The Break You Need

I sometimes catch myself stuck in a state of simply being too busy. I get anxious. There’s just so much to do. Life becomes overwhelming. And no matter how much I keep going and going trying to do it all, I never can. What does help though is stopping. Yes, taking a break actually gives me the time to do it all. What was impossible before now becomes manageable and my anxiety slips away. It seems counterintuitive. Putting less time into your tasks yet accomplishing more. But the reset you get when you simply stop and take a pause is invaluable.

If you feel like you’ve got too much to do and not enough time, I’m asking you now to just stop. Wherever you are right now, just pause. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Don’t resist. Let go of any guilty feelings you might be having for putting aside your work. Let go of everything. This time is for you. Take another deep breath. Now open your eyes and begin to walk. Feel the intention of every step. Focus on your steps like they’re the only things that exist in this moment. Notice the little things about how you walk. Do you take small strides or long strides? How does your foot feel as it’s gliding through the air? How does it feel as it descends back to the ground? Feel and appreciate the uniqueness of your gait. Take another deep breath.

Now let your walking continue on autopilot as you shift your focus to your belly. This is where a lot of anxious thoughts end up so you should also focus a lot of mindfulness here. Take a long inhale as you concentrate on your stomach expanding. Then feel it return to rest as you exhale. Continue breathing while feeling the motion of your stomach going in and out and in and out and in and out.

Take one more deep inhale. Now as you exhale soften and relax your entire body. Let go of any tension. Continue walking along feeling your body getting softer and looser. In your own time concentrate your energy on whichever part of your body you would like to focus on today. If you carry tension in your shoulders, focus on your shoulders. If you want to concentrate on your knees, focus on your knees. Make this practice your own. Think about that chosen part of you melting to the ground. Feel all your energy focused inside of it as you breathe in and out. Now envision all that energy releasing at once. Feel the emptiness. Embrace the emptiness.

When you’re ready, take another big breath. Now I want you to look around. Choose one thing outside of your body to focus on. It can be a tree, a rock, a cloud, a kitchen cupboard. It can be stable or it can have movement. Anything that’s in front of you. Now place all of your thoughts on that object. Make your body light. Carry everything and every thought outside of yourself. Transfer any heaviness you feel directly to that object. Once every ounce of weight has been transferred I want you to turn around and walk away from that object. Leave it behind you. Forget about it.

Now you can slowly bring awareness back to your body. Slow down your pace gradually until you come back to a stop. Close your eyes one more time and give yourself one minute to simply enjoy silence. Silence of the mind and silence of the body.

*one minute later*

I hope this practice has allowed you to take a well deserved break and unclutter your mind in this age of overstimulation. Just remember how powerful a small pause every now and then can be. I hope you have a wonderful day.