The art of listening. When did you hear your footsteps for the last time?

This morning, like every morning, I walked with my dog in the forest. Actually for me most of the times it’s a walk in silence. This morning as well. Over and over again you experience that not a single day is the same.

This time there was no wind, more than ever I was aware of the wonderful sounds of birds awaking, and I heard my footsteps again. It made me attentive of silence. The realisation that silence is not the absence of something but the awareness of the availability of everything.

Listening to my footsteps… Telling me I am on my path and it is called my life. My path is what happens and what happens is my path. I am alive, I am available, willing to change, to grow to serve to receive and to share and I am thankful and grateful for that.

What a nice experience to listen to your footsteps… To practise the art of listening.

I invite you to just sometimes give it a try. To listen with the ears of a musician. To experience your appointment with life. Want some help?

After reading the following exercise just close your eyes for a while (watching takes about 70% of our ‘sense energy’). Turn of your mobile devices. Observe you are the centre of listening to the sounds that are available and surrounding you now. Just take a short period of time to really experience every step in this exercise:

1. Be aware of the different directions of all the individual sounds surrounding you. 
2. Be aware of the differences in distance of the individual sounds. 
1. Sounds far out. 
2. Sounds surrounding the place where you are. 
3. Sounds at the place where you are. 
4. Maybe even sounds of your body because of breathing of functioning of the digestion system. 
3. Be aware of difference in frequencies. 
1. Lo tones. 
2. Middle tones. 
3. High tones. 
4. Try to find rhythm. 
5. Try to explore melody. 
6. Listening to all the sounds together… be aware of the harmony. 
7. Now try to connect with a sound that is attracting you and be aware of when the sound stops. Then find another sound and find where it stops and so on…

One of my teachers used to say: “All sounds come up out of silence, take on form, do manifest and fall down into silence. Listening to sounds this way you can see sounds as signs to silence.”
Silence is not the absence of something, but the awareness of the availability of everything. 

The art of listening. Connecting with silence and connecting with life. Just give it a try and discover what’s in it for you. You are worth it.

Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight

Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow in life and work. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.” 

www.captijninsight.com

captijninsight@gmail.com