Deep Listening Is More Than What We Hear

We hear all the time.

The refrigerator humming in the kitchen. A notification from our phone. Traffic in the distance. Someone talking in the next room.

Even when we are outside, our attention is often somewhere else.

We may walk through a forest while thinking about our to do list. Sit beside a creek while scrolling through our phones. Watch the leaves move overhead without ever really noticing the wind that set them in motion.

But what happens when we begin to pay attention?

Not just to what we hear, but to everything that is happening around us.

This is where my thoughts have been lately as I prepare to offer a Deep Listening Soundwalk at Buds in Bloom.

And the more I learn, the more I realize that deep listening may be about much more than our ears.

Sound is part of how we experience a place

A forest is not a silent place.

There are birds calling to one another. Insects moving through the grasses. Leaves responding to the wind. Water making its way over stone.

Sometimes the sounds are obvious.

Other times, they are so subtle that we don't notice them until something else becomes quiet.

Recent research is helping us better understand the role these sounds may play in our experience of nature. In a 2025 study, researchers compared recordings of forest soundscapes with industrial soundscapes. After 30 minutes, participants exposed to the forest sounds showed improvements in mood, perceived restoration and aspects of cognition compared with those exposed to industrial sounds.

That is important because it suggests that sound is not simply a pleasant backdrop to being outdoors. Even on its own, the sounds of a forest may influence how we feel and how our attention responds.

What happens when researchers isolate sound?

One of the most interesting recent studies was published in Scientific Reports in 2025.

Researchers wanted to explore something very specific. If we separate sound from the rest of the forest experience, does it still matter?

Participants listened to recordings of forest soundscapes, including birdsong, running water, wind and rain, or recordings of industrial environments. The forest sounds were associated with improvements in mood, perceived restoration and aspects of cognition.

That is important because it suggests that sound is not simply a pleasant backdrop to being outdoors. Even on its own, the sounds of a forest influence how we feel and how our attention responds.

At the same time, the study did not find the same changes in physiological measures such as heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol or immune function.

And perhaps that is where the story becomes even more interesting.

A forest is not experienced through sound alone.

When we step into a forest, our bodies are taking in an entire environment. We see the trees and the movement of light. We breathe in the air, including volatile organic compounds released by plants and trees, often referred to as phytoncides. We feel changes in temperature and humidity. We move our bodies, slow our pace and engage multiple senses at once.

Research into forest bathing has found associations between time in forest environments and changes in measures such as heart rate, blood pressure and autonomic nervous system activity, although researchers are still working to understand exactly which elements of the forest experience contribute to those changes and how they interact. Recent reviews also continue to examine the potential role of phytoncides in immune and physiological responses.

So, the takeaway is not that forest sounds have no effect.

Quite the opposite. The research suggests that sound may be one important piece of a much larger, multisensory experience.

And that brings us back to an interesting question:

If we can learn something by isolating one sense, what might we discover when we intentionally give that sense our attention?

Quiet is not the same as silence

When we think of quiet, we often imagine the absence of sound.

But some of the quietest places are full of life.

A meadow buzzing with insects.

A creek moving steadily over rocks.

A forest alive with birdsong at dawn.

Quiet does not necessarily mean nothing is happening.

Sometimes quiet simply gives us the space to notice what is already there.

This is part of what I find so interesting about Quiet Places — Quiet Parks International. QPI assesses wild places not simply by looking at an average decibel level, but by considering the experience of the soundscape. One of its quiet criteria includes having at least 15 uninterrupted minutes without human caused noise in the wilderness.

Think about sitting in a peaceful landscape when an airplane passes overhead.

The sound changes the experience.

And because the quiet has been interrupted, it matters even if the airplane is only there for a short time.

Or imagine standing in a beautiful meadow with a power line cutting across the horizon.

The power line may not make a sound, but we still see it. Its presence can change our experience of the landscape.

Our senses do not operate in separate little boxes.

We are always taking in the whole landscape.

Sound. Sight. Vibration. Movement.

Perhaps even the feeling of a place.

That is part of what makes deep listening so much more interesting than simply asking, “What can I hear?”

Deep listening can happen without hearing

As I began thinking about sound, I found myself reflecting on something else.

What about those who experience the world differently?

A person does not need to hear birdsong to have a deep relationship with a forest.

They may notice movement.

Light.

Color.

Texture.

The vibration of something moving through the ground.

The changing pressure of the air before a storm.

The subtle movement of leaves.

The presence of another living being.

This is one of the things I love about forest therapy. There is no single correct way to experience nature. Our relationship with the more than human world is not limited to one sense.

The Association Of Nature And Forest Therapy Guides And Programs even offers guide training in American Sign Language, reflecting a broader understanding that nature connection and forest therapy are not dependent on hearing.

And perhaps deep listening can be understood in the same way.

Not as hearing more.

But as becoming more receptive.

More curious.

More aware of what is happening within and around us.

What are we listening for?

Maybe we are listening for the obvious.

A bird calling from somewhere high in the trees.

The creek after a rain.

The rustle of a deer moving through the woods.

But perhaps we are also listening for things that do not arrive as sound.

The way the light changes.

A vibration we feel before we understand its source.

A shift in temperature.

A flash of movement at the edge of our vision.

The colors that seem to change as the day moves toward evening.

The feeling that comes when we realize we are not simply standing in nature.

We are standing within a living community.

There is so much happening around us all the time.

Most of it does not ask for our attention.

And perhaps that is why it is so easy to miss.

The science is beginning to pull the experience apart

One of the things I find exciting about newer nature research is that scientists are beginning to ask more specific questions. Rather than simply asking whether time in nature is beneficial, researchers are starting to explore the individual elements of the experience.

What role does sound play?

What about what we see?

What happens when different senses work together?

The 2025 forest soundscape study is part of a larger effort to better understand the contribution of individual sensory experiences to the benefits associated with nature.

Other recent research suggests that the restorative qualities of natural sound are not explained only by whether we like what we hear. In one 2025 study, nature sounds continued to show benefits related to mental fatigue even when the recordings were degraded and participants liked them less.

There is still so much to learn. But I find something hopeful in the questions themselves.

We are beginning to look more closely at the details of our relationship with the natural world.

Not just, Is nature good for us?

But:

What is happening when we are there?

And perhaps just as importantly:

What happens when we truly pay attention?

Listen to the living world

This September, the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and Quiet Parks International are inviting guides and communities around the world to participate in the International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend.

The invitation is beautifully simple:

Listen to the Living World.

Buds in Bloom will be joining that invitation.

On Sunday, September 13, 2026, we will spend time exploring the soundscape of this particular piece of land at our Forest Therapy Sanctuary in Central Ohio.

We will listen to what is near. And what is far away.

We will notice the sounds that are constant and those that appear only for a moment.

We may close our eyes.

We may notice what changes when one sense becomes less dominant and others have more room to participate.

And perhaps we will discover that listening is not something that happens only through our ears.

There is nothing to identify.

Nothing to achieve.

You do not need to know the name of every bird or understand the source of every sound.

The invitation is simply to become curious.

To slow down.

To notice.

To listen with your ears, yes.

But also with your eyes.

Your skin.

Your body.

Your attention.

Because perhaps deep listening is more than what we hear.

Perhaps it is what becomes possible when we give the living world enough of our attention to notice that it has been speaking all along.

We only needed to become still enough to receive it.

Join Us for a Deep Listening Soundwalk

Sunday, September 13, 2026, - 10-11:30 am

Come curious.

Come open.

Come as you are.

And together, we'll explore what happens when we listen a little more deeply.

If this feels meaningful to you, learn more and reserve your spot for the Soundwalk at Buds in Bloom → [EVENT]