Mindful Listening

Overview

Like guided meditation, mindful listening is not the same as simple, silent, still meditation. Mindfulness is the deliberate, cognitive, compassionate interaction with one’s everyday life situations. It is a deliberate reaction to the mindless, automatic, removed response to life that many in our culture have adopted as part of our “survival” and what we term the “busyness” of our lives.

Mindfulness is: paying attention, in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. (Kabat-Zinn, 1990) An awareness of one’s conduct and the quality of one’s relationships, inwardly and outwardly, in terms of their potential to cause harm, are intrinsic elements of the cultivation of mindfulness. (Kabat-Zinn, 2011)

Mindfulness is a deliberate slowing, of every one of our interactions and tasks, so as to “notice” and respond to them. St Benedict called it “listening with the ear of your heart” to your world. It’s not about being a busy-body: it is being alert to the signs of the times, so that we can respond with the head, heart and hands of Christ.

Mindful Listening Exercise

Sensory Reflection Exercise

You can either wander, or rest quietly to do the following:

What do I see?(Take in the view) Repeat to yourself: I see....; I see.....; I see ...until you cannot add anything. Be amazed how much you can see: from the small to the grand scale! We need to retrain our minds to “mindfully” take in all that is around us!

What insight (internal seeing) does this exercise give me?

What do I hear?(Take time to listen to the sounds around you) Repeat: I hear....; I hear...; I hear... until you cannot add anything. Be amazed at what you can hear when you are still. What am I hearing in my heart as a result of doing this exercise?

What do I smell? (Take time to smell the environment around you.) Take some deep breaths and feel the air coming in your nostrils and then coming out of your body through your mouth. Then repeat to yourself: I smell....I smell.... I smell.... What is the smell of God?

What do I feel?Take time to feel the environment around you: by touch; through the soles of your feet; through your skin; your face; heat, cold, rough; smooth; wet, dry. What does this experience leave me feeling inside?

BEin the moment and give thanks to God for the gifts of creation.

Stop and hold your hand on something from nature and offer a spontaneous word or prayer of gratitude.