Pause Practice: Slowing Down

With stress, we often develop an unhealthy momentum that is hard to shift. This pause practice will encourage you to slow down...for just a few moments. This process of slowing down can help reset our nervous system, which, over time, can help us manage our daily stress with greater resilience.

Transcript

Pause practice,

Slowing down.

I'm glad you're practicing with me today.

When we have stressful days,

Most of us find ourselves in a state of high momentum,

Speeding along furiously in our minds or bodies or hearts.

This short pause practice can help you shift your momentum,

Giving your body,

Mind and heart a moment to rest and reset.

Let's begin.

You can do this practice sitting,

Standing,

Lying down or walking.

Begin with a few breaths,

Making your exhales a bit longer than your inhales.

If focusing on your breath is challenging for you,

Use your hands to notice the texture of your clothing or another object.

Notice sensations that you are experiencing.

Now,

Slow down,

Really,

Actually slow down with whatever you're doing.

This can be walking slower,

Eating slower,

Moving slower,

Breathing slower.

And see what this feels like in your body.

If you can,

Soften your muscles.

Let gravity pull you down into slowness.

What happens to your breath?

Has the speed of thoughts in your mind shifted?

Is there any shift even slight in the muscle tension in your face or shoulders?

Stay curious.

Invite yourself to do this pause practice every hour to help your body have an opportunity to shift and reset its momentum.

Thanks for practicing with me today.

Reviews

Found this practice helpful - it’s short (which my bipolar brain appreciates), easy to listen to and follow. Found these ideas especially helpful:

Focus on breath OR on a physical sensation (ex: fingertips against clothing)

Conscious slowness

Practicing once an hour (especially useful because if I forget to practice when calm, I forget to apply the practice when stressed).

Thank you!

Thank You
for reminding me to feel my inner/outer as One with this “seemingly” simple yet powerful practice
Ellen

Very much appreciated after a stressful day. Thank you. )0(

Perfect thank you 😊

So simple yet so transformational! I love your meditations, thank you so much for sharing them.

I have the time today to explore more than 1 audio!! It's great!!! 🙏🪷✨️

Thank you for this gentle reminder about the importance of taking pause throughout our daily lives. It is much needed. 🙏🏻🤍✨

Thank you for this nice short relaxation… adding more of these in my day as micro-moments of winding down is really helpful 🙏

Very effective! This enables me to slow the pace of my thoughts and to easily connect with my body’s response, especially during the silent pause. It brings a peaceful combination of uplift and grounding beyond the 2 minutes. I look forward to repeating it throughout each day as a supportive tool to strengthen my self-compassion. Thank you for your loving care, dear Bhanu. May you also feel free. ❤️🌹🙏

You are truly the best gift, Bhanu l💞Thank You🙏🏻

I love this practice, and return to it again and again during stressful times. It’s amazing how much a difference a two minute pause can bring. The focus on slowing down is really supportive for my nervous system, and taking up the invitation to practice hourly(ish!) during particularly challenging times has really helped me. Thank you!

A great reminder to slow down the pace of life. Thank you.

Very insightful.😍 Thank you so much.🙏🦋 I’m going to try to remember to do this regularly!🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️

Great! This meditation practice will increase your ability to center yourself.

Thank🙏you
🌸Jesse

The best pause meditation ever. I get panicky and breathless when it’s all about breathing to the instructor’s count. This tactic Le approach calmed me down and made me present.

A fabulous way to reset during the day. Thank you, Bhanu.

What a wonderful way to get you through your days with ease and less stress. We all deserve to take a pause out of our busy days. Thank you.

Good idea…pause on the hour. I used to do that but slipped out of the practice. It’s time to start it again. 🙏

I appreciate the slowing down practice and was surprised how helpful it was in just a couple mins.

This is just the kind of short and handy meditation tool I need as a reminder to pause slow down and reset. Thank you for sharing ⭐️💫🌟