What Does It Mean to Listen With More Than Our Ears?

I’m drawn to the moment a familiar sound steps out of the background. Rain might accompany an entire email before we notice its uneven tapping against the window. In Restorative Yoga, I return to a similar curiosity: what becomes available when we stop moving straight past our experience? Sound healing offers another setting for that enquiry, where we can explore listening without asking the moment to produce a particular feeling.

Listening with the body needn’t be mysterious

To me, “listening with the body” means leaving room to notice ourselves as we listen.

You might hear a tone while remaining aware of the chair supporting you. You might notice that you are leaning towards the next sound before this one has finished. Neither experience needs interpreting as something profound.

There is no unusual vibration you need to find and no hidden message to decipher. The body is not a detector that has to register something special.

The question is simpler: can I notice how I am attending, without immediately deciding whether I am doing it well?

Stay with a sound after you’ve recognised it

In a sound healing session, naming an instrument can feel like finishing a sentence. A bowl. A chime. I know that sound.

But recognition needn’t be the end of listening.

According to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, mindful listening can include noticing a sound’s tone, pitch and volume, alongside the mind’s habit of labelling it.

You could choose just one detail. Does the sound waver? Become quieter? You don’t need to name every change.

One example is following a singing bowl’s tone into silence. There is no need to strain after the final trace. Stay with what you can comfortably hear, rather than waiting for something more interesting to arrive.

This is curiosity, not a concentration test.

When attention wanders, there is nothing to catch up on

Perhaps you have been listening when you realise you are deciding what to cook tonight. Or mentally revising a message you sent earlier.

That moment of recognition gives you somewhere to begin again.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, everyday mindfulness includes noticing when attention has wandered and gently returning to the sensations of the present moment.

Here, that could mean listening to whatever is audible now.

Unlike returning to a meeting, you don’t need to reconstruct the last three sentences. The sound may have changed while your thoughts were elsewhere; you can meet it where it is.

I find something generous in that invitation. There is no backlog of listening to clear before you are allowed to be here again.

Am I listening, or checking whether it is working?

Am I calmer yet? Should I be feeling more?

These are understandable questions. When time has been set aside for wellbeing, it can be tempting to ask the experience for a progress report.

Cambridge University Hospitals makes a useful distinction: relaxation aims to reduce physical tension, while mindfulness directs attention towards the here and now.

I would carry that distinction into listening.

“I notice I’m impatient” tells us something about this moment. “I must become calm” gives the moment a deadline.

This matters in restorative practice, too. I would rather leave room for someone to recognise what they need than ask them to demonstrate how well they can relax.

Noticing is not an obligation to enjoy everything. You remain free to adjust, pause or decide that a different practice would suit you better.

What this could look like in the workplace

For HR and management teams, interest in sound can begin a wider conversation about how people experience rest and what support would feel useful.

I would ask what surrounds the session. Will the time be protected? Can people participate without having to describe their experience afterwards? Is there room to say that something did not suit them? Introduction, writing style, to…

Afterwards, “What would you like us to know?” leaves more space than “Didn’t that feel relaxing?”

A listening experience might sit alongside Restorative Yoga, breath awareness or a seminar exploring stress and the nervous system. OASIS’s Workplace Wellbeing Seminars bring together accessible stress education, guided reflection and practical approaches to mindfulness.

The intention is to connect an experience with something people can understand and return to, rather than collect another activity for the calendar.

There is also a small experiment to take into the next conversation: notice when you begin preparing your reply while a colleague is still speaking. Could you hear the rest before deciding what to say?

That is something to explore, not a promised outcome of attending a session.

The rain was already there

Sound healing can be one invitation into this wider practice of noticing: the sound, our expectations, and what we need in order to rest.

Later, rain might be tapping at the window again. There is no need to turn it into a task or extract another benefit from the day.

Perhaps, before beginning the next sentence, you simply hear it.

For your team, the next step might be supported rest, an introduction to mindfulness, or time to understand stress together. Explore ways to invite OASIS into your workplace, and let us begin with what your people need.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to close my eyes to listen attentively?

No. Cambridge University Hospitals’ relaxation guidance includes keeping the eyes open and resting the gaze on a nearby object. Discuss what feels comfortable with the facilitator. Listening does not need to look the same for everyone.

What should I do if a sound feels uncomfortable?

Pause, ask for an adjustment or step away. Guy’s and St Thomas’ advises stopping mindfulness exercises that become painful or uncomfortable and discussing this with the trainer or a doctor. You do not need to endure discomfort to participate properly.

Can I explore attentive listening without attending a sound healing session?

Yes. Choose a comfortable everyday sound and give it a little attention while you are safely at rest. Notice one change, then continue with your day. Harvard’s guidance similarly encourages awareness during ordinary activities. For further reading, explore OASIS’s reflection on silent retreats.