Everyday Mindfulness 1: The Pause Before Emailing

This track teaches you how to interrupt the automatic urge to react. Instead of firing off an email from a place of tension or defensiveness, you’ll learn how to ground your body, soften your tone, and choose intention over urgency. Through a simple mindful pause, you create space between impulse and action. This practice supports clearer communication and a calmer nervous system.

Transcript

Welcome to this everyday mindfulness practice.

Take a moment to notice where you are,

The movement around you,

And the simple fact that you're here.

You don't need to close your eyes,

You don't need anything special,

Just the willingness to pause,

Even briefly,

And to return to presence over pressure.

Let's begin.

Have you ever hit send and immediately wish you hadn't?

That moment between impulse and action,

That's where presence lives.

When you feel the urge to respond quickly,

To defend,

To prove,

Or to fix,

Notice what's happening in your body.

Is your chest tight?

Is your jaw clenched?

Do you feel heat rising?

Before you type another word,

Take a single breath.

Feel your feet on the floor,

The chair beneath you,

And ask yourself,

What am I hoping this email will do?

So often,

We're not just sending information,

We're sending emotion.

The pause helps us shift from reaction to intention.

Sometimes that means softening our tone,

Sometimes it means waiting,

And sometimes it means realizing we don't need to send the email at all.

The pause isn't wasted time,

It's where wisdom has room to speak.

May you choose presence over pressure,

Remembering,

It's all practice.