The Gift of Listening With Your Heart

 This morning in yoga, our instructor reminded us to stay in the moment.

Those words stayed with me long after class ended.

As I drove home, I realized I wasn't thinking about yoga poses. I was thinking about people.

Years ago, much of my career was spent teaching communication skills. We talked about active listening, maintaining eye contact, asking thoughtful questions, and avoiding interruptions. They were all important skills.

Somewhere along the way, though, I realized I'd gotten out of the habit. I'm slowly working on bringing those skills back because communication is so much more than words passed back and forth.

When someone walks away from a conversation with me, how do I want them to feel?

I hope they feel heard.

I hope they feel respected.

I hope they feel that what they had to say mattered.

And if possible, I hope they leave feeling just a little better about themselves than they did before we started talking.

Sometimes that's as simple as looking someone in the eye while they're speaking.

Sometimes it's resisting the urge to interrupt.

Sometimes it's asking one more question because you're genuinely interested.

Sometimes it's acknowledging a kindness, a strength, or an accomplishment they didn't even realize someone noticed.

Being in the moment isn't just about paying attention to ourselves.

It's about giving another person our full attention.

What a gift that can be.

As Maya Angelou famously said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

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