The Sacred Pause: What Mindful Listening Taught Me About Connection
- Wellness urway
- May 5
- 2 min read
Published on: 5 May 2025
By: Nicola Shannon
As I sit here today, in the sun on bank holiday Monday, my thoughts re run back over an eventful weekend. A weekend of firsts, new beginnings and connection. In particular I focus on our women’s circle yesterday in Clongriffin. Here are my takings from this circle.
✨ The Power of Presence
This month’s women’s circle left me reflecting deeply on how we communicate — and more importantly, how we listen. We often hear about “mindful communication,” but this time, it felt different. It wasn’t just theory. It was something we practiced — something we lived, even if only for a short while.
Our mindful listening exercise was simple in structure, but profound in impact. Each woman was invited to speak without interruption. No feedback, no advice, no immediate responses. Just space — pure, open space to be heard 🤍
✨ Listening to Understand
What struck me most was how often we listen to respond, rather than to understand. It’s subtle, but it’s there — that urge to jump in, to relate, to fix, to add. But in this practice, we were invited to resist that impulse. Instead, we listened with full presence. No agenda. No interruption.
And in that quiet, something beautiful happened.
✨ Mirrors in the Circle
As each woman spoke, I saw myself. Not in the exact stories, but in the feelings. The grief. The self-doubt. The longing for peace, for love, for clarity. The more we shared, the more we realised how much we mirrored each other. Different lives, same threads.
There was a tenderness in that realisation — that we weren’t alone in our fears or frustrations. We were all carrying something. And somehow, we were all carrying parts of the same thing.
✨ A Shared Humanity
What emerged from the silence was connection — honest, grounding, deeply human connection.
It reminded me that beneath our roles, our differences, our guarded hearts, we are more alike than we are different. We all want to feel heard. We all want to belong. We all want to be seen for who we truly are.
In our circle, there was no judgment. Just space. Just presence. Just the simple, sacred act of one person truly listening to another 🤍
✨ The Takeaway
I left the circle feeling softer. More connected. More human.
Mindful listening taught me that silence can be more powerful than words — and that being heard can be more healing than being advised.
It’s something I want to carry forward — in conversations with friends, with family, and most importantly, with myself.
Because sometimes, the most meaningful thing we can offer another person is simply… space.
If you would like to join us at one of our women’s circles you can do so here 👉🏼
Love Nicola xx
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