How often do you allow yourself to stop and breathe?
To pause,
Find stillness and spaciousness and regroup yourself?
We have a limited capacity for responsibilities and decision-making each day and though there are often things that we just have to get through,
We always have a choice.
I am not immune to this.
I absolutely have times that I need to check myself and slow down.
When I'm pushing my limits,
It is not until I actually pause to acknowledge how tough things are that I am able to work towards feeling better.
In the past,
I have been guilty many times of stubbornly keeping it together so I don't crumble.
But that can't last forever and will inevitably.
Lead to me crumbling.
In those instances,
I managed to get myself to the point of feeling like my brain was jelly and questioning whether I should be allowed out in public or not.
Once I stop,
Sit down and simply stay with how I'm feeling,
I am able to deal with it all and find my way through.
Without pausing and creating space for ourselves,
We won't find our way through things well.
Sometimes we just need to stop,
Even for a moment,
However scared we are of what will emerge if we do.
If we don't stop,
Emotions will end up running us,
Whether through the impact on our body,
Our behaviour,
How we show up in our work or relationships or any other aspects of our lives.
By stopping,
We can compassionately take charge of how we care for ourselves and how we respond to the narrative that we should be doing all the time.
We can respond to our emotions or the simple tiredness we are experiencing,
Allowing us to regroup,
Replenish and step forward with more clarity and effectiveness and reducing the risk of crying in the middle of the supermarket,
Which is always a risk when we're determined to just keep going.
So,
You are here now,
What if you stopped and took this next moment to simply pause?
Taking a nourishing breath in,
And breathing out to release and giving yourself as much permission as you are able to just stop.
You don't need to solve anything in this moment,
Just be.
Notice the resistance,
Notice the need for it,
The yearning,
And pause here as long as you want or are able to.
Allow the nourishment of the stillness in.
