Listening

The mindfulness challenge that I have for you this week is to become a sponge when listening to friends, family and co-workers talk.  Listen with your entire body, your heart and your essence.  Listen as if you were a sponge.

  1. Hear every nuance.
  2. See every gesture.
  3. Notice every pause.
  4. Sense every emotion.
  5. Soak up every word.

No responses need be offered or given, even if solicited.

When another person talks “at us”, it is not uncommon to extend to them a tiny fraction of our full attention. We half-way listen to what they are saying as we ponder the many unfinished tasks that remain to be done by the end of the day. We are all guilty!

How many conversations do you typically have with other people that are unsatisfying? How often do you feel as though you have not been heard? How frequently do you realize that the person is only partially attentive to what it is you are trying to communicate?  How often does the other person claim that they understand you, but you know in your heart that they do not come close?

When you do communicate with others this week – be a sponge. Notice any thoughts that float into your mind as you listen. Simply acknowledge each and every thought as they emerge whatever they might be. Place them in a “holding” container as you continue listening.

As a person talks you might notice they have –

  • Wrinkles or
  • A scratchy face or
  • Moles under their left ear

Perhaps you think to yourself –

“My goodness.  My friend is looking much older today than they did the last time I saw them last month.” 

Thoughts do pop into our heads that have nothing to do with what the person is attempting to communicate. There is no practical way to stop those thoughts. When they do slip into your head, simply say to yourself –

“Oh, right.  Okay, let me just put this thought aside and re-direct my attention to absorbing all that this person that I’m talking with right now is saying. I want to hear all the words. I want to understand their true intent. I want to get the full meaning.”

To become a sponge means to –

Absorb all the words

Be fully and completely present

Hear every idea the person is trying to convey

Understand the true meaning of their words

Honor the feelings underneath their words

It may well be the case that there are situations where you do have to make decisions.  Of course you need to do that. But, in other instances when you are communicating with another individual, be a sponge. Get the full experience of what it means to devote your full energy, attention and essence to what the other person is attempting to say. Not everyone is a word smith. Sometimes you have to listen with your heart.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

Deeper Meaning Behind Mindful Waiting

There is no question about it; we all carve ruts of irritation in our neurological system.  I use the word ruts intentionally.  We all become irritated over and over, oftentimes at the very same circumstances that, for whatever reason, drive us up the wall and make us crazy.   These patterns of behavior are repeated frequently. Such patterned and habitual responses create an elaborate infrastructure of pathways that are irritants to our neurological system. We carve out ruts in our sensitive neurological pathways much like the stream of pioneers created in the dirt roads which led westward. It doesn’t take much for us to re-enter these well established ruts in our neurological system.  This rut is in part what aggravates the neurological challenges that individuals who currently have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease experience.

The mindfulness challenge this week then is to basically craft a new roadway to get out of those same old ruts which continue to irritate that sensitive neurological system of ours.  When we engage in negative thoughts like,

 “Why can’t that idiot hurry up and get done.  I’ve got something important to do and I’m going to be late.” 

The body’s neurological system does in fact become irritated as we process the signals of irritation and anger through the very same pathways.

How do you create new neural pathways that calm the neurological system rather than upset it? Learn how to offer a different response to situations that are likely to irritate you such as standing in long lines. Instead of accessing the same neurological ruts, craft new pathways. Calm your body with a focused intention to respond differently.

Shift your awareness from one of outward projection to inward reflection. As you are waiting in line, breathe and notice the deliciousness of what it really feels like to take on the critical source of life itself – oxygen. .

  • Relax all the tension in your body as you wait.
  • Notice how you stand
  • Observe where you stand
  • Re-positioning your weight if it helps you become more comfortable
  • Silence all angry thoughts of people ahead of you who may simply be having a bad day.

As you engage a new response to a circumstance that can be irritating for anyone you get the added benefit of forging a new neurological pathway. As your stress level dissolves, notice how symptoms you might have been experiencing are suddenly not as troublesome or perhaps even do not even appear to present themselves.  A body that is calm and stress free is not capable (or interested) in creating neurological difficulties for you.

Switch on a mindfulness practice as you wait –

  • Become aware of each and every sensation
  • Look up at the ceiling. 
  • Look down at the floor.
  • Notice the walls;
  • Notice the texture of the walls. 
  • Appreciate the colors on the walls.
  • Smile at the people who wait with you.
  • Hear the sounds
  • Smell the scents

Take in sensually everything in your surroundings. Notice how delicious it can be to become aware of where you are standing in the moment.

Mindfulness practices do result in an alleviation of neurological symptoms.  The more you practice, the more you will be delighted with the result.  We are the ones that manifest our own destiny.  Make it so this week as you wait in line patiently and mindfully for the service that you need to receive

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

Mindful Waiting

The mindfulness challenge this week will be triggered each and every time you find yourself waiting in a line for service.  A companion challenge I extend (if and only if you choose to accept it) is to stand in the longest line when you have a choice. Whatever line you choose, be attentive to what is happening with your body as you patiently wait.

  • Relax all of the tension that you may be holding deep within your tissues and muscles. 
  • Pay attention to how you stand as you wait – on one foot or both feet? 
  • Notice how you are breathing. 
  • Quiet your thoughts of irritation toward the person ahead of you who is taking longer than necessary.

If impatience emerges and your mind becomes noisy with angry thoughts – silence them. Re-direct your attention and focus to your physical body.  Become aware of the heat that rises from your skin or the cold that sinks into your bones. What signals does your body send as you wait?

Most importantly, relax all of the tension in your muscles whether that tension be in your

Calf muscles

Thigh muscles

Chest muscles

Neck muscles

Eyebrows
Ears

Become aware of all the tension in your body from head to toe as you patiently and mindfully wait for the service that you seek.

Notice your body settling down into a state of calm.  Become aware of how it is possible to reverse neurological symptoms as you calm down the irritation that sizzles within the tissues of your body.

  1. Wait patiently
  2. Wait mindfully
  3. Shift your focus from irritation and impatience to a patient practice of mindfulness.

May you relish the challenge of waiting patiently in long lines this week.

 Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery