Learning to pause amid the busyness of the working day might seem a pointless – or even a laughable thing to do.
“How can I pause when I’ve got a mountain of things on my to-do list!” you might cry in exasperation. However, when we intentionally pause, we allow space for something new to arise. It might be a new idea, a more measured response to a challenge, a wiser decision – or a kinder interaction with a colleague. We are making a deliberate shift in attention – to notice how we are and how we are relating to what’s going on.
For example, maybe you’ve arrived at work feeling stressed after an argument with a family member. Without being aware of it, your shoulders may be tense, stress hormones coursing through your system and mind distracted with worry or frustration. This may then make it hard to focus on what’s being discussed in the team meeting or to give your full attention to your client. You might not even realise this until asked for your comments on the ideas being discussed and realise that you’ve barely taken anything in.
Or perhaps you’ve had some critical feedback from your department head and spend the afternoon ruminating on what was said or beating yourself up for not doing better. Unaware of your inner dialogue you might then arrive home feeling irritable and snappy and believing that your life is a mess.
All of these reactions are quite natural but unhelpful patterns of behaviour we can fall into when we are unaware of what’s going oninside us.
Let’s now look at the value of a mindful pause amid all of this.
Pausing is an intentional act where we tune into what we are thinking, how we are feeling and what we can sense in the body in the moment in a kind, non-judgemental way.
As we get used to doing this we begin to see our habitual reactions more clearly, sense when tension is building in the body and mind and how we might respond more skilfully and compassionately. We are taking a step back to gain more perspective and in that space things start to shift.
It can help you gain more perspective on the situation and perhaps more kindness towards yourself -and whoever you are interacting with.
Pausing is an act of kindness – to ourselves when we are struggling with strong emotions – and to our colleagues, friends and family who might otherwise bear the brunt of our reactivity.
Check out the short recording here:
