Mindful listening

SHARED FROM:

Ozum Ucok, Transparency, communication and mindfulness;

Journal of Management Development Vol. 25 No. 10, 2006 pp. 1024-1028

 

Directions for mindful listening shared from Ozum Ucok, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA:

• Begin by bringing your attention to your breathing and to your body
• Follow your breath as it enters and leaves your body
• Notice how your breath moves in your body
• Practice this for a couple minutes or until your mind starts to get quiet
• Acknowledge how your body feels
• As you exhale, release the tension and relax your body
• Relax your jaw, your face, shoulders
• Place one hand on your chest and other on your belly.  This helps to maintain your awareness on your breath
• Now you are ready to listen
• As you listen, keep connected to your breath
• Whenever a thought comes up, acknowledge it as a thought and come back to your breath and listening
• If you find strong emotions coming up as you listen which make listening difficult, acknowledge the emotion, breathe and come back to listening
• If you notice that you were lost in thought for a while and were distracted, just notice it; gently come back to your breath and to the listening practice
• stay with your breath, to stay present, and to receive
• Provide minimal verbal feedback to maintain the conversation and focus mostly on nonverbal feedback
• With repeated practice, you will find that it becomes easier to stay present and attentive