A 5-Minute Pause Practice

Pausing to check in with our mind and body can be an invaluable practice. We can do this regularly throughout the day to help us slow down and check in with how we are doing. We can also use it in response to difficulties like anger, fear, or anxiety to help us unhook from unhelpful thoughts and settle the mind and body so that we can respond skillfully rather than from reaction.

When done with consistency, it can also help build the mindfulness muscle so that mindfulness shows up spontaneously more often in your day-to-day life.

Transcript

For this brief pause practice,

I'd like to invite you to take a few moments to stop what you're doing and just come into stillness.

You may close down the eyes if that's comfortable for you or just settle the eyes downward.

We'll start with what's here right now.

So what's in the mind right now?

There's thoughts showing up.

Are they helpful or unhelpful?

Can you just notice them without engaging or getting lost in them?

What emotions are showing up?

Are they pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral?

How is it in the body?

Can you feel the shape of your body?

Maybe notice how it feels where it makes contact with your supports,

The body in your seat,

The feet on the floor.

Is there tension in the body?

Maybe areas that feel relaxed.

Just see if you can let all of these experiences in the mind and the body be here just as they are,

Without trying to change them or push them away,

Not getting lost in them,

Just being with them as they show up and then fade away.

Now allowing those experiences to fade into the background without pushing them away,

Just gathering and redirecting the attention to the sensations of the breath,

Seeing if you can feel the sensations of breath in the nostrils and in the throat,

Maybe noticing the rise and fall of the chest and the belly.

And if the mind wanders,

Just gently reconnecting with the breath.

Can you follow each in-breath and out-breath with complete awareness?

Now expanding that awareness out to the body as a whole,

Feeling the whole body breathing.

Can you feel all the sensations in the body at once?

Can you sense the shape of the body,

The space inside the body?

If you have unpleasant sensations or tension in the body,

You might experiment with breathing into these areas and softening around them with the out-breath.

And as you're ready,

Expanding your attention to the space around you,

Noticing the sounds,

Temperature of the room,

Lighting in the room,

Opening the eyes,

And looking around with awareness.

And at this point,

You might just notice again how you feel after this practice and see if you can stay connected with this experience as you move through the next part of your day.