How do “pauses” show up in your life? What opportunities do they present?

We’ve all done it – we race from thing to thing, thinking and reacting quickly, moving from this to that, adjusting, checking things off our to-do list. Some of us were taught early on by our parents or communities that if we are busy, we are valuable - to ourselves and to others – and we find it more reassuring to keep a full plate.

What is the downside of being so busy? Why does it matter if we work mega hours or travel frantically or spent most of our energy caring for others?

Eventually, if you are like me, you will wake up one morning with a sore throat, or we find yourself snapping at those you care most about. Or, like a good friend of mine recently did, wake up to pneumonia and a six-week recovery period. Our bodies are wise and command us to “pause”, if we don’t do it for ourselves.

When we are uber busy, we move from responding to reacting, from driving the agenda to being driven, from energized to depleted.

Learning to “pause” is an antidote for “busy-ness”. Pausing lowers stress hormones and allows us spaciousness to create more options for ourselves. And once learned, it feels good!

Pausing can mean taking three long, deep breaths. It can mean getting a massage, or it can mean going on vacation. Pauses come in all shapes and sizes.

Learning new behaviors to increase health is a good idea.