August: Pause

Busyness is ingrained into our mindsets. When we’re busy, we feel productive. We feel like go-getters, hustlers, bosses. All good things. But being really busy can actually blind us from what really makes ourselves happy. Not only can it skew our priorities, it can affect us physically.

That’s why it’s important to watch for cues like exhaustion, absentmindedness, and agitation. These are all signs indicating that you may be taking on too much.

And although society might tell us otherwise, being bored can be a good thing. Having downtime, when your brain and body can disconnect from the hustle of everyday life, relieves stress and lowers cortisol levels. In fact, purposeful pauses, mini-breaks in the momentum and speed of our mind and our days give us the space to reset and re-center. And when we do, we’re more likely to make conscious choices about our work and our activities that are productive, creative, and compassionate. And, most importantly, they take hardly any time at all.

This month we’re going to be exploring ways in which we can incorporate purposeful pauses to our daily lives, the science behind rest, what we learned from our global “pause”, and ways in which we can press pause on our ingrained mindsets.

Week 1: A Pause A Day

Week 2: The Importance of Mindful Pauses

Week 3: Lessons From Lockdown

Week 4: Practice Pausing 

Reflection

Nobody wants to admit that they are “going through the motions” of life, but sometimes we are all guilty of it. Pausing is a simple exercise that will allow you to slow down, take an inventory of your emotions, and reconnect with your strengths. Another huge plus is that we love short mindfulness exercises. Most people don’t want to take much time out of their schedule to practice mindfulness but everyone has 10-15 seconds.

This month we examined pausing and all its benefits. To recap, here are some of the positive outcomes of daily pauses.

Allows you to handle challenging moments to the best of your ability

Helps you refocus

Gives the nervous system a chance to regain balance

Allows you to be curious and offers a shift in perspective