Learning to Pause

I don’t know about you, but during the day I often run helter-skelter from one task to another without a breath in between. Often, lunch happens well after noon, when I’m either famished or need a break, and then I am catching up on the news or Facebook or something else, slurping down my soup or sandwich without much gratitude or attention.

The result of running from person to thing to thing to person every day is mental exhaustion in which you can never really catch up until maybe, just maybe, the weekend hits. But there is a helpful remedy.

Take a moment to pause and breathe in between your tasks. Walk away from your desk if you can; hit the restroom, the water cooler or just take a step back, close your eyes and breathe. Clear your mind of the past and don’t think about what’s next; just enjoy a moment for yourself. Don’t take this moment for anything else like getting a cup of coffee and chatting with co-workers. This is a moment for you, your body and your mind.

My energy practitioner mentioned this one day when I was having a particularly busy week and felt so rundown I wanted to bury myself in a pile of blankets and not come out until hibernation season was over. Those lucky bears!

I saw the wisdom right away in taking time to close out one project – or even one phase of a project - and begin another by breathing and pausing; that even the most miniscule one minute of this practice can begin to unloop the overlapping, frenzied wiring to which I’ve gotten my brain accustomed.

This is also a great exercise when you feel overwhelmed and have too much to do; when you have trouble focusing on one thing because the shadows of so many other tasks await you. Clear your mind, take a few deep breaths. The focus will come. The clarity will come.