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I have always been a conscientious student, so at my recent yoga teacher training, I worked hard to hear every word the teachers said. I arrived early to position myself in a good seat that had clear sight lines for lipreading but also avoided the loud ceiling fan that the mid-day heat often forced us to run. I concentrated, I listened actively, and I took notes to solidify the concepts in my notebook for later review. It was effective but also exhausting.
When I mentioned how tired I was at dinner one night, my instructor offered a strange suggestion. “I think you should try to hear less,” he told me. “The most important information will be repeated multiple times. Focus on that, not on getting every detail. Hearing everything will only wear you down.”
In Certain Situations, Should I Try To Hear Less?
At first, I was astonished by his comment and a little insulted. Did he not think I could do what everyone else could do? Was he saying that because of my hearing loss, I should lower the high expectations I had for myself to learn the material? That I should not expect to absorb the information as well as the students with typical hearing? That I was not capable of taking the class on my own terms?
Feeling like I had something to prove, the next day, I redoubled my efforts to catch every detail in class, but by nightfall, I was once again weary and depleted. The same thing happened the next day and the next.
I thought about an unrelated comment he had made at another dinnertime conversation. “In international teacher training, the ESL (English as a second language) students typically do the best. Rather than trying to understand and learn everything—they only have the bandwidth to absorb the most important things—the themes that were repeated most often.”
Maybe I should take a lesson from them. Perhaps in some situations, hearing less allows you to understand more and with a lot less effort.
Forgive Yourself for Not Hearing Every Word.
The next day, I tried it his way. I forgave myself when I didn’t hear every single word and realized that the main ideas were always discussed several times. I relaxed, and while it was still hard work, I had more energy left at the end of the day to follow up on anything I had missed or wanted to clarify. And I was still able to complete my homework assignments with good results.
Adding ease to the process made it more fun, less stressful, and still got me to the same general place—but with a lighter physical toll.
I wondered if I could apply this tactic to the communication challenges I face daily as a person with hearing loss. Could a more Zen attitude save me from hearing loss exhaustion but still allow me to communicate effectively?
The answer is: It depends. At a doctor’s appointment or another critical meeting where hearing every detail is absolutely critical, this strategy is counterproductive, but at a social gathering, it might work. A more relaxed expectation for hearing everything could help me go with the flow a bit better, keep my communication frustration in tighter check, and allow me to enjoy myself more. It is certainly worth a try.
Copyright: Living With Hearing Loss/Shari Eberts. Reprinted with permission.
