One of the most valuable skills I have acquired as a coach is consciously listening with my heart. What difference does it make? First, I get out of my head and then I have access to the wisdom of my heart and body and to the heart of the person I am listening to.
Getting out of my head on some days seems like no small feat! My head is solution oriented and is likely to take the logical route and quickly offer one of my answers from my frame of reference and stored experience. When I am listening to someone else, unless they have specifically asked for my ideas, I seek to help them find their solutions. That requires tapping into their experience or more profoundly into their heart, what they are longing for at a deeper level? Finding out that information can bring insight and energy for a solution that the head could not deliver.
This happened recently with a client who when she initially came to work with me was confused and didn’t even think she had any wisdom to apply to the challenges in her life. She just knew she urgently wanted change. Over the months she learned to trust in herself and marvel at the information her intuition provided.
To add perspective, here are the thoughts of a man who has made a career of studying the heart, Doc Childre, founder of the HeartMath Institute.
“Since emotional processes can work faster than the mind, it takes a power stronger than the mind to bend perception, override emotional circuitry, and provide us with intuitive feeling instead. It takes the power of the heart.”
“Our well being is dependent upon an intricate, dynamic system of the heart, brain, nervous, hormonal and immune systems, of which the heart is the most powerful generator of rhythmic information and patterns.”
Consider listening more deeply this week by “dropping down into your heart. ” Doing so can not only help you hear more effectively, it also can help you integrate the multiple changes that are taking place in your life, reduce stress and help you access greater fulfillment.
For an overview of the HearthMath Solution and its application, here is an excellent article. For learning some specific processes and multiple other resources checkout the HearthMath website.
