Mindful Listening

If you’re spending Sunday with friends or family, take some time today to listen… really listen.

Mindful listening is when you don’t interrupt but give your full attention to somebody when they are talking to you. This is so important because we all like to be heard and listened to. Just taking that extra time to do this can really be valuable to the other person.

There’s a really great acronym on this topic which is HEAR.

HALT — Stop what you’re doing and be present.

ENJOY — You may be told something you did or didn’t want to hear, but try to enjoy a breath as you choose to listen to this.

ASK — Ask yourself if you really know what they mean and if you don’t, ask follow up questions.

REFLECT — Reflect back to them what you heard. This tells them that you were really listening.

You could start by practising this with someone you are comfortable with. This could be by choosing a topic that is interesting to both of you and setting a time limit whereby one person is doing the mindful listening for the full time. Make sure you switch over and do the same for the other person.

You might find this hard to do at first, but with a bit of practice it should become easier.