How to Listen to Yourself

Listen to yourself.

I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before. Maybe you’ve even tried to implement it, but you might be unclear about exactly how to do this and what it means to listen to yourself.

Here’s a brief primer.

What it means to Listen to Yourself

Listening to yourself is not just about hearing your thoughts. Listening is a full body experience.

Listening to yourself means feeling into the sensations your body is giving you and staying with them long enough to know what they are telling you so you can act from a place of alignment.

Why Listen to Yourself?

Before we get to the how, let’s start with why.

Usually what happens is we feel sensations that are uncomfortable, so we escape them by going into our heads. That’s when we start down the rabbit hole of looping thoughts.

By learning to listen to yourself, you’ll begin to speak the language of your sensations. When we can identify the sensations and be with them for longer, we can often pre-empt the looping thoughts that come after.

When you truly learn how to listen to yourself, you’ll find a deep well of wisdom that nobody else can give you.

You’ll learn how you’re wired to habitually react, which will help you interrupt that habit, saving you from harmful outbursts.

You’ll also more easily discern what’s aligned for you, which will help you avoid making harmful decisions.

How to Listen to Yourself

(1) Practice

Listening to yourself is a practice. You can do it through meditation while sitting in silence.

But you don’t have to be in meditation.

Practice slowing down and noticing what sensations arise in your body as you scroll TikTok or Instagram, watch TV, or check your email. When you’re in conversation with others, notice what sensations arise as you hear them talk.

Sometimes you might notice that even seeing someone’s name pop up on your phone sends a signal from your body.

Notice what part of the body it comes from, and the feeling you get, even before the thoughts come.

A flutter of excitement feels much different than your stomach sinking to the floor. These sensations carry different messages.

Get to know them, and what they are telling you.

Practice breathing into those sensations and being in your body with them. Notice how they change over the course of a few minutes.

(2) Notice Your Impulses

Notice what thoughts or impulses to action start to arise. At the beginning, you may not be able to resist those impulses to action or the start of looping thoughts.

That’s normal.

The more you practice slowing down, the more you’ll be able to interrupt the impulse.

(3) Notice Your Patterns

Over time, you’ll begin to notice patterns in sensations. As you recognize those patterns, you’ll know what your body is telling you. That’s what is commonly called “intuition” or a “gut feeling.”

This is listening to yourself.