For many of you in the healing and coaching community, this information may seem redundant, so I hope to put a twist on it to pique your playful side.
A lot has been said about listening- but what good does it really do?
Recently, I approached a client about enhancing her listening skills. Her retort was, “I don’t want to spend my time listening to someone else!” Oh, how true! Maybe we only truly listen because we are paid for it!
What if we forget about listening to someone rattle on about their miserable lives, the defaulting romances, the fantastic adventure that is more fiction than truth? What if we just listen to our inner guidance and forget about the rest of it???
Can we just turn our inner guidance on and off like a light switch? For those of you who can do that- great! How long did it take you to learn how to do that and what steps did you have to take to accomplish push button intuition?
For the rest of us, we have to slowly and deliberately pry open a crack in the window of intuition and entice words of wise guidance from that discreet, secret chamber within us. It takes active and constant practice, faith and trust in the information we receive. How can we trust the information coming to us has not gone though the distorting filters of the Window Crack-Keeper? After all, we are threatening his job!!
How can be we build this inner trust in ourselves?
I shudder to say it, but by listening consciously to other people. However, as your friend rambles on about some political scandal that holds no interest for you, you can practice listening for the wisdom carefully disguised in her words, and for the little nudges that come into your mind, whispers to interrupt her monologue and probe deeper to what secret beliefs lie beneath. This action is totally selfish- simply to validate the tiny wisp of insight that slipped past Window Crack-Keeper.
Stopped in her tracks, your fluent friend’s attention is diverted for a quick inner look. Not accustomed to tapping into her inner world, the person quickly hops on the back on the next passing thought, and is back into another description filled with colorful judgments.
Once again, a hint escapes through the Window of intuition, and you interrupt her with another question. This upsets her progress and she falls into a halting gait, pondering your latest insight.
This can become a game for you! And you are getting practice at listening to what is beyond the sound of words and receiving confidence building validation for your inner wisdom. The window is opening.
If you would like some entertainment at your next party, play with this. You never know where it will take you. You might even engage in an authentic conversation and learn things about your friends, family or even strangers that you never knew!!
And for that person who always wants to dominate your conversations, suggest a free mini-course on the Art of Conscious Listening, to be found at www.elained.com.
Seeking her whole life for a 'cure' to psoriasis, Elaine discovered the 'key' for her was in her spiritual connections with her Divine Self and Spirit Guides. From there energy 'trickles' down into the physical. She has extensive knowledge about many healing modalities; her favorite is Eastern philosophies. She is a Spiritual Midwife, Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, Breema© Practitioner, Soul Realignment™ Practitioner, Health and Life Coach, Licensed Tax Consultant and Business Owner. For more detailed information about Elaine, go to her website: www.elained.com and her blogs: http://spiritualmidwife.wordpress.com and http://gettingperspective.wordpress.com