I don’t just listen to the person, I breath deep and listen to my body and the feelings and underlying emotions bubbling up as I hear their words. If I can reco

I don’t just listen to the person, I breath deep and listen to my body and the feelings and underlying emotions bubbling up as I hear their words. If I can recognize these feelings, I can acknowledge them before needing to immediately react and say what’s bubbling up. If it’s particularly important I write it down to bring up when they’re done speaking. But this is a kind of mindfulness skill that takes lots of practice. Meditation helps, and anything that connects you with your body, so you can learn to accept, acknowledge and respond and not immediately react. Also I forgive myself a lot for fidgeting. It's natural. I give myself things for my hands to play with.