MINDFUL LISTENING
Many common symptoms of poor listening, such as interrupting other speakers, come from a deeper cause: communication anxiety. Techniques for developing mindful awareness can improve listening effectiveness by helping to manage communication anxiety. Fear of running out of time, not being able to complete a point, fear of adverse perceptions, or incorrect emphasis. fear of losing the thread and of inadequacy are the common triggers of communication anxiety. Other physical signs are time checking, fidgetness, eyes glazing over, yawning and micro facial expressions.Here I propose that an effective way to reduce communication anxiety is by applying mindful awareness, a basic mental faculty. Through mindfulness, a person becomes aware of feelings, motivations, and assumptions that would otherwise lurk beneath the horizon of consciousness due simply to lack of attention. Mindful awareness reminds us to turn attention to what has become invisible through haste or neglect. The greater the level of mindfulness, the less life goes by on autopilot.

http://www.sklatch.net/thoughtlets/mindful.html