The Power of the Pause
I talk about the concept of “aliveness’ a lot. I speak about it. I train about it. I think about it. And I try to do things on a regular basis that make me feel alive. But cultivating aliveness isn’t bunging jumping every day. In fact you do not have to jump off any bridges with a cord wrapped around your ankles to be alive.
Being alive is about being conscious about my life. The work I do. The people I spend time with. The things I say yes to. And what I say no to.
And it’s also about doing nothing.
And by that I mean pausing.
Pausing my busyness.
My thinking-ness.
My do-ing-ness.
I have wanted to have a more dedicated pause practice for years. Recently I signed up for a guided meditation class to cultivate more discipline around this. Not going to lie, this class was tough. Physically I find it difficult to sit in one still position. Mentally of course, just sitting still my mind would be swirling around. But the act of learning to just sit - without judgement, without attachment and even without having it to be anything was very illuminating.
In the end I felt that long extended meditation sessions of sitting did not work for me. Perhaps in time it might but the act of trying it made me realize that I can adopt an open mind about this and continue to look for ways to incorporate mindful, meditative and pause practices into my routine.
Especially with the holidays coming.
What about you?
Do you have a ‘pause’ practice that serves you?
Love to hear what works for you!
xo