Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott.
Well you can probably hear the pitter patter of rain on my umbrella.
It's quite late in the evening and the mist has come down here on Dartmoor.
I'm actually just walking through my village at the moment.
I just said to my husband I really need to get out and have a little bit of air and it took me about half an hour because I kept looking out of the window hoping the rain might past on by but it's been here all day and it's continuing late into this evening and tonight so I just thought I'm just going to go out and I'll be getting wet so I'll take my umbrella with me and you know I've had a really wonderful day today and I just want to talk about the power of being heard because it feels as though I have been heard and there were two meetings I went to one was with a group of people in Devon that meet up I would say probably three or four times a year.
We're all really interested in the three principles and we all like to support each other with what we're doing in the world,
Whether we're coaches or dieticians or homeopaths or working in museums.
It doesn't matter.
We just like to come together and support each other.
And I was with this group this morning just listening to what people were saying about what they were doing.
And then I spoke and I felt really held and listened to and heard as I spoke.
And there's something so powerful,
And I forget about it until I'm in that place myself.
There's something so powerful about being heard,
Not being rushed,
About not feeling that somebody else wants to take on the baton of the conversation,
That somebody's not interrupting you or telling you that they know what you mean.
Somebody is just being present or a group is just being present and allowing you to speak.
So for me this morning it was very much like that and then this afternoon I had a smaller group conversation with my supervision group.
So I have a,
As a coach,
I have supervision or we provide supervision together as a group.
And once again I was in a group of people that know how to listen And really importantly,
Know not to get involved in stories.
And I was able to speak really freely about some of the challenges I feel,
Maybe some of the judgments I feel when I'm working.
And I was able in this space just to lay them out without trying to explain or excuse or edit myself.
But they knew genuinely I wanted to understand something in myself.
And they were a rock solid space of listening for me as I found my way in the conversation.
And so today is just a reminder of the importance of listening and being heard.
And I wonder sometimes how often we have these opportunities to be deeply heard.
Heard so that we can speak with freedom.
Heard so that we can speak and talk about maybe some of the things,
Certainly for me in my life,
That I might think,
I should be better than that by now.
I shouldn't have these feelings of judgment.
I shouldn't be getting frustrated with myself or others.
But there's something so releasing and freeing about just being given the space to speak out loud and you are not judged in that space.
And for me,
What happened,
I began to see through the stories I was telling myself.
I landed back in a place of love and I truly deeply saw that as I was being heard,
I was able to navigate my way back on that breadcrumb trail,
That thread that I was able to pull myself back all the way back to a space of love.
And you see,
When I feel back in that place of love,
Then I know I am in a grounded space and I know I can find my way in the world.
I can navigate whatever life throws at me because I can just move forward with love,
From love.
If you are able to listen to someone today,
Just give them that opportunity of being heard.
No judgment,
No advice,
No fixing.
Just listen and love them.
It doesn't matter what they say.
It doesn't matter if they feel better or if they've got answers to their problems.
Just listen and just see how you might be able to provide that wonderful non-judgmental space to another human being.
I tell you what,
Being on the receiving end of it today has been truly special.
I can't recommend it enough.
Let me know your reflections on the power of listening,
Whether it's you as a listener or what it's like for you when you feel deeply heard.
What is that like?
And don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
