We hear time and time again about the need to slow down, smell the roses and chill out. But do we do it? Let me introduce to you the power of the pause. Slowing down helps us to recognize how we respond to the various stimuli that surrounds us. Try this experiment: notice how often you loose touch with what your eyes have had the ability to see during the past five minutes. How much detail did you actually see? And how much of that were you able to retain? Did you see the color green or did you see the shades of green such as, sage, lime, emerald or olive? Our multi-tasking and speed of life often create conditions where we miss the beauty within our lives. We see a forest, but not the types of trees. We see a city, but not the architecture of the buildings.
Pausing comes in handy during communication also. Notice how quickly you react to things. Do you offer your advice and/or opinion with immediacy or do you wait to see if its warranted? Consider a conversation that didn’t go well, one that you wished you hadn’t said the things you said, maybe one where you would take it back if you could. Consider that if you had paused for a bit before you responded, organized your thoughts, empathized with the recipient of the words flowing out of your mouth, the quality of the conversation may have been better. Learning to pause in between action and reaction provides space to respond more effectively. We can assess whether our response will be valuable or not. We can gather our thoughts and choose words that may be kinder or more precise or more useful. Even a small pause allows the brain time to consider more options.
Learning to pause can be a challenge in our face paced, demanding, exciting lives. When we are used to multi-tasking, checking off long to-do lists, and fulfilling our dreams, we may not value the concept of pausing. It’s likely we don’t even know there is a lower gear. Why down-shift when we have a fast lane? I believe slowing down, leads to a higher quality of living. We are more alive in our interactions, more available to our people and more engaged with our surroundings. In short, we are more present and less impulsive.
During a yoga practice, we can use breathing practices called Pranayama to help us slow the breath down. For example, we can pause in between the inhales and exhales and take that time to feel the space. During an asana practice, we often pause in resting poses to recalibrate the breath and mind, and create some ease. We sit in meditation with our thoughts and emotions in an effort to slow the rapidly thinking mind. These ancient practices help us feel the powerful effects of down shifting that higher gear that we so often choose.