The PAUSE Effect

So what is the PAUSE effect?

“There is a presence, a silence, a stillness which is here by itself. There is no doer of it, no creator of this stillness. It is simply here in you, with you.” Mooji

In a recent blog, I wrote about 5 simple actions I have been practicing as a way to live more consciously.

In the past, I spent way too much time lost in thought. I was subconsciously living in a busy-minded, hyper-vigilant, agitated state.

I now actively make time throughout my day to pause and rest in the beautiful feelings and well-being that naturally come with a quiet mind.

The PAUSE

Presence, taking a slow deep breath come into awareness of where your mind has taken you. 

Allow the sensations in your body to settle as your mind begins to quieten.

Untangle your attention from any worrisome thoughts or stories you may be caught up in.

Surrender to the stillness, sinking deeper and deeper into the peaceful state of innate silence and stillness.

Embrace all of who you are, your strengths, fears, and vulnerabilities, as you immerse yourself in the warmth of self-compassion, self-love, and the understanding of how our mind works.

The PAUSE is a gateway to pure consciousness, a state always available to us, anytime we are willing to go beyond our noisy minds.

Transformational effect

The effect of pausing throughout my day has been transformational.  I now experience a level of freedom and ease I never believed possible.

In the past, I sought many different ways to change the uncomfortable feelings I was having, unaware they were due to the attention I was giving to my worrisome thoughts.

Over the years I had developed a habit of anxious thinking due to the adversities I had experienced, not realising it was keeping me locked in survival mode.

Conditioning

For instance, I came to see how my go-to stress response of flight/freeze had carried through into adulthood as I took these troublesome thoughts as signals about my safety.

In the past, I berated myself if I got something wrong. Being overly concerned about what the consequences might be.

I was over-critical of myself for thinking of a much better response to a challenging situation after the fact.

Thankfully I am much more compassionate to myself now that I understand that when our nervous system is in threat mode it is much harder to think clearly.

Practice

Practicing the “PAUSE” has led to me being in a much more peaceful and relaxed state throughout my day.

I better trust that I will recognise when I am “triggered” into old conditioned patterns of thinking.

Pausing helps to reset my nervous system. Moving me from a survival, instinctual mindset, into a more balanced state of ease.

This means I am a lot less reactive, responding more consciously to a challenging situation, rather than my old habitual patterns of behaviour.

Insight

To be clear, this is not about numbing or suppressing our thoughts and emotions. It’s about reflecting on and questioning the meaning we are making about a situation.

And whether our current thinking is being coloured by our past experiences.

It’s also about taking the time to allow insight, new ideas, creativity, and inspired actions to arise.

Self-talk

The PAUSE has helped me to awaken to my critical self-talk. Which often held me back and kept me locked in an agitated state.

As a result, I have been able to get to the root of many of my unhelpful, subconscious patterns of thought and behaviours.

The subconscious mind

Research has shown we spend 95% of our time in our subconscious mind. Psychology describes it as the part of the mind that is not currently in focal awareness.

Our subconscious mind has what is called a homeostatic impulse, meaning it keeps your body temperature at 37 degrees Celsius. It keeps you breathing regularly, and keeps your heart beating at a certain rate.

Habits of thinking and behaving are stored in our subconscious mind, which has memorised our comfort zones and functions to keep us there.

Our life experiences, learning, adversities, and cultural and societal conditioning. have developed these habits

Remembering who you are

Spending time in the peaceful state the PAUSE evokes, we reawaken to our true nature as we allow our innate wisdom to be heard.

Aligning with pure consciousness offers us an opportunity to evolve and heal, as we embody our divinity.

Know that there is no greater time to acknowledge and fully express who you truly are.

If you would like to be guided through the PAUSE. Simply download my free “Take a moment for you” meditation which you can sign up for on my home page, https://angelamcevitt.com/

Thanks for reading,

Angela

Namaste- I honour the place in you, in which the entire universe resides. I honour the place in you, of love, of light, of truth, and peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.