Did you know a given thought can be generated and acted on in less than 150 ms.
I believe in the power of PAUSE. Building the habit of a pause leads to co-creation. Leads to empathy. Curiosity. Intentional Impact.
There are numerous studies on the value of mindfulness, which is essentially your ability to PAUSE and notice what is going on without judgement. Practicing mindfulness, in whatever form works for you, helps you increase that muscle strength to be present and in choice.
I can remember once being on a beautiful island that oozed with rest, and relaxation and people focused on simply “being”. As one trip came to an end, I recall an individual saying with a bit of sorrow “We go back to the real world tomorrow”. And another quickly replied, “No this is the real world. Where we go tomorrow is the experiment”.
It was an interesting thing to ponder that each day as we go about our jobs, taking care of our families, relationships, etc., – that this is the experiment for us to continually learn and refine. That those places and moments where we feel truly relaxed and comfortable and natural – that those are the authentic moments. And everything else is a version of us trying to be authentic but in a different set of conditions. Challenges. Tests.
By practicing mindfulness, we are practicing increasing our meta-cognition muscle. Which is essentially the ability for our brain to pause, look around, assess the situation and with greater awareness of what is the present act. Action that is more creative vs. reactive. Action that is more authentic to who we would more naturally be if we were on a faraway island with a beautiful sunset just off the distance of the blue horizon.
The below videos are short snippets of different ways we can PAUSE. Each comes from the book PAUSE… which can be purchased on Amazon. The authors created 52 different ways for us to embrace a PAUSE and as such practice mindfulness.
If you enjoy these videos and would like to dive deeper into the technique of meditation, a more specific form of mindfulness practice, then my favourite tools and leaders in this area are below.
My Favourite Mindfulness Leader
Pema Chodron – Check out her Audible Collection call The Pema Chodron Audio Collection or find her on YouTube
My Favourite Mindfulness App
Insight Timer is the #1 free app for sleep, anxiety and stress with more than 100k guided meditations led by the best teachers from around the world