Guest Post by Michelle Compas, Facilitator of Finding Your Inner Compass Retreat
In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.
– Albert Camus
Aside from your nightly sleep, when was the last time you paused? Without technology in your hands or without going anywhere. Without feeling like each moment had to be productive, and without being responsible for anyone else…
Our continuous physical, mental, emotional and intellectual activities don’t leave us much room to be conscious of things. What’s so bad about that? It keeps the scope and journey of our paths on auto-pilot. We keep putting one foot in front of the other, sending texts and emails. We keep the house in order, dividing our time amongst the people in our lives, getting from one place to another. We do this just to repeat it the next day without seeing the day for what it is and could be.
Imagine the luxury of an extended pause that’s where you are unplugged from responsibilities. A place where your energies aren’t pulled away from you, but instead, they’re moving within you and around you, loosening the grip you have on the patterns you’ve fallen into. The pause invites the blinders to lower and slide away so your view expands and you notice that the ‘noises’ you’ve grown accustomed to are actually birds around you and people going about their days.
It’s within the pause that the opportunity to recalibrate happens. We can take note of the path we’ve been on out of need or habit, and see that if we made a small shift, it might allow us to look ahead to a refreshed path. This recalibration is a gift!
Perhaps that goose that lays the golden egg (that’s you) needs some respite – a temporary withdrawal from the world – in a place where nature comes alive with colour, sounds, textures and scents. A place where your physical body is nourished with practices that feed your soul and grow the intimacy you have with yourself. Where turning your attention inward in contemplation allows you to look outward more clearly.
Home practice invitation: Set aside between 5 minutes and 20 minutes today to simply pause. Notice if you have the urge to fill this space with your to do list or to reach for technology. Can you be present as an observer during this pause? What might your heart and spirit reveal that they are yearning for? How might you use this pause to ‘reset’ and return to the rest of your day just a little bit differently? Perhaps you might return more engaged, open, and aware, maybe more present and connected.
You've been signed up to receive news, updates, stories, and special offers from The Edge!
