INTENTION: I CONSCIOUSLY PRACTICE THE POWER OF PAUSE.
Pema Chodron writes in When Things Fall Apart, “It all comes through learning to pause for a moment, learning not to just impulsively do the same thing again and again. It’s a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as well as fundamental spaciousness.”
We are craving silence and stillness in our culture. Everywhere we look there is activity, noise, input, and excessiveness. We wake up in the morning and jump on our phones to check email, messenger, phone calls, Facebook, and then we open our computer for another dose of information. We attend yoga classes and wear our Fitbit so that we can gain feedback about ourselves while we are searching for stillness. We move from meeting to meeting while talking on our cell phones through our earbuds. We are always plugged in and constantly doing something, filling every empty space with action or words. It becomes overwhelming and hard to keep up.
What is the Power of Pause? To take a pause means to stop or rest temporarily. The Power of Pause reminds us to be more mindfully aware and present and offers a space to stop thinking and instead start mindfully listening. The power of pause invites us to listen to ourselves and identify what restores us, gives life to our souls, and refreshes us.
Even our televisions have a pause button so that we can step away and walk around, refresh ourselves, then return with greater awareness and attention to what we were watching. Why is it so difficult to do this in our personal lives?
Sometimes we must press a pause button in life to create space to step back and assess where we have been, where we are presently, and which direction we are taking our lives. We need pauses to take in and digest our experiences. Our lives are so full of “doing” that we have lost our ability to be. Creating pauses in our lives allows us time to assimilate and integrate. It gives us space for our creativity to emerge and for our minds and hearts to rest and regroup. And sometimes it is in that pause that magic happens. Yoga teaches that all yoga happens in the pause of stillness and awareness.
Quieting the mind and being present, rather than being stuck in the past or yearning for the future, are the doorways to freedom from the busy mind. One of the greatest gifts of Yoga is that it teaches us to pause. Pause to breathe. Pause to shift from one pose to the next. Pause to watch our breath and observe what it does to our bodies and minds. Pause to decide if we want to react or let go. The Power of Pause is profound.
I think of the Power of Pause as a superpower. If you feel stressed or have said or done something you regret, or react without pausing, then tap into your superpower. The Power of Pause interrupts this cycle of reaction. It lets the mind sift through what is real and what is merely a story you have picked up along the way, from either your own interpretations of a situation or from what others say and do. This pause allows you to identify how things really are, not how you would like them to be. And if you are prone to viewing things negatively, which creates damaging self-talk, you can stop that before it takes hold of your mind and heart.
The Power of Pause is well-researched. Pausing promotes relaxation, a break from noise and doing, and refreshes and reenergizes us for hours. Taking time to just be still and quiet gives our nervous system a chance to regain balance. A mindful pause allows us to be present and more aware of how our body is reacting somatically, storing experiences in the very fiber of our being. It gives us time to be the Observer, suspending judgment, fully experiencing the moment, and learning what it has to teach us.
There are many ways to pause - physically, mentally, and emotionally. Create time and space to empty your mind and then reflect and let go.
Schedule time for daily yoga practice. Put it in the calendar like any other appointment—and be consistent.
Pause your online sessions every 20-30 minutes to save your body and mind. Get up, stand up. Step away from the screen. Practice diaphragmatic breathing and move around before restarting.
Place your bare feet or body on the bare earth for a few minutes each day. Connect to the sand on the beach, a soft blanket of grass, or the warmth of rocks to ground and rejuvenate you.
Spend time in nature. You will find it is easy to exhale here. Simply enjoy and delight in the magnificence that surrounds you. Go to a park, playground, or nature preserve. Listen, observe, and immerse.
Do things that you love to do, sooner rather than later.
Experience precious time with family and friends and allow yourself to be fully present. No devices. Lay down your weapons of distraction, remove your armor, and engage in human interaction. Practice HEAR: HALT — Halt whatever you are doing and offer your full attention; ENJOY — Enjoy a breath as you choose to receive whatever is being communicated to you—wanted or unwanted; ASK — Ask yourself if you really know what they mean and if you don’t, ask for clarification. Instead of making assumptions, bring openness and curiosity to the interaction. You might be surprised at what you discover; REFLECT — Reflect back to them what you heard. This tells them that you were really listening.
Practice breath awareness throughout your day. Pay attention to your in-breath and out-breath. Say to yourself, “I breathe in vitality and exhale anything that no longer serves me.” Notice the transitional pause at the top of the inhalation and the bottom of the exhalation. Remember, yoga teaches that all yoga happens in the pause.
Our freedom and salvation lie in our timeless presence, in that the pause between our in-breath and our out-breath. It lies in our groundedness. In our open minds, our unclouded vision, our fresh perspectives, our rested bodies, and in our ability to pause and take stock of what is important.
So go ahead.
Take that breath. Give yourself that moment to pause and regroup. Go on that vacation. Stop working the moment they stop paying you. Stare in wonder at the swaying branches of a magnolia tree. Watch the swoop and listen to the trill of the birds. Wander aimlessly. Sit and be with Mother Earth.
Love & light,
Jeanne and John