Honor the pause

Pause. Breathe. Receive.

Did you know that with every inhale.. you receive? That with every single breath cycle.. you are blessed? That by pressing the pause button in your mind.. you can honor your moment and bring just a bit more sacredness to it?

If you’re more of a “can’t stop / won’t stop” mama, the idea of honoring the pause may not comfortably land for you. Or perhaps it even arrives with some offensiveness. “Pause?? Why? How? There’s so much to do. I couldn’t possibly.”

Take a breath, Dear One.

Each breath is a chance for us to practice. To embrace and to honor the pause.

When we are met with a new idea - like “honoring the pause” - our brains are uncomfortable with the unknown of it all. It doesn’t have data or proof points to leverage to say, “this is fine. We know how to handle this. We’ll be safe,” and so it dissuades us from giving it a try.

Instead, it feels super comfy in the known of the go, go, go.

Because it’s practiced. And perfected. We can go until our body, mind, and being are on empty. Watch a season of “Sweet Magnolias.” Then do it all again.

There is a security in the known. Even if the known doesn’t necessarily always feel good. Or empowering. Or spacious. Or restful. Or joy-filled. It is familiar. We know how to handle it. And so, we welcome more of it.

But the saying goes “empty spaces need to be filled.” And if our brains and our beings are in a constant state of go, go, go, we are not offering any space to welcome new blessings. New ideas. Or new ways of being.

What if there was a different pace of living? One that felt more luxurious, enabling, spacious, and supportive? One in which you could still get done what you needed. Keep a tidy home. Raise gracious children. Pursue your soul’s ambitions. Have an uninterrupted conversation with your spouse. And still welcome more.

Not “more” to do. “More” to enjoy.

Practicing the pause is the doorway into possibility.

It’s the portal. It’s our power.

The pause is the space between words that causes a poem to inspire us. The pause is the space between music notes that causes a song to move us. The pause is the space between thoughts that reminds us that we are in control. That we can respond instead of react. That we get to decide.

And we can practice this pause any time. In the moment. Any moment.

By drawing your attention to the brief pause between your inhale and exhale, you are honoring the pause with the sacredness of your attention. And, as we know, whatever we offer our attention to we also offer our energy to. So by simply paying a second’s worth of attention to the space between our inhale and exhale, we are energizing - activating - the spaciousness in our being. And in our life.

Honoring the pause brings a sweet intentionality to our happenings. Our simple every day happenings. Before you choose which type of tea you’d like to enjoy, you can pause. Before you read a notification buzzing on your phone, you can pause. Before reminding your kiddo (yet again) to take a sip from their water cup, you can pause.

And each and every time you practice the pause, you are energizing your personal power. You are reminding yourself that you choose. You decide. You are in control. And you can welcome more spaciousness into your being. And into your life.

And here’s where to fun comes in… Remember the Zack Morris time-out? You can think of your pause just like that. 

No worries that you can’t control matter with a simple hand gesture the way Zack could. You have an even greater ability: you can control energy. 

Yours. 

The first step to influencing the direction of your energy is noticing when you need to pause. 

Observation first. Action second.

Then, actually do it. Take the pause. 

If you’re on a video call, but you need a moment, go off camera for a second or two. Your moment doesn’t need to be long in order to be effective. 

If your toddler is losing it (again) over mealtime, simply step into another room. Take a breath. And maybe another. Come back to the table and take a bite of your food before returning your attention to your babe’s full plate.

Taking the pause is taking control - no matter how long you take it for. 

And the more frequently you practice it - even for the briefest of durations - the more comfortable and natural it will become for you. Because consistency is more impactful than duration with these practices. Practicing every day for a moment can turn into practicing every hour for a moment. Which will always outweigh practicing once a month for a bunch of moments. 

And with each and every practice, you remind yourself: I am in control. I get to decide. 

You always do, mama.