Take Time to Pause

Who else will be the one to give us permission to take care of ourselves if not us?

- Mary Boutieller

Listening to soft music playing in the background, I find myself filled with easy gratitude —for the beautiful weather outside, for craft days with the “girls”, for the untold hundreds of things I take for granted or don’t notice with enough consistency, and for this moment. How often do we miss these moments while thinking about other things?

As I sit writing this article, I’m doing my best to stay in the present moment. My thoughts swirl from one idea to another, yet land on nothing in particular. So I wait, patiently, until what is needed spills out from a place I cannot name with any certainty. Imagine if we could do that on a more regular basis—just wait for the inspiration that arises from deep within. What would it feel like if we allowed our conversations to come into being naturally; if we sat in another’s presence without wanting to do something else; if we moved into our yoga poses by asking what our bodies truly need instead of what was instructed? What if we really just paused—to take a breath, to feel the emotional toll of loss, to say what’s in our hearts, to hug someone fully, or to give that same someone or something our fullest attention?