Affective listening is an approach (in develompent) that understands listening as an embodied, emotional, and relational process. Rather than treating sound as an external object perceived only through the ears, affective listening emphasizes how sound is experienced through the body, attention, and emotional states. From the perspective of neuroscience, this approach is closely linked to interoception—the capacity to perceive internal bodily signals such as breathing, heartbeat, muscle tension, and visceral sensations. Studies in neuroscience and psychology show that interoceptive awareness plays a central role in emotional regulation, self-awareness, empathy, and the sense of connection with one’s environment (Craig, 2002; Critchley & Harrison, 2013). When listening practices engage interoception, sound becomes a medium that connects inner experience with external ecological and social contexts.

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Affective listening is also grounded in the legacy of Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening, a practice that expands listening beyond auditory perception to include the body, memory, imagination, and environment. Oliveros proposed listening as an ethical and transformative act—one that can reshape relationships between individuals, communities, and places (Oliveros, 2005). Building on this foundation, affective listening situates the body as a resonant interface between the human and the more-than-human world. Through practices such as sound walks, immersive listening, and collective experiences, affective listening fosters ecological awareness not as abstract knowledge, but as lived, embodied experience. By cultivating attention, presence, and sensitivity, it seeks to strengthen affective bonds with ecological environments, encouraging care and responsibility toward ecosystems that are felt as part of oneself.

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References
Craig, A. D. (2002). How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Critchley, H. D., & Harrison, N. A. (2013). Visceral influences on brain and behavior. Neuron.
Oliveros, P. (2005). Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice. iUniverse.