Everyone seems to be able to hear, but listening is more difficult than it might seem at first glance. Listening and hearing are different. Hearing without listening is very easy, because it is passive, unlike active listening. We are all hearing people, but few of us are listening. We hear each other, but we don’t know how to listen. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for people to agree among themselves on any issue. The noise of our mind prevents us from listening to others. When we hear another, we listen to our thoughts on what the other is telling us, but we do not listen to the words of the speaker. Moreover, we do not listen beyond the words spoken by him, when a good listener will hear the meaning through the words, but will rather react to the unspoken than to the content of what was said. After all, in communications, it is nonverbal language that is of great importance, which is overlooked in the process of listening to your mind. How to learn to listen? I bring to your attention several practices that will allow you to control your attention in the process of listening to the world. The first practice is “Listening to space.” Its essence is the ability to observe sounds and track their source. It is ideal for those who take walks (it’s great if it’s a park, or just streets with pedestrian traffic). The first three days we listen to sounds coming from the left side, the next three days we listen to sounds coming from the right. The next three days - sounds coming from behind, the next three days, we observe sounds coming towards us from the front. Over the next 9 days we learn to listen to sounds coming from all directions, clearly distinguishing the direction of the incoming sound. For everything - 21 days-time, which will allow you to develop the ability to listen to space. Practice 15-30 minutes a day. I won’t explain anything else after completing the practice, so that you don’t adjust your results to what I said, but believe me, many unexpected and interesting discoveries await you. Second practice “Hello sounds.” In the morning, as soon as you wake up, without opening your eyes, “turn on” only your hearing, “turn off” your sense of smell (by force of will or by plugging cotton into your nostrils) and tactile-temperature perception (do not remove the blanket). Strain your hearing and only your hearing. Even in seemingly silence you will hear subtle sounds. Focus on them with an effort of will and “keep” them in your hearing for as long as possible. Over time, these sounds will be perceived noticeably more clearly. Develop a very useful operational habit - after waking up, without moving or opening your eyes, explore with your ears everything that happens around you. Sooner or later this will serve you invaluable. The third practice is “Clocks”. For this you will need a mechanical watch. Place them at a distance at which you can clearly hear the movement of the hands. Gradually they move away from the clock so that their work is barely audible. At this distance, listen to the ticking of the mechanism for several minutes, without thinking about anything else, focusing only on these sounds. Gradually learn not to perceive any more visual, tactile and olfactory impressions, “turning off” these perception systems and working only by hearing! When you learn to clearly and habitually perceive the sounds of a clock mechanism, increase the distance from the clock and focus on these sounds again. Gradually move the clock further and further away. Train in this way for 20-25 minutes a day. But do it daily. The results will be amazing. Having learned to listen to sounds, you can begin to listen to the silence between sounds - the silence between the strikes of a clock, the silence in the dialogues of other people, the silence in the singing of a bird, etc. Having learned to listen to the silence and sounds of the outside world, it’s time to turn your gaze inward. Silence within the mind is the most blissful state for a person. It seems initially unreal, but with practice you will become more and more immersed in the silence of your mind. How to stop the internal dialogue? There are actually many options: this is counting, this is pronouncing the same phrase in a circle - for example, for children!