Helping people reduce stress takes me into many hidden areas of their lives. So many people have been abused, i don’t refer only to sexual abuse. We need to address the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual abuse many young people are exposed to at an age they are incapable of fully dealing with. Some rise above it, some sink to the bottom and even choose to leave the planet. No one gets out without scars.

Physical pain is sometimes the easiest to deal with, wounds heal, scars fade. Being privileged to be allowed to walk some of the journey with people who are battling inner demons of abuse has been a blessing and a curse. It makes me appreciate the tenacity of the human spirit and to see the depths some people sink to in their desire to inflict pain and suffering on others. It is sometimes is difficult to remember everyone is suffering, not just the perceived victim.

Seeing the tears behind someone’s eyes, feeling their anger while they sit composed telling their story, feeling the unexpressed emotions is a gift i have been fortunate to have developed over my many years in kinesiology. I have been able to learn to trust my instinct, listen to those words and thoughts that come into my head. The Indigenous Australian people’s have a technique for dealing with trauma called Deep Listening. The moment i saw those words i realised that has been the journey i have been on – learning to listen to the full story, not just the words and feel the pain.

My first experience of learning to trust the process was about twenty years ago, i was working with a client and the word “girly” popped into my head. As she answered a question I jokingly mentioned the answer was a “girly” thing to say. It was like i had taken a surgeons knife and cut her wide open. A deep suppressed old issue popped to the surface and we were able to clear it.

In another case a client had tried to commit suicide 7 times. The words flowed from my mouth that it was lucky he had never succeeded. It was if he needed to hear those words at that time. That became the turning point and to my knowledge he has never looked back.

My clients over the years have taught me to trust that “inner” voice, the quiet whisper and find the right time to use it. Whether we are working with clients, selling or marketing products or the CEO of a multi-national corporation take the time to listen to the feeling behind the words, the whispers of the inner voice. All great discoveries have been made by the intuition whispering secrets for us to understand.

Learning to listen, to truly listen is a gift, something we give to others as a sign of respect and to ourselves as it opens closed doors within the mind to unlimited possibilities.

Are you Listening?