Pausing, Being Still and Becoming

How often do you allow yourself to pause? And by that, I mean, stop. Don’t try, don’t push harder or even look at your phone.

One of the most important practices I approached with intention this year was giving myself the gift of pausing, of being still.

With gratitude, I acknowledge and thank Leslie Avant Brown, creator of Willow Coaching whose Dandelion Gardens series begins with teaching us the value of – pause.

In our first session, I laid on the floor, guided in a meditation that led me to connect to the tree that grew in the backyard of my childhood home and open myself to wisdom it shared with me.  

I entered this session on pausing right after a session in which I had been coaching a client. In that meditation and the reflection that followed, I saw how I had been pushing the client to take action. By pausing, I noticed how my own sense of urgency and drive toward action did not support the client to unfold and have realizations in their own time.  

Because of this practice of pausing, I have held silence longer in coaching sessions. I have taken November and December off from coaching so that I could replenish, reflect and be coached. And I have taken more vacation time this year than I did last year so that I could walk by the ocean and just sit.

I have taken seriously the need to honor my own rhythms. 

But why? Why does pausing matter? Why does this matter?

Leslie describes how giving ourselves space to pause, in this fast-paced society of ours, supports us to slow down as we prepare for growth and healing.

Pausing allows space for us to BE, not just DO.

And from that still place, we can notice what matters most so that the decisions we make about what we want to DO are aligned with who we ARE, and who we are Becoming. 

So how do you do it? How do you pause?

In a way it’s simple and you can start small. When you feel yourself pushing, stop. For 5 minutes, just stop and take a few breaths. Notice how your feet are positioned on the floor. Or get up, and let yourself amble for 15 minutes – a slow stroll, not trying to get anywhere. 

Perhaps, you could even take a day off from work, with no pressure to make anything happen – not cleaning, or reading anything you SHOULD read. 

Here are some more ways to pause and I also recommend mark making to relax and connect with your senses.

So how might you make space in the new year – whether for 5 minutes or 5 days, to pause and just be?