Listening by Rumi
What is the deep listening? Sama is a greeting from the secret ones inside the heart, a letter. The branches of your intelligence grow new leaves in the wind of this listening. The body reaches a peace. Rooster sound comes, reminding you of your love for dawn. The reed flute and the singer’s lips: the knack of how spirit breathes into us becomes as simple and ordinary as eating and drinking. The dead rise with the pleasure of listening. If someone can’t hear a trumpet melody, sprinkle dirt on his head and declare him dead. Listen, and feel the beauty of your separation, the unsayable absence. There’s a moon inside every human being. Learn to be companions with it. Give more of your life to this listening. As brightness is to time, so you are to the one who talks to the deep ear in your chest. I should sell my tongue and buy a thousand ears when that one steps near and begins to speak.
~Rumi
Meditation can be a form of listening to ourselves. When we become aware of our busyness and our stillness we perceive ourselves and our place in the world differently. This is the place we learn what troubles us, brings us joy and the place we are dwelling. Knowing where our thoughts dwell is vital to our state of mindful living. If we do not know where our thoughts dwell, we do not know where we are expending our energy. What we most focus on is what we create.
Begin by listening to your breathe. After you have settled into your breathe and been its companion for a time; you will know that you have come to this point when just sitting and breathing is a simple joy that you look forward to, extend your listening to your body. Listen to what your body is saying through pain, tightness, uncomfortable feelings, loose feelings. Start at the top of your head and check in with each part of your body. Simply listen to what your body tells you. Once you feel you have heard your body, ask it what it needs. Are you lacking water, rest, movement, different foods, more of this?
The next step to listening is to check in with yourself or your spirit. Ask if there is anything your spirit would like to say to you. This mindful listening lets your whole self communicate. Those subconscious observations, thoughts, and feelings have an opportunity to surface. Intuition and insight have room to be heard.
After your have listened to your body, mind, and spirit you will once again focus on listening to the world around you. We rush about our days so much that we lose connection to where we are. Close your eyes and use your senses to observe the place you find yourself. Connect with the environment around you. What do you hear? smell? feel? Lastly, what do you see?
Come back to the present by taking three slow deep breathes. Then thank your body, mind, and spirit for the time spent together. Now is a good time to do something soothing and grounding such as: journal, yoga, tend to a living creature, garden, pray, or drink water. Do something for the next five minutes that deepens your connection to this moment and grounds you back into your body and your surroundings.
Deepen the connection within and you deepen your world,
Irisa
Peace, Passion & Purpose 