SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH #13 Deep Listening

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 13 Blog Post from Anne Christine -Director of Opening Lotus Yoga & Center for Spiritual Growth; DEEP LISTENING

Namaste All... What an energetic time this past week has been with this Full Scorpio moon! This is a time of emotional shadows coming into the light of day but the experience is anything but comfy and cozy. If you have felt sleepless, anxious or just a bit on edge the past week, welcome to the the Scorpio Scrub. What has been hidden is now arising for our benefit to release.

Each wednesday when I contemplate what to share in this space I just let my intuition guide me on what wants to be voiced. That process of tuning in and inner listening is the key to tapping into what my Spirit wants to share through me.

Today I felt the topic of DEEP LISTENING. Now I have to make a disclaimer right off the bat here. I have been known to have the Celtic 'gift of gab' and tell a good story and love to socially be verbally active , so this DEEP LISTENING practice is by far nothing I have mastered. Its a daily invite to get still, go in and be present. In fact, one of the most powerful intuitive guidances I received many years ago was from the Bodhisattva called Quan Yin and her name translates into: ' She who hears the tears of the world'. Her love and compassion are so deep and encompassing. Quan Yin and her Sister Goddesses Tara, Mother Mary, all the Divine Feminine Compassion Mothers resonate with this gift. They are the inspiration for why I opened Opening Lotus Yoga ,12 years ago.

As a matter of fact, right now I would say DEEP LISTENING is my most challenging and potent practice I am engaging with. Why? Have we all lost the skill to listen well internally and externally? I would say yes. We live with a tsunami level of information flowing all the time and most folks in my teaching experience do not meditate regularly as a tool to quiet that info overload and access the deep everpresent space of awareness that is always here.

It's just that 'we' ,our consciousness is not here. To sum it up there is a lot of noise generated in both our inner world and the outer. If I cannot regularly cultivate the ability to DEEPLY LISTEN, I miss the portal to my inner Divine . that door might be nailed shut. I miss the subtlety in which Spirit communicates . I miss the chance to know my deeper truths and the saddest consequence is ,I really miss being fully present to my life. This is no small thing.

Listening is the other half of communication. Listening is the capacity to receive, first your own experience and then others. Listening is the sign that we are present in this moment just as it is. We are not reflexively darting off to some story about the past or catapulting out of the here and now into some future 'what if' thread. Either way, going into the past or hurdling to some unknown future scenario results in being hijacked by the ego out of your life in this moment and this moment is really where life is.

Ask yourself.. would your closest family and friends describe you as a good listener or not? Usually in a group of people there are one or two that are naturally good listeners and we love those folks don't we? We love to feel heard and understood without others spinning their story about themselves. How selfless to be a good listener! DEEP LISTENERS listen with their hearts. They use the power of their presence as experienced through their open hearts. At the heart level we are universally all singing the same song. We all want to be seen, heard, understood , accepted and loved.

How do we develop that capacity to be more present to others? As always, these skills always begin on the inside, Begin by listening deeply to yourself. Get still for some time everyday, Meditate or just sit quietly and practice being present.When you deeply attune and nourish your inner life, you naturally radiate that presence out to the outer world. Its a given.

Here is one way to approach this practice of DEEP LISTENING

 L=  Look Within
 I =  Inter-View
S = Stillness is Sacred Space
T = Transformation Territory
 E = Enlighten

 N = No One Ever Complained of Someone Listening Too Much:)

May today inspire you to tap into the other 50% of communication, to listen within and expand that presence to all around you.

" When you talk you are repeating what you already know but when you listen you may learn something new." HH Dalai Lama

Namaste & Blessings for a DEEP LISTENING DAY
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Light and Love to You!
Anne Christine