## Listen to reduce stress.

As humans, we often find ourselves becoming overwhelmed with stress in our day-to-day lives. Many of us turn to various methods for managing stress such as exercising, meditating, or taking medication. However, one powerful yet often overlooked way to decrease stress is simply by listening.

Listening is an important part of self-care and can be a powerful tool in reducing stress. Listening to others with an open mind and heart can help us to feel connected and understood. By listening to others, we can learn to empathize with their struggles and gain insight into our own. Listening can also help us to become more aware of our own thoughts and feelings, which can be a great way to reduce stress.

Frankie Aberlin, the executive director and co-founder of The Good Listening Project, founded in 2018, is an advocate for listening as a way to reduce stress. Frankie was at the Healthcare Burnout Symposium to discuss her organization, which uses listening and poetry to support people who are in healthcare. Frankie learned about the physician suicide crisis and the emotional burdens and stress of healthcare workers while working at Johns Hopkins Sibley hospital. She realized that there is not a lot of support in society for mental health struggles and that sort of emotional burden and not a lot of immediately obvious resources.

Frankie is hosting a fundraiser on April 27th to support The Good Listening Project. She is offering exclusive perks to those who donate, like a personalized shout-outs on the show. It is important to come together to support this incredible cause and to spread awareness about the power of listening to reduce stress.

Listening is an important tool for stress relief and can be a powerful way to connect with others and gain insight into our own thoughts and feelings. We should all take the time to listen and to support initiatives like The Good Listening Project.

## Listen and honor vulnerability.

The Good Listening Project is a non-profit organization that was founded by Frankie Robinson in 2018. Robinson was inspired to start the project after an experience she had in front of the National Gallery of Art in DC. She set up a folding table and a sign that said “Pretty Custom Poetry” and people came up to talk to her. She quickly realized that the real gift she was giving was not the poem she was writing, but the attention and focus she was giving to the person. She was providing a safe space for them to talk about whatever they wanted and ask them three prompts: What should the poem be about? Why is that important? How do you feel about that?

Robinson then took a little time to write a poem for them based on what they said. Before they received the poem, they were very grateful and thanked her for listening. After doing this in front of the National Gallery, Robinson thought to do it in the hospital she worked at. Surprisingly, more than half of the people who came to talk to her were staff. Robinson recognized the power of listening and honoring vulnerability and decided to put her job aside to focus on this project full-time.

The Good Listening Project has since expanded and now has nine team members called “listener poets” who are specially trained to provide a space for people to talk about whatever is on their mind. The project has become even more accessible during the pandemic as it is now done entirely online. During the sessions, which typically last 15-20 minutes, the listener poet listens and the participant talks.

Listening and honoring vulnerability is an important tool for stress relief and connection. We should all take the time to listen to others and to support initiatives like The Good Listening Project. Listening is a powerful way to gain insight into our own thoughts and feelings and can help us to better understand and empathize with others.

## Listen to heal and connect.

The Good Listening Project is a unique program that helps healthcare workers to process their experiences and emotions. Through one-on-one sessions with a listener poet, healthcare workers are able to share their stories and receive a reflective poem in response. This allows them to feel heard and seen in a new way.

The program also includes a small group session for three or four people from the same institution. During this brave conversation, facilitated by two facilitators from The Good Listening Project, participants can share their pre-work and their poems in a safe and supportive environment. This is a powerful way to make meaning and to connect with colleagues.

The power of listening and connection is evident in the feedback from these brave conversations. People have reported feeling humanized, connected, cathartic, and uplifted. Listening to and honoring vulnerability can help us to create a culture of understanding and empathy.

The Good Listening Project is a great example of how listening can heal and connect. Taking the time to listen to others is a powerful way to gain insight into our own thoughts and feelings, and to better understand and empathize with others. We should all take the time to listen and to support initiatives like The Good Listening Project.

## Good listening is healing.

Listening is an important tool in healing. It can provide a sense of understanding and comfort, as well as a sense of connection and belonging. Listening can also help us to recognize our feelings and to express our thoughts and emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Listening can also be a way to learn more about ourselves and to gain a deeper understanding of our own experiences.

Listening is also a way to build Relationships. Listening to others can help us to understand their perspectives and to connect with them on a deeper level. It can also help us to recognize our similarities, and to build meaningful relationships with those around us. Listening can also be a way to gain insight into our own thoughts and feelings, and to better understand and empathize with others.

Listening is also a way to create a sense of community. By listening to each other, we can create a safe and supportive space in which we can all share our experiences and feelings. This can help to create a sense of belonging, and to foster a sense of connection between us.

Good listening is healing. It can provide a sense of understanding and comfort, as well as a sense of connection and belonging. It can also help us to gain insight into our own thoughts and feelings, and to better understand and empathize with others. We should all take the time to listen and to support initiatives like The Good Listening Project. Doing so will help us to create a safe and supportive environment in which we can all share our experiences and feelings.

Originally Published on https://www.theworthyphysician.com/blog

Sapna Shah-Haque Internal Medicine Physician

Dr. Sapna Shah-Haque, MD is a board certified Internal Medicine physician. She was born and raised in Kansas, and attended medical school at the University of Kansas [KU] School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at KU-Wichita as well. After experiencing burnout herself, and watching other physician colleagues burn out, it became a passion of hers to look into different aspects of burnout. While the system does need to change, as it is broken, this podcast is a way to reach physicians and possibly shed light on what is not an isolated situation.