The Healing Power of Listening

Sometimes, the things that are most plentiful and common in our lives are treated with less value. Hearing is often one of those things. Like seeing or touching, it is part of our automatic systems. It doesn’t necessarily need to be practiced and developed through conscious effort; it just happens. Yet, it is miraculous in many ways

Listening is a step removed form hearing. It is conscious, deliberate and intentional. Listening is an art and a skill that does need conscious effort, practice and development. It is the basis of our relationships with each other and ourselves. At its highest, the genuine act of listening can even be healing.

It moves beyond hearing into different realms. Have you ever, for instance, listened to what a person is not saying? Sometimes this speaks louder than the words. How about the instance of talking to someone in your mind and then they call you or send you a text at about the same time?

And what about listening to yourself, and the many conversations going on inside of you. How is this done, if not through normal auditory hearing involving the ears. Do you listen to the voice or voices within you? What do they say and do you allow them to guide you?

And what about the healing aspect? Did you know that it is possible to remediate serious mental and emotional afflictions through effective listening alone? It is even possible to reduce people’s physical pain.

During this four-day retreat at the beautiful Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude’s, we will dive deeply into listening and its many different aspects. Ways of listening to yourself and to others will be demonstrated and explored with the focus of the retreat coming from the maxim: “You can only treat others the way you treat yourself.” You are invited to join us as we endeavor to become a better instrument of listening and healing as spoken by St. Francis so long ago: “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”