Thanks for Listening: Vol. IV

Dear Generous Listener,

We have arrived in the month of August, with the last weeks of a long, hot summer before us and I hope many of us can find the time and space to slow down and turn inward. Before we launch into the urgency and energy of another ‘back to school’ season in September, this is the perfect moment to prioritize self-care. I hope volume 4 of our newsletter can inspire you and offer simple suggestions on how to get still and silent.

Listen to your mind, body, heart, and soul. What do you hear? What do they each tell you? Cultivate a sense of curiosity about each passing feeling. Reflect on the experience and emotion. What do you need? Is it rest, play, connection, or creation?

Each of us will turn inward in a different way. For me, it has been the passion and freedom to immerse myself in an art practice. Through working with my hands, drawing, and sculpting, I have been able to connect with something deep within.

There are many different methods. For some, it will be an art practice; for others, a spiritual one. From therapy and meditation to journaling, walking, sound healing, and breathwork, the possibilities are endless. I encourage you to use the month of August to find your own path.

Vuslat Doğan Sabancı

“Sit quietly and listen for a voice that will say, “Be more silent.” As that happens, your soul starts to revive.”

― Rumi

At Vuslat Foundation, our mission is to cultivate a global culture of generous listening by enlightening, raising awareness, and sharing practices that reveal its transformative power. We are creating a ‘Generous Listening Hub’ to compile innovative and unique research on listening from diverse fields. By bringing together and sharing this information, we aim to power a movement in generous listening.

Access our findings in the Generous Listening Library on our website, and follow the Generous Listening Book Club for monthly new titles on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.

This month, we highlight a paradigm-shifting book by Harvard Professor Ellen J. Langer, titled ‘The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health.’ Filled with original research and thought-provoking insights, Langer outlines her bold theory of mind-body unity, demonstrating how our thoughts and perspectives can profoundly shape our well-being.

Follow the Generous Listening Book Club on Goodreads.

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.”

― Paulo Coelho

This August, embark on a transformative journey of generous listening with Julia Cameron’s “The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention.” This six-week program guides readers through a profound exploration of listening—to their environment, those around them, and their inner selves. Each week’s exercises deepen our ability to pay attention and connect, fostering healing, insight, and clarity.

The culmination of this journey is a heightened sense of creativity that resonates throughout all aspects of life. Drawing on tools from Cameron’s acclaimed “The Artist’s Way,” “The Listening Path” offers a fresh method for creative and personal growth. Each week challenges us to enhance our listening skills, starting with our surroundings and advancing to the profound silence within.

In our fast-paced, noisy world, this program is a crucial reminder of the transformative power of truly listening, leading to richer connections and a more fulfilling life.

For those not ready to commit to a six-week program, here is an easy exercise in self-listening from psychotherapist and writer Philippa Perry’s handbook, “𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗲,” for the School of Life.

Use these 5 grounding questions to begin self-observing. You may find that you have instantaneous changes!

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

“The ability to observe and listen to feelings and bodily sensations is essential to staying sane. We need to be able to use our feelings but not be used by them. If we 𝘢𝘳𝘦 our emotions, rather than an observer of them, we will veer into a chaotic state. If on the other hand we repress our feelings all together we can swing the other way into rigidity.”

“The more that we can remove any baggage we’re carrying with us, and just be in the moment, use our ears, and pay attention to what’s happening, and just listen to the inner voice that directs us, the better.”

―  Rick Rubin

Quiet the mind, still the body and just listen. What do you hear?

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Mindful by Mary Oliver

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?