Jane Lodato: Pause

With all that is stressful in the world and perhaps in your life, finding happiness may seem challenging.  Often we think "if this happens, then my life will be happy".  Letting go of the "if only this, then that" and tuning in to the present moment can be a more rewarding way to navigate one's life.  This Pause focuses on a story about "letting go of your cows" (!!), see what you think:  listen and reflect. 

This Pause teaches a peaceful breathing series borrowed from  mindfulness teacher Thicht Nhat Hanh.  It is easy to learn, easy to practice, and effective.  

We all benefit when we come from a place of feeling steady and centered.   When there is chaos swirling - whether in our minds, our day or in the world- becoming grounded provides all with a sense of calm and direction.   This Pause will guide you through a practice to help you find terra firma. 

Anxiety is at all time high in our culture and seemingly everywhere in the world.  We are living in challenging times.  Anxiety can create fear.  This Pause presents three practices that we can use to temporarily calm ourselves.  Practice when you are not feeling anxious or fearful, as well as when fear does arise.  Discover one or more that will help you to find ease.  

In a world where we often feel we can never get everything done, we try to do more and more by constantly multitasking.  Peter Drucker, a business and leadership scholar and teacher, wrote a book titled "The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done".  In that book he points out that those who are most effective at getting things done do one thing at a time.  This priciple is aligned with mindfulness which cultivates our ability to be fully aware in the present.   Letting go of multitasking will not only help to get more done, but will diminsh the accompanying feelings of being overwhlemed and undelying anxiety that comes along with that.   

A foundational practice of Mindfulness is becoming aware of our thoughts, emotions and reactivity.  When something happens that triggers anger, anxiety or any emotionally loaded auto-pilot resonse, we react.  If, instead of reacting, we can insert a pause, we have an opportunity to use that moment to choose how we want to respond.  Our chosen response in turn creates the opportunity to free ourselves from the auto-pilot reactions that can cause us more problems.   This Pause gives you the tools to practice witnessing your thoughts instead of being caught up in therm

We each have the power to shift our mindset.  This reflection and instruction on gratitude makes a difference if practiced daily and it is really easy to do.  The more we focus on the little things that are good in any given day the more we will focus on what feels good.  Try it, commit to 30 days and see for yourself. 

Our natural tendencies are to get away or get rid of what is uncomfortable and to grasp for more of what feels good.  The uncomfortable inevitably returns to eat at us, and grasping for more of the good can lead to habits that do not serve us.  It can be challenging to simply experience how we feel and to simply let it be.  Practicing noticing our experiences helps us to simply be with whatever it is, which ultimately liberates us from being tossed around by our experiences.