Listening and Feeling Heard

In our current world, we are flooded with a torrent of messages. Our devices command our attention with texts, emails and various alerts and all want us to “pay attention to me- right now!"  Our genuine wellbeing and authentic preferences are not part of the equation.

In light all of this unyielding input, spaciousness can be rare and nearly impossible to find. Even catching a single breath can feel like a struggle sometimes and feeling heard can be completely out of reach. No one is listening. And now we also have overflowing AI messages as a constant presence in the mix. How are we ever going to feel heard?

Focusing can help us to naturally increase our capacity to listen to those inner whisperings that may have been unheard and overridden for decades. Even a brief Focusing turn with a companion can open a spaciousness that was not available just minutes earlier. Remembering to pause allows breathing space that can be rare in the context of our busy lives.

This eight week Focusing exploration will offer a platform for developing our capacity to listen- first and most importantly to ourselves. Later, as we develop a greater capacity for the natural unfolding of spaciousness, we will turn towards developing our capacity to listen to others and the world around us.

Each class meeting will briefly introduce some listening principles and will include interactive practices as well as suggested practice opportunities to deepen the learning between sessions.

Topics may include: Listening without an agenda, Listening for your no and yes, Listening for closeness and distance preferences, Listening for boundaries, Listening with curiosity, Listening for a sense of connection or disconnection, Listening for presence or absence in self and other. 

Since the class is highly interactive and experiential, live attendance is important but if you need to miss one or two sessions, recordings can be made by advanced request. Class size is limited to support an interactive environment.  Students will be invited to participate in optional assigned partnership exchanges with classmates for practice between sessions if desired.