The deepest listening feels like it may go beyond the sensation of hearing. It may lie in the feeling of the ground below you or the delicate touch of a breeze singling out one hair on your head. Listening at its most potent is something the entire body does, it becomes one with the surroundings — where you end the and the world around you begins completely fades away and you merge into full presence.

In the deluge of daily content it can be highly challenging to listen carefully, to know what to listen to and what to let pass by without your recognition — a constant test of restraint. Whenever possible, step away from the mounting evidence of digital life and into a space where there is little to nothing being asked of you. I find the woods and other natural settings to work well. Here we can practice listening fully, learning to better discriminate what we want to keep and of what we are free to let go.

This can be seen as meditation or rest or simply a change of scenery. It does not matter how you label it, this space will provide you the necessary distance from the cultural noise that is pounding down like an ocean wave all around you in your day to day life. Life is riddled with choices and decisions and often times life can feel like it is made only of these choices and decisions and this is tiring, especially on an emotional level.

In places like nature where there are very few choices, it provides space to be more present and the ability to listen to just what we need to. This is the first thing we can do in order to help us know what matters most, where we want to turn our ears and whole body towards. Consider taking this space and time to tune into the simplest forms of what you need on a regular basis. Over time it will provide a far clearer path to a complete life, one with space enough to fully love this existence in a more meaningful and profound way.

Thank you for reading.

See the original post here at Medium.