Connect to your origins to be a great listener

“Listen to your drum and your drum only. It's the one that makes the sweetest sound.”  ~ Simon Sinek

The practice of listening is closely connected to the rhythm of your breathing. When you get this, then you start to understand how to listen deeply.

We are all born great listeners – it’s as natural as being a great breather. We just haven’t been encouraged to recognise this.

With all the distractions of modern day life and work, we have moved away from our natural state as amazing listeners. Deep listening starts with reconnecting with our most powerful listening instincts.

Our sight and hearing once helped us survive from the attack of other creatures. It’s the human ear that can detect the difference between the sound of another human walking in the grass or an unusual rustle in the bushes. It’s our listening skills that he helped humans as a recognise friend from foe.

We have forgotten how to listen in our modern world and it is this that causes us frustration. It’s not that you don’t listen or can’t listen, it’s that you need to allow yourself to reconnect with who you are and your innate ability just to be human.

Deep listening does not require elaborate techniques, tools or high-tech devices. 

Deep listening requires connecting with your breathing and body first. You need to unlearn what you’ve learned to become a deep and powerful listener.

Science is silence.

This simple practice has survived through many ancient cultures and still lives on well into the 21st century.

The Ancient Aboriginal Peoples practice of ‘Dadirri’ is based on inner quiet, silent awareness, a place of stillness and contemplation about the individual first and then their connection to the outside world. This practice commenced 40,000 years ago and continues today in Aboriginal Elder teaching.

In contrast to this, the relatively modern practice of Zen from the fifth century explores a similar concept – ‘Zazen’ a deep reflection and mediation on the role of the breath to regulate the mind through focus.

Yogis calls this deep breathing practice ‘Paranayama’, or the breath of life.

Modern neuroscience reinforces the importance of breathing on the brain, helping to get to place where the mind can relax, expand and listen. Dr Herbert Benson explained how breathing helped to control the parasympathetic nervous system and how it helps to bring online and counter the fight or flight responses to modern day distraction and stress. In parallel, Dr Pierre Philippot explained how different breathing patterns were associated with different emotional states and responses.

Whether we view the world through the teachings of the many centuries and cultures or modern neuroscience the conclusion is the same – our breathing and our listening are closely connected.

The more conscious we are of our breathing, the more deeply we listen.

It’s in reconnecting to our body and our mind first – not the other person – that we take the first step to reclaim our birth right as a great listener.

Rather than exploring and learning new tips, techniques, tools and technologies we need to reclaim what is naturally ours – our ability to be great listeners.

The journey to becoming a great listener is counter-cultural, counter-intuitive and actually very simple.

Start with you, your breathing and then your mind will naturally expand to allow space to listen.

Register now for a copy of my next book Deep Listening – How to have an impact beyond words---

About Oscar Trimboli

Oscar Trimboli is a Speaker, Author and Mentor helping people to explore how clarity creates change and challenging their assumptions about what is possible.

I really appreciate you reading my post and if you enjoyed it here are some other recent articles I have written on LinkedIn:

• The massive costs of not listening in the modern world
• Three transformational hacks to make you a great listener
• Is listening more like exploring than discovery?
• If you want to make an impact - stop listening to the words