#listeningpost

#listeningpost

#listeningpost

Coaches are trained to listen. And some just do it naturally.

In fact we listen deeply. We are not listening from a place of fixing or advising, we are just listening. We listen from a place of knowing that people’s emotional wellbeing and wisdom are always available. We listen knowing that everyone already has their own answers and everything they need.

I wonder when were you last listened to?

I mean REALLY listened to?

And when did you last listen?

My guess is you might answer today or yesterday, when you had a conversation with a friend, family member or a work colleague…… but listening isn’t about conversation- and here’s why.

Generally speaking when we are in conversation with another person we are expected to give a response. That’s how a conversation works right? One person speaks, another person listens and then replies. Well here’s the thing- when we are listening and replying, our mind goes off to pattern match with something from our personal experience similar to or different from, the other person speaking. And that is the place we reply from. If you have poured your heart out to someone and the response is “Yes, I know what you mean. There was this time that..……” that is a signal that they haven’t been giving you their 100% attention; a part of them has been looking for a comparative experience and in order to do that they have referred to their own stories. They have been busy preparing their reply.

We rarely give another person our full attention without something on our mind. We have a tendency to want to charge in and fix, suggest, advise or even dictate. When we engage in this way we are not really listening. We are saying “This is what I would do/I think you should do in your situation” and we are getting in the way of the person gaining access to their own answers.

#Listeningpost has been conceived by Cheri Gillings to do exactly what it says on the tin.

“In response to increasingly bleak reports regarding the mental health of the nation, it made sense to connect those who see and coach from the understanding that good mental health and well being is innate, to their communities in a valuable and powerful way. The way of listening. Listening from a place of wisdom towards wisdom from the one listened to.”

Trained coaches, who know how to give you their attention with nothing much on their mind will be popping up in coffee shops, bars and other public places just for the purpose of listening, as part of Mental Health Awareness week, 8th-14th May 2017.

We believe that by giving someone our full attention that it might create an opportunity for insight and wisdom.

Listening posts are places you can go to be listened to.

A place where you can hear yourself think.

We won’t be coaching. We will just be listening with compassionate awareness. And it costs nothing. You just show up and tell us what’s on your mind.

Being listened to, deeply, can be a truly transformational experience for all involved.

I will be available to listen in Bath on Thursday May 11th.

More details to follow, or if you email me nearer the time I will tell you where I am going to be.

www.listenforwellbeing.com