Learning to listen is part of learning how to speak

Have you ever been to a meeting where you were waiting for your turn to speak and the whole time, you are rehearsing or thinking about what you’ll say? ​​​​​​​​
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I went to a fun clothing exchange hosted by @angielouthan with stylist @greenstylemags at @insparkcoworking. We all had a chance share a really brief introduction and I was towards the end of the circle. Of course my default, having had trauma with my voice, was for my heart to beat fast and trying to quickly figure out what I wanted to say in my head. ​​​​​​​​
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But what I teach in WomanSpeak is to move from the head and into the body (where trauma taught me it wasn’t safe) so I practiced what I preached. I breathed into my body and trusted that what I needed to say would come out. Once I did that, I was able to LISTEN to what everyone else was saying. ​​​​​​​​
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Think about all the times you are in your head thinking about what you’ll say. Are you truly listening to others when you’re doing that? Are you holding space for others or helping others feel heard?​​​​​​​​
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In WomanSpeak, as much as we learn to speak, we also learn to deeply listen in a practice we call fertile listening. We learn to hold space for other women’s voices so they feel truly seen and heard and that is part of the healing process. ​​​​​​​​