For those of you who couldn’t make it to my retreat with Bridget Luff in Turkey, here is the main practice we’ll be working on starting this week. This is based on the meditation teachings of Pema Chodron.
The Pause Practice
When you notice yourself getting pulled into a habitual pattern of thinking that pulls you out of or in direct conflict with the present moment, take a step back, pause, and take three deep conscious breaths. If you are in a natural environment, look up at the sky or out to the sea as you do this.
We often live in complete reactive momentum that on the negative side draws us into a fantastic storyline filled with jealousies, angers, rages, and indignation that largely exist only in our head. Â When we do not pause and just react sharply and quickly, we get the same old suffering inducing responses we always get.
Try a fresh alternative.
When you hear something or someone does something that creates that little spark within your that you know will soon burn brightly, pause and breathe.
Give yourself time and space to be able to respond in a new way with clarity and compassion. Most likely our habitual responses don’t serve us too well in the long term.
On the positive front, if we’re so heavily distracted with thinking and our many smart-devices we cannot enjoy the magic of the present moment, whatever it may contain. In the midst of whatever you are doing, stop often to pause, breathe three deep breaths, and learn to be in the moment. If life is good, be there for it!
As you do your yoga asana practice, pause often, breathe, and feel where you are and the experience of your body.
Try this, proceed, and share what happens.
