The subtle voice within
Demands no attention
Assumes no posture
Is gentle and loving
The subtle voice within
Is steady, feels right
Calm and gentle
And resonates true
The subtle voice within
Has been whispering to me
For years and
And I couldn’t hear
The subtle voice within
Has never been a bully
Demanding or
Screaming
The subtle voice within
Only communicates
With loving kindness
With reverence and respect
The subtle voice within
Places a gentle loving
Hand on my back
To guide me
As I practice silence
My hearing is more attuned
To listening
On the inside
It’s the same voice I heard back in 1987
Facing a divorce and having no direction
A whisper in my ear suggesting
A new career as a court reporter
It’s the same voice I heard back in 1990
Laying on the floor alone in despair
In a puddle of snot sobbing uncontrollably
The gentle suggestion of blowing my nose
It’s the same voice I heard in 2020 while in
Meditation just listening
The suggestion to begin meditating
Daily with a community
It’s the same voice I hear now
On a daily basis in my heart
Welcoming the presence of my Self
As a loving subtle voice
Kay Lindahl, Founder of the Listening Center and author of The Sacred Art of Listening says:
“We are used to being present in our heads
Our minds, our intellect so the innermost
Self may take a while to surface. Take the time.
Being present in our hearts leads to compassion, love and service.”
Participants’ Reflections:
I loved the reading. My inner voice is like a barometer, telling me which way to go. It’s a voice telling you when you’re doing the right thing. I loved that imagery.
Great meditation. I also have a small voice that guides me in specific activities: gardening, journaling, and when I’m outside doing my artwork. We talk and dialogue. The Self telling me its truth. My body will tell me things. This morning I woke up with hives; it’s telling me I have too much stress. I have to tone it back.
During the meditation, I remembered an experience I had some years ago. A voice yelling at me to brake my car, hard. I didn’t see the reason to do it, but I did. And I'm alive today because of it. Since then, it’s been a transitional period for me where I listen more. This was a rich meditation. I was feeling grateful. I am alone a lot, but rarely do I feel alone because of the voices in my head speaking to me. I appreciate them.
Thank you for the reading, for sharing your hard and soft places in life. I got caught up in your use of words, like the word ‘subtle.’ Even the B in that word is quiet. The word ‘subtle’ is subtle. You didn’t just talk about the quite voice, you talked about the subtle voice is what speaks to us. Some call it women’s intuition. My brother was rehabbing from heart surgery. The day after it, I heard a voice telling me that I must call him, so that he could hear my voice. The nurse said no. I demanded, saying I have to talk with him. She put me through and he and I had a very sweet talk, which was not our normal way to speak because of family issues. The next day, his son called to say that he died. It was that subtle voice that pushed me to make that call. Subtlety in a small voice that can also be an overwhelming voice.
My late wife was killed in a car accident and I grieved for a year, listening to my subtle voice. After a year, I went on my first outing and heard a performance poet using words, wordplay with sound and rhythm. My inner voice told me to pay attention, and it was the beginning of our relationship. It changed the direction of my life.
During the meditation, I decided to intuitively listen to the group and I felt the brother rehab story. This daily meditation is helping me become more sensitive.
I see things, I see things in the future. I love history. When I was 7 or 8, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper had a color series about the Seven Wonders of the World. I always think of myself as the Colossus of Rhodes, with my one foot in the past and one in the future.
You are listening with a different sense
For 25 years, I’ve had this dystonia voice. It doesn’t hurt. Growing up I was not allowed to have a voice. I’ve been living a process of uncovering and recovering. I use nature. I am allowing myself to be okay, to stop the should. I feel like I am in kindergarten compared to you all.
There are no comparisons. All of our awarenesses change. It would be good for you to write 10 good things about yourself to counteract the negative statement you made about yourself.