According to pop comics and fictional media, a superpower is considered to be an “extraordinary superhuman ability” or “an exaggeration of normal human traits”. Although the power of listening won’t grant us the ability to control the weather or fly, it could be argued that it does, in some ways, change the energetic atmosphere around us and can transport us to another place — the present moment.
The art of listening is a tool to break the trance of operating in automatic pilot or feeling consumed by anxiety or depression. The conscious practice of listening can help us connect deeper in our relationships with others, ourselves, the natural world and with the life that holds us. So how is
listening a superpower?
Listen to your surroundings
I vividly remember the first time I experienced the power of consciously listening to the sounds of the present moment. I had just begun a dog walk on the beach when I received a text message that triggered me. It was as if the blinkers came down; my mind became consumed by a thick fog, replaying conversations from the past and having fictitious arguments that might occur in the future. I was in a trance of my own little fantasy world and I felt rotten.
In awareness (the practice of mindfulness), it was as if all my senses switched on. The sea was so blue and the ocean was so loud; the waves were roaring. I realised I’d been on the beach for 10 minutes but I hadn’t been on the beach at all.
Consciously bringing our attention to our ears, to the sound of the present moment, can help break being caught up in the fantasy of thought and transport us back to what is real: the present moment.
Listen to others
When in conversation with someone, are you really listening or are you half listening and half preparing what you want to say next? “Active listening” is a tool used in most therapeutic professions. The quality to which someone is consciously listening is the difference between a good coach, therapist or doctor and a great one. When we listen consciously, we listen with our whole body. We are present to the energy of the other person and their body language, not just the words they use.
As author Dr Marshall Rosenberg suggests, when consciously listening we are “receiving empathetically” and in doing so we build greater trust, respect and connection. We create a force field of safety, empathy, kindness and connection with the ability to see ourselves in others.
Listen to yourself
Being conscious of the thoughts we experience and the words we share, and checking in with the alignment of the two, is a powerful practice of self-awareness. Listening in this way — in the present moment — determines the trajectory of our future.
There’s a saying by Frank Outlaw that goes: “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
Listen to your inner guidance
I see meditation as a means of listening — to become familiar, aware and intimate with our own inner world. In this conscious practice of being with ourselves in this way, we create space for and allow a deeper listening.
Through meditation, we can hear the whispers of the heart and guidance from our gut or intuition. We can connect to our higher self, to love or spirit. A superhero is simply a character that uses their powers to make the world a better place. Conscious listening requires awareness, non judgement, presence, practice and action, just as with any other mindfulness practice. Perhaps then, being a superhero is merely a matter of choice — to remember and choose love.
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