This post, I wanted to explore the topic of ACTIVE LISTENING.
Whenever I hear this term, it reminds me of the scene from "SOUL" where the teacher spirits are trying to calm the baby spirits down by making a dog shape with their hands and saying, "Quiet coyote, quiet coyote."
I only seriously considered or studied active listening once I started coach training. It seemed abstract and overly polite.
I had a breakthrough in understanding active listening through an experience while studying with Val Hastings. Val is my coaching instructor and master coach (meaning over 5000 hours of coaching practice).
In his training, we learned by coaching and getting coached. Getting coached by Val allowed me to have a breakthrough in active listening.
An energetic loop forms when someone truly pays attention from a grounded and heart-centered place. It gives the speaker (in this case, me being coached) space to hear themselves talk and feel what is true about what they are saying.
It was a compelling moment.
I have learned how to listen by being a professional musician and songwriter since I was a teenager. However, I didn't start as a good listener overall. Yes, I was a great listener in moments, but those moments were few and far between.
Over a decade and thousands of shows, I started to truly feel a person's energy through their playing. As a songwriter, I was extra sensitive to what someone brought.
I was also sensitive to the experience of "listening" to the audience we were playing for. Each night was different.
Rick Ruben talks about this when playing music for people. You can "feel" your music through someone else's ears. I have used this technique for many years. When testing a new song, I can feel the music through someone else's ears when with them.
There is an active energy loop of FLOW that happens when communication is clicking. We all know it and feel it when it happens.
Cultivating this in one-on-one or small groups is potent.
You can actively participate in a conversation without saying much.
I will pull on this thread in the future and get feedback from my network on the topic.
My question to you:
WHAT DOES ACTIVE LISTENING MEAN TO YOU?
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