How Can Yoga help me become a better Listening Leader?

Listening and Yoga have a lot in common.

Take a Deep Breath. Begin to slow your breath down, paying close attention to your inhale and your exhale. Become mindful of the present moment.

Listen to what is going on in your body.Quiet your mind and listen to the sound of your breath.
Accept your limitations. Let go of your ego.
Focus on a still point, balance on one one leg, concentrate. Flexibility is a benefit of yoga.
Strength is a benefit of yoga. Balance is a benefit of yoga.

In yesterday's class, it came into my mind that Listening is a lot like the practice of yoga
First, let me share some quotes on Listening provided by some very great minds:

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk.
--Doug Larson


Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer
--Ed Cunningham


"An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart." ---David Augsburger

"I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."

--William Penn

"All children wear the sign: 'I want to be important NOW.' Many of our juvenile delinquency problems arise because nobody reads the sign."

--Dan Pursuit

Listen, or thy tongue will keep thee deaf --Native American Proverb

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
– New Testament James 1:19

Here are the similiarities I've found with effective/empathetic listening and yoga.

With both practices we have to check our egos at the door, no autobiographical listening of any sort allowed.

To become effective listeners, we have to hold our tongues still.

In yoga, it helps to put our tongues on the roof of our mouths while we are holding a balance pose.

We will find that as we become more comfortable with being still and quiet in a yoga class, we can listen more outside of class and let distractions pass without holding onto them.
As we become more flexible in our listening habits, we learn not to pre-judge, jump to conclusions, or rush to provide the "right solution". Yoga class helps us be less judgmental, jump ahead, or rush ourselves into a pose.