Jane Lodato: Pause

Practicing being grateful, for little or bigger things in your daily life helps us to see that every day has the good mixed in with whatever else is going on.  We don't want to miss out on these day to day moments that comprise our lifetimes.   There are specific Mindfulness reflections one can do daily, learn how here. 

Your body is intelligent.  It can show you when feelings of anger, anxiety, a sense of being overwhlemed or frustrated are being initiated.  If we pay attention to how we are feeling in our body we can catch these feelings at the onset,  insert a few breaths to try to find some ease or create some room for the feelings as opposed to becoming reactive.  This practice teaches you how to pay attentio...

Mindfulness teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn has many words of wisdom, amongst them:  "Often our lives become so driven that we are moving through our moments to get to better ones at some later point.  We live to check things off our to do list, then fall into bed exhausted..."  We do this again and again don't we?  We can shift from doing mode to being mode by simply applying our attention...

Let's face it, it can be really hard to be patient.  Life can be frustrating, expectations are not met,  we feel we fall short, or that others fail us, circumstances are out of our control.  With patience, we learn to become more tolerant, life becomes less stressful.  Try this practice to get started. 

Invite ease into your body and mind with this simple practice focused on breath and the idea of a smile.  

We often get caught up in our own habits, strong emotions take over and rule us.  How can we stop our own fear, anger, agitation?  We start stopping by practicing becoming aware of our thoughts and storylines.   Practicing mindful awareness gives us the opportunity to be present as opposed to lost in our own storyline or habit.  

Strong emotions, like anger or anxiety, can take over like a forceful storm.  This practice can help one be prepared for those storms.  Learn to become grounded and deeply rooted.   

Misperceptions can cause suffering.  This reflection on "wrong perceptions"  from Zen master Thicht Nhat Hanh is worth thinking about.  When we assume people or situations are something that they are not it can cause us to carry the suffering for a long time.  To free ourselves from misperceptions, a simple practice is in this reflection. 

This simple breathing exercise is a good one to reset the nervous system.  

Becoming aware in the present moment is a mental skill that can take us off autopilot.  The benefits of honing awareness include reducing stress, gaining perspective, making more informed decisions and so much more.  With practice we bring ourselves into the present and live life consciously. 

We often have a very narrow "window of tolerance" for emotions that are strong, including anger, fear, overwhelm.  When we cannot tolerate these feelings we may say or do something that in hindsight we wish we hadn't.  This practice will help to expand your window of tolerance when challenging circumstances arise, and in turn reduce the stress that comes as a result of being caught...

Most people experience varying degrees of anxiety.   The world, the news, our own challenges over the past few years have increased anxiety levels to what must be an all time high.  If this is something you relate to, you are not alone.  This Pause provides you with a few things to try when feeling anxious.  

Do you find yourself feeling less tolerant these days?  Angry? Often our anger comes back at us to create ongoing difficulties that compound as a result of losing our temper.  We may have alienated someone we care about, we may beat up on ourselves for losing it, we may still feel angry that we couldn't change somebody or a certain situation.   Anger can be very destructive, often we are the...

We cannot take back our words.  Life is easier if we pay close attention to our choice of words, the tone in our voice, and the volume with which we speak.  When caught in reactivity we can easily lose sight of all three.   Speaking with awareness, being thoughtful in choosing our words, tone and volume will facilitate being heard, being listened to.  Think Before You Speak is an age old adage, he...

We often focus on our IQ:  we have test scores and grades, data.   Our Emotional Intelligence, known as EQ, has been shown to be a key factor in life, in achieving greater success and happiness.  "Knowing One's Emotions, Self Awareness, is a keystone of developing Emotional Intelligence.  This reflection and practice is a good place to start to becoming aware of your own thoughts and fee...

Need to reset?  Pause, breathe consciously, and invite ease into your body and mind.  This simple guided breath practice is a good one to use every day.  

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...

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. 

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 oursel...

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 ti...

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.  

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. 

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