June Word of the Month: Pause

JUNE WORD OF THE MONTH: PAUSE

Sometimes you just need to stop. Especially with all that’s going on right now it’s important we take control of our days instead of letting what’s going on around us control us. Because of the chaos of today’s events, this month I need to pause.

Taking time to pause can be incredibly powerful. This doesn’t have to be a long time period or done really often; what matters most is just remembering to do it. I’ve been really slacking at taking moments to pause and take breathing breaks but this month I’m taking action. I’m setting timers throughout the day to just take a minute. Take a minute to stop, to calm my body and my breath, to stop and just focus on breathing. I know that with all that’s going on right now we can very easily experience sensory and information overload. It’s hard to avoid hearing about the pandemic, hearing people’s stresses and worries, and feeling such a drop in the collective vibration. Yes most of these worries are valid but it’s important to not take on other people’s worries or we can get into a negative spiral and those are hard to climb out of. As much as I can, I avoid the news; I don’t watch it nor do I listen to it on the radio. If I need to know any information about going back to the physical location of my day job (because through all of this I’ve been working from home), I’ll learn about it through work. And for all other areas of information I know my family will keep me in the loop. Because of this, I have made the conscious decision to stay away from the news.

This pandemic has certainly thrown my routine for a curve but for the most part it’s remained the same. I still work during the week, and honestly because I don’t get the normal workday interruptions I find myself working way longer than I normally do. Not only am I working longer hours but I find myself also taking way less lunches and even breaks throughout the day which makes my need for little “pause breaks” that much more important. Our bodies and minds aren’t meant to be running on all cylinders 24/7 like machines. We’re supposed to take breaks, we need rest. But with the past years it’s been increasingly portrayed that “hustle” and “constant work” is necessary and if you need rest or take time to rest, you’re “lazy”. And while I am a major proponent of hard work and am an incredibly hard worker myself, the importance of rest is majorly undervalued. I have found moments of creativity in moments of rest far more often than I have in moments of crazy busyness. When we’re in moments of quiet and pause, our soul’s true purpose and needs can come through. Magic comes when you get quiet enough to let it speak to you.

Yes hard work pays off and you’ll achieve far more if you work hard towards your goals. But life isn’t meant to be lived like a machine. We are meant to live in phases and have moments of peace and pause between moments of work and crazy busyness. Taking time to pause doesn’t make you a bad or selfish person; you owe your mind and body pause. When you pause, you’re allowing your whole being moments to breathe and just exist. Magic comes to us when we’re open to it; and when we’re busy, we’re too focused on what we’re doing to receive those ever important “soul hits”. So this month, I’m making the conscious decision to take moments to just pause. I need to take those important moments to just sit and breathe and let my body get that ever important peace and rest. Take care of yourself, you deserve it. Cheers!