Discover the transformative power of deep listening and how it can enhance your well-being this winter. As your host, Sally Burlington, I'll guide you through the practice of tuning into the quiet whispers of your mind and the Divine, unveiling the profound impact it can have on your spirituality and daily productivity. By embracing moments of silence and contemplation, we find clarity in our thoughts and peace within our spirit. I'll share my personal techniques for capturing insights, such as jotting down reflections and using goal-setting tools like PowerSheets to navigate life's journey with purpose. Join me for a heartfelt conversation on finding stillness amidst the hustle, and see how this mindful approach can lead to a more focused, serene, and fulfilling life.
With the winter chill upon us, self-care is not just a luxury but a necessity. In this episode, I'll walk you through crafting a self-care list that's less of a to-do list and more of a love letter to yourself, reflecting the care that God has for each of us. Let's wrap ourselves in the warmth of kindness as we put together activities that bring comfort and joy during the colder months. This isn't about adding more tasks to your day; it's about finding simple, meaningful ways to replenish your spirit. We'll create a positive, nurturing space together, ensuring that as we navigate the winter season, we emerge not only unscathed but also revitalized and brimming with happiness.
Discover the transformative power of deep listening and how it can enhance your well-being this winter. As your host, Sally Burlington, I'll guide you through the practice of tuning into the quiet whispers of your mind and the Divine, unveiling the profound impact it can have on your spirituality and daily productivity. By embracing moments of silence and contemplation, we find clarity in our thoughts and peace within our spirit. I'll share my personal techniques for capturing insights, such as jotting down reflections and using goal-setting tools like PowerSheets to navigate life's journey with purpose. Join me for a heartfelt conversation on finding stillness amidst the hustle, and see how this mindful approach can lead to a more focused, serene, and fulfilling life.
With the winter chill upon us, self-care is not just a luxury but a necessity. In this episode, I'll walk you through crafting a self-care list that's less of a to-do list and more of a love letter to yourself, reflecting the care that God has for each of us. Let's wrap ourselves in the warmth of kindness as we put together activities that bring comfort and joy during the colder months. This isn't about adding more tasks to your day; it's about finding simple, meaningful ways to replenish your spirit. We'll create a positive, nurturing space together, ensuring that as we navigate the winter season, we emerge not only unscathed but also revitalized and brimming with happiness.
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Speaker 1:
Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. I am Sally Burlington and this is episode 56. And at Create Harmony, we strive to refresh your life, raise your well-being and return you to peace and joy. So as part of that process, we do a series this time of year that we call Winter Well-Being. So we kicked it off last week and we did a lot of explanation about why this is important, why we're not the best at winter and why we will be focusing on well-being and what you can expect as you're going through the Winter Well-Being episodes. If you missed that discussion, you can always go back and grab it, and after you've listened to this episode, you can go back and grab that conversation.
Speaker 1:
So while I was planning the content for this year's Winter Well-Being series, I took a look back at what we did last year to see if there was anything we needed to revisit. And one of the first things I found there was a discussion about deep listening, and I thought that that might fit well in this winter too. I thought we needed to revisit that topic. So what I've defined deep listening to be is a steady practice of engagement with the Divine. When we deeply listen, we will open ourselves to the way that God is speaking throughout the pattern of our daily living. And, in addition, deep listening helps us to become aware of our repetitive thoughts. So our brains are processing hundreds of thoughts every hour and those repetitive thoughts happen sort of automatically and they shape the way we engage in our lives. Making ways to more clearly understand and process our thoughts can really help us live more productive lives overall. Now, what does that really mean or look like? What does that look like in reality? What are the boots on the ground versions of deep listening? So for me it has two parts, and the first part is to take time to be intentionally quiet, just intentionally quiet the noise in my life in order to hear the voice of God. And the second part is basically the same but slightly different. So it's to spend time in reflection and contemplation so that you can process your thoughts. Now, as I'm going further into this topic, I know some of you are thinking I said this last year. Some of you think, oh boy, here we go.
Speaker 1:
Here she goes down the road of meditating. She's going to tell us that we need to sit in silence, and I don't like to sit in silence. Raise your hand if you're by I can't meditate, or if you're in the I can't meditate camp, I can't sit still. I can't do that. That's not who I am. I don't like to do that. People are always thinking they can't meditate and you guys are probably thinking I liked her better when she was talking about mocktails and how to embrace gratitude.
Speaker 1:
But stay with me here. I'm not asking you to leap into the deep end of meditation. I'm just suggesting that there might be ways you can open yourself right where you are in your regular habits. That will help you clear your mind and settle your spirit. You'll feel calmer and, as a result, your life will be more productive. So you can do them in very small doses and you'll still see results. These deep listening patterns are a way of taking a beat in the course of your life just taking one beat in the course of your life and look where you're going and what you want to take your life off of autopilot and make wiser decisions.
Speaker 1:
For me, deep listening often involves writing things down. I love to write something down on a piece of paper and I'm a paper planner type. I love to make lists. I like to plan on paper rather than electronically. So if you've followed along for a while. You've probably heard me talk about my obsession with planning tools and stickers and fancy pens. It's the same type of excitement you have when you get brand new school supplies when you're a kid. That's how I am about office supplies and planning tools. So this time of year I get really excited about my fresh new planner and all the ways I'm going to journal list things in the coming months. And in the past sometimes I would follow and sometimes not as much.
Speaker 1:
But last year I started using a goal setting planner that's called PowerSheets and it's from a company called Cultivate what Matters and I'm in no way affiliated with them. This is not a paid ad, but I really love their products. So the thing I like about them is the planner. First of all, the planner is beautiful. It's very inspiring looking, it's bright and it's colorful and it's pretty. And secondly, the goal of using this planner is to discover the very most important things in life and focus your attention and energy on that, to filter out the things that are not as connected to your grander vision.
Speaker 1:
So when you purchase a PowerSheets planner, they encourage you to spend a week at the end of the year doing what they call prep work. You set aside time to work through the pages in that planner and direct you towards higher level thinking. You look back at the previous year, assessed where things stand, and kind of look at every area of your life and decide what things you want to say yes to in the coming year and what you will say no to, and you actually write it down. That's the critical part of the exercise and that is where deep listening comes in. You take time to brainstorm your goals, you create a vision and then you break it down into action steps and plan how you'll respond. In each season. You're really encouraged to decorate your planner with delight in order to make you feel inspired to return to it again and again. And then, as you progress through the year, you have monthly check-ins and lists of things that you're tending to and ways to keep focused on pursuing those same big picture goals.
Speaker 1:
And what I like about this idea is combining productivity and contemplation. And in order to move through the planner to cultivate your goals, you need to take some time to think through or contemplate many aspects of your life. So since I used this same version of this planner last year, I had already learned the nuts and bolts of how it worked, and when I did my prep work last year, I really didn't take as much time. In other words, I just got the job done, I wrote it down quickly and I checked it off my list. But this year, as I did my prep work, I took things a little more slowly. I allowed myself to pause. I reflected in a deeper way. I used more of the pretty planner tools, things I tended to collect up and not really use.
Speaker 1:
Now, this may sound like a waste of time on arts and crafts to you. We all have seasons in our lives that we can't take as much time to contemplate, and it's extra hard to do this because the prep work is usually done before the year starts, which means you guessed it during the holiday season. But I will tell you that taking a few more minutes to really dwell in this planner has deepened my results and, in the long run, it saved me from wasting time on things that are really not important. Giving this activity my full attention has been a worthy exercise for me, so I encourage you to find some type of deep listening in your own life, or maybe lots of different types of deep listening. Be deep listening for you is a quiet walk each day and paying attention to the things you see, noticing nature, can be very restorative, can be very opening to your spirit and to your thoughts. Another option might be setting a timer and closing your eyes for just a minute or two at the end of your day.
Speaker 1:
You can really start small. This does not need to be an overhaul to your entire schedule. See if you can work up to adding more of this in your life. You may already have some of these habits, but you're not allowing yourself to really lean into them. You may be sort of like I was last year with my PowerSheets planner. I did it, but I didn't really lean in, and maybe you want to lean in just one or two steps further and see if you like the results. So, as we journey through Winter Wellbeing, we're going to step away from autopilot and really try some deep listening in a quest for more peace and joy.
Speaker 1:
So now it's time for us to turn our attention to our Huga Habit for this week. So last week I shared a Huga Habit that I do on my own as an act of self-care. It was putting on my PJs once it gets dark, so in case you missed that, I've been putting on my PJs and cozying up, so this week's Huga Habit is a journaling activity, because we've talked a lot about writing things down, so you might not be able to do this right now. If you're listening, while you're driving or walking or doing something else, it's fine, but I encourage you to find a moment later to do it. If you are able to do it right now, just grab a piece of paper or a journal and make a list of all the ways you can give yourself care over the next month. Write down everything you can think of that would feel nurturing, even if you know that you might not have time to make it happen.
Speaker 1:
Just because you put it down on the list does not mean it is signed in blood and has to happen.
Speaker 1:
Allow this to be a brainstorming exercise for yourself where you can consider how to best care for yourself and make the list as long as possible. Let God inspire you to love yourself as much as God loves you. And once you've finished your list, you might want to keep it handy as a way to inspire yourself this winter. Remember you might want to see it over and over again so that you'll remember how to do this self-care. But part of the self-care is to hold on to it gently, not as another burden that you've got to do, not as something as a big heavy to-do list, but as a soft place to land. So consider it that way. Thanks so much for joining us today and hope you'll come back next week as we continue through our Winter Well-Being series. We can all get through the winter together if we keep focused on all of these brighter topics. I know we can do it and hope you'll join us for each of these steps and until next time, peace.