Actively Listening to Yourself

More than ever, we are pulled into the area outside of our skin with high levels of stimulation and distraction. Bombarded with seductive and interesting energy, the more subtle, internal voices are drowned out.

The complex biological being upon which our heads sit has a voice. Its messages are drowned out by the “louder” stimuli that bombard our eyes, ears, taste buds and noses.

Our body connection, our sense of material being, connects us to every other form. The fact that molecules came together to form you and me underscores the fact that the very same molecules form everything else. To ignore our bodies, our inner experience, or to minimize its importance, is to miss the sense of unity of all forms.

So how do we actively listen? The brain can only process one message at a time. We can move rapidly among messages, but each impulse is discrete. This is why slowing down, breathing and some of the currently touted relaxation methods make sense. When we slow down, we’re making space to listen to ourselves one internal stimulus at a time. Quieting the mind and its mischief is a big part of hearing the body and making friends with yourself.

What does it feel like to occupy your body? What is it asking for? What is it trying to communicate? When we’re able to have this empathic connection with ourselves, it opens the door for profoundly different relationships with others.

With love,

Rosanne Bostonian