Whole Body Experience

Deep Listening

“Deep listening is more than hearing with our ears, but taking in what is revealed in any given moment with our body, our being, our heart.”
Susan McHenry

Most of us have a favorite sound—one that instantly calms us, brings us back to our center. We listen, and our brain waves entrain to the rhythms—whether that is waves lapping on a shoreline, birds singing morning songs, breezes rustling leaves, or actual music. We can even summon it in our minds, and just the imagination of it lulls and calms us.

There are certain places in the world that have a calming effect on us, too. When you ask people to go to their “happy place” they have no trouble doing it. They know exactly where it is and what it looks like—in detail. They can close their eyes and see it, smell it, feel the air and the sun or soft night on their skin. They can hear the sounds, even though they have not moved from their chair. Going to your happy place is a total body experience.

Deep listening is done with the whole body. We don't have to have super powers to listen deeply, but we do have to be “embodied.” We have to be fully present in our physical bodies. It might surprise you to know how rare that is; most of us live from the neck up unless we have trained ourselves to inhabit our bodies. A friend of mine does a whole body check-in every morning, beginning with his toes and working his way up to the top of his head. It is a good exercise; one way of getting in touch with parts of us we may never think about unless they hurt. Deep listening includes organs, viscera, blood vessels, muscles, bones; not just brains. Not only that, it includes our soul. How is my soul doing today? What does my heart have to tell me today? And then, listen to the answers—and act accordingly. How is your soul doing today?

In the Spirit,
Jane