Inner Practice Series: Listen like a Sponge
A lot of times when we are listening to others talking, we are already long drifted away in our thoughts or are judging what the other person is saying and formulating a reply or a rebuttal against what was heard. This is in fact not real listening because there is no full attention given to the person talking or the subject of matter.
Listening like a sponge is also known as absorptive listening. It is a kind of mindfulness training and it is a skill that takes time to learn. It requires the mind and the body to be still and then holding this stillness within, the words that are spoken to you are well taken in in the midst of the noises and distractions from the external world as well as the chaos from your own inner landscape.
Such absorptive listening not only develop the quality of giving - giving of full attention to the person talking, but also trains one to give equanimity to the difficult voices in your own mind. You’re your own delusional inner voices say things like “you can’t do it”, “you are a failure”, with the practice of absorptive listening, you can be aware of these voices, but neither believing it nor reacting to it.
Further reading:
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Why Everything Cold is Discouraged during Menstruation
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