Every morning I take three minutes to pause and breathe. Some days I need it more than others, like today. I did one thing different. Not a big thing, but it showed me the importance of my quiet pausing and intentional breathing. It’s important for you too. It’s not as hard we think. It can be as simple as the one thing I did different.
I opened the window.
I sat in my glider rocker next to the window in pause mode, breathing it all in. As I listened to the clock tick, as usual, I heard birds and cars…and the breeze.
I felt my need for this moment.
I relished my three-minute pause.
I breathed deeper and it felt wonderful.
I thought about how easily we forget our need for this. How much we need to simply pause and breathe.
It can sound so silly.
Habits and deadlines and obligations pile up rushing us through life.
We need to remember to pause and breathe. It’s important and I’ll show you why.
Habits and deadlines and obligations pile up rushing us through life. Click To Tweet
WHY PAUSE AND BREATHE
It does good things for your soul.
When you pause and listen you notice your surroundings.
This noticing gives you a taste of how small you are in the grand scheme of things. You sense the wonder of things around you. Sonder waves hello to you and quietly walks on by as your attention returns to your center, your breath, your own complex life.
Pausing to take notice of your life through breathing creates a sense of gratitude.
You notice your lungs filling with air and feel your heartbeat within your chest. You become more thankful for those simple bodily functions we so often take for granted. The gratitude increases your focus on the good things in your lives and you savor your blessings more readily.
In pausing you savor moments. It’s like you emotionally hold a favorite flavor in your mouth that creates an involuntary mmm that escapes your lips.
These pausing moments change us, refresh us and empower us.
Pausing to take notice of your life through breathing creates a sense of gratitude. Click To Tweet
AFTER THE PAUSE
Life is both long and short, easy and hard. You need to enjoy the good and have strength for the difficult.
Pausing helps you enjoy the journey even after your pause.
You’re empowered with a greater sense of appreciation for your life.
You’re strengthened for the harder places.
There will be hard places. But you can be strong. Pausing and breathing help make you stronger on the inside for situations on the outside.
Encountering sonder during the pause reminds us we’re not alone. Remembering how small we are, reminds us of how big God is. Both of these motivate us to connect and connection is vital to our lives.
We’re human be-ings, not human do-ings. We need to take moments and remind ourselves we’re not alone, help is available and our lives matter. Jesus said he’d help us.
We’re human be-ings, not human do-ings. Click To TweetCome to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light. – Jesus
When we fail to take moments to pause and breathe we burnout.
WHAT NEXT
- Pausing and breathing is a part of good self-care – help here.
- No time to pause and breathe? See here.
- Take 3 minutes to watch this and breathe – then let me know in the comments how it felt to Just Breathe!
You Matter!
DARE to BELIEVE it!
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That was great. I listened to the song. Just Breathe. I loved it. I’m going to be camping while my daughter goes to another camp. I need to be close by so that I can help if she has another migraine. My husband will go to work so I think I’m going to have several quiet ‘just breathe’ days to let my creativity grow. I will still be able to connect so I’m hoping that I get some blog posts done. It will be my ‘Pause’.
Thank you, Hanna. I’m glad you loved the song. My daughter shared it with me a while back. I think it’s a powerful reminder.
Camping sounds fun. Enjoy your it and your times of pause!
Thanks for sharing.
I can’t tell you how helpful it is to remember to stop and take a deep breath and just breathe whenever something happens..It just seems to center you again.
Amen, KD. You’re right.
Thank you for sharing.
So so important and yet so easy to overlook! There’s so many days where I’m racing through everything, trying to cram as many things as possible into my day and then I have to step back and think, “Wait a minute, is this what life is really about?” Yes, it’s important not to waste time, and yes, it’s important to accomplish our goals, but at the same time, we also need to take time out to appreciate life because otherwise, what’s the point? I like how you said life is both long and short. So true and so beautifully put.
Thank you, Kate. I’m glad it spoke to you today. You’re so right and put it so well. Thanks for sharing.