2008 marks the 10th anniversary of my journey learning how to listen, a process that continues to revolutionize my life, making me and the people around me peaceful and successful.

2008 marks the 9th anniversary of my teaching people how to listen. Once I experienced the power of listening, and being really heard to heal and to actualize lives, I felt a call to teach you and as many people as possible.

So far I have reached close to 10,000 people of all ages and backgrounds. Now I am reaching you.

You can create peace and success in your relationships and work by learning to consciously listen to the people in your life.

You can create peace in the world at large by joining the Listening Planet bandwagon and bring a Listening Salon to your neighborhood.

You will learn not just the outer skills of listening, but the inner skills and belief shifts I have evolved through observing my own difficulty in becoming a good listener and mediator.

I used to think I listened well. When people talked to me, I could compare my story to theirs, give them advice, share an anecdote that they reminded me of, give my profound opinions about what they were saying, play devil’s advocate with the best of them, tell a joke to lighten them up, fix the problem for them, tell them where they were going wrong, analyze their situation with great acuity, and show them how much I knew about what they were saying. I handled any discomfort or silence in a conversation by bringing the conversation back under my control. I never let a silence go on for very long.

Then, at a volunteer mediator training, the trainer used me to demonstrate active listening (the outer component of Really Listening, what I teach). For the first time in my life I felt really heard. I cried the experience was so moving, even though I hadn’t shared anything that deep. Just being given the space to say out loud my own thoughts without someone else’s personality and “wisdom” interfering opened life up to me in a whole new way.

It become clear what I had been doing before was not really listening. It had been all about me, not about the other person, even though I thought I was doing a good job.

So I set about learning how to get good at this. And being a inveterate teacher, I simultaneously observed how I was learning so I could teach others, from the inside out.

I realized that changing one’s listening habits required an internal change first.

We have to learn to become present.

We have to learn to focus.

We have to learn that when another person speaks, no matter what they say is about us, it is their reality they are speaking of, and we are really separate from that reality. This keeps us from reacting, and allows us to be a compassionate, neutral witness.

I teach you how to become present, helping you be calm and centered, even when you are just listening to yourself.

I teach you how to focus, which helps you be less distracted and overwhelmed in the rest of your life.

I show you how each of us is the wisest person we know for ourselves and that inside each of us is the wisdom we need to live, if we can hear it.

I teach you how to listen to others, and yourself, so that you can each hear wisdom’s voice whispering (sometimes SCREAMING!) inside, telling you each what is right for you.

I have taught hundreds of workshops in listening, mediation, conflict resolution, and men women differences in communication.

I have honed my curriculum (my masters in education has come in handy)

I have published the Listening Cards which are on sale in books stores, through this site in hard copy and to download.

I have piloted my idea of Listening Salons where people learn and practice their listening skills, and get listened to, at a regular neighborhood venue, like a coffee shop or church, and have signed on more coffee shops to carry on the power of listening.

I am currently writing more cards on how men and women need to be listened to differently, how to mediate your own conflicts as they arise, how to listen deep inside yourself, and how to listen one another’s callings into being.

It is through really listening that the planet will become peaceful, the only way it can: one person listening at a time. Listening is the core skill of all non-violent communication and the peacemaking work that is done all over the world. And it can help your life and relationships become more peaceful and productive.

This is your online school where you will improve your listening skills. Listening Planet is a for-profit social enterprise dedicated to teaching you and as many people on the planet as possible how to really listen through this web site, The Listening Cards and Listening Videos/cds and Listening and other workshops, The Listening Lady blog, my free weekly listening tips sent to your email.

I help you learn from the inside out, addressing your inner habits and beliefs first then learning the skills rather than just tacking on some new techniques onto an old paradigm that isn’t working.

Really listening is how you will have peace in your life, intimacy with your friends and partners, and success in your work.

Learning to listen helps you, too. Through this “social meditation” you learn the ‘power of now,” how to be present in the moment to another person, which in turn makes you calmer, more focused, less reactive and more compassionate with others.