
How much more engaging would your conversations and interactions be with those you care about if you focused on what they are saying and not only their words but their tone their body language the subtle communications in the skin tone and their eye movements.
How much more would your conversation be valued if you practiced being a good listener if you were aware of when your mind had wondered and brought your attention back to the person speaking to you.
From now on see if you can set aside your own agenda when talking with someone and really listen to what they have to say.
Listen without jumping in without cutting them off without following a scenario in your mind.
Practicing being an attentive listener can have major benefits for all involved.
It allows a sense of non-judgment and an opportunity to better appreciate the other person's point of view without the need to criticize to rescue or to fix the perceived problem.
In time it can lead to much fuller relationships with not only those you care about but with colleagues and acquaintances too.
You can cultivate this art of mindful attentive listening by focusing on the sounds around you.
Right now in this meditation you can begin to focus on what you can hear taking it all in noticing those small sounds around you.
And now I want you to expand your awareness from the breath and the sound of my voice to the sounds around you.
They could be outside in the distance or within the building you're lying in.
Being receptive to all sounds around you.
The sounds of life awakening your senses.
Tuning into subtle sounds.
Loud sounds.
Sounds in the distance.
Sounds that are nearby.
Perhaps there are some sounds that appear and disappear.
The sound of silence.
You may notice the instinct to label the sound that you hear.
See if it is possible to notice what arises around you without giving a name,
Without labeling the sound or the noise.
Just tune into the soundtrack surrounding you and in you.
Open to all sounds around you letting them wash through you.
And now gently relax your attention on the sounds.
And in the same way as you have focused on the sounds around you the next time you were in conversation and the other person is speaking make listening the only thing you are doing.
Listen not just for information but also for the feeling,
The meaning and the intention.
Listen mindfully.
Make listening your only focus.
And now when you are ready I want you to gently come back to the room.
Come back to your body and when you're ready wiggle your fingers and toes and allow your eyes to slowly open.
