Listening is relational proprioception

Proprioception is the perception or awareness of the position and movement of your body.

The reason this is important is that you use this information to guide your decision making about position and movement. As you walk, it is proprioception that tells you the shape and firmness of the ground and helps guide appropriate motor patterns to prevent falling.

If the ground is hard and smooth you will use different muscles than if you are walking on sand.

Listening to someone is the perception or awareness of the position and movement of another person’s mind.

By listening to their words, tone, and other cues you gain insight to the shape and firmness of their psychology. You learn about their thoughts, feelings, needs, and openness to the world around them.

You can use this information, this relational proprioception, to guide your position and movement in relation to them.

If someone’s mind is hardened, you will speak, engage, and probably move differently than when listening to someone whose perspectives are pliable.

Proprioception is often thought of synonomously with balance.

By improving our listening we improve our ability to balance getting our needs met with contributing to the lives of others.