The Pause-3 Minute Exercise-Simple, Powerful, Transformative
“THE PAUSE”- A simple exercise that is accomplished in 3 minutes
Powerful, Simple, Transformative Exercise in Mindfulness and Stress Relief
Why Develop Mindfulness? Longitudinal studies confirm that mindfulness practices, and in particular, regular meditation enhances cognition, ideation, focus, creativity, health and longevity. Meditation, like prayer and parts of the sleep cycle puts our brain in an alpha state; a state where creativity and our spiritual connection abound. Meditation helps us move away from the chaos and negativity surrounding us by touching a place where we can reconnect with our highest power and the beauty of our inner child….a formidable combination! How can we access the self love and self acceptance that we need? How can we move away from the chaos and negativity that surrounds us? How can we find the child within who can be present in the moment, who can access joy effortlessly? How can we drown out the must dos, should dos and have to dos of our life and just be present with our mind, body and soul? Accessing our joy, our loving truth-our genius, starts with one simple step…the pause. It starts with moments of silence, moments of pause when we stop, reflect and connect with spirit, with our inner voice.
INSTRUCTIONS: You can do ” The Pause” anywhere you have privacy in a mere 3 minutes. Sit down, keep your back straight, put your feed on the floor and your palms upwards in your lap.Start by being utterly still; just breathe deeply and be with yourself. Relax, and breathe with your diaphragm, breath deeply. Shut your eyes and count to 7 slowly as you breathe in. Then count to 10 slowly as you exhale through your nose. Concentrate only on your breath, and when thoughts come into your mind just gently push them away and concentrate again on your breathing. Feel your breath, focus on your breath. Count 7 as you inhale, count to 10 as you exhale. If thoughts come into your mind, just push them away as you would move an item on your computer screen. Focus ONLY on the sensation of your breath. Many people also find it helpful to think about exhaling negativity and inhaling a golden replenishing light.
Schedule a 3 minute pause in your schedule. Try it consistently 3 X a day for a week. When we are still, when we pause it is possible to cast aside problems, worries, responsibilities and just enjoy the flow of our breath deeply and slowly and just be still with our soul. We can pause and reclaim our center, reclaim our joy, reclaim our connection with our highest power. Every pause is restorative and powerful. Every pause is an important exercise in mindfulness. If the exercise feels strange at first continue to practice three times a day for three minutes.
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Irene- This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this useful and doable suggestion. It can be easily incorporated into the day. I’m imagining the benefits are tremendous.
As you know, I just wrote a post, “Is It Hammock Time?” about stillness and taking a pause. Your post is a perfect addition to that. I hope you’ll stop by my blog, add a comment including a link to this post. I know my readers will find your 3-minute meditation invaluable. Please stop by. Here’s the link:
http://theothersideoforganized.com/blog/2012/6/12/is-it-hammock-time.html
I often just stop wherever I happen to be – walking over a bridge in the city, for example and just take in all the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and how I feel. I sometimes record this for later. I usually stay about ten minutes in the moment and just feel the stress slip away. Similar to just stopping to smell the roses. I find true relaxation writing a short muse- inspired prose poem about the experience.
Hi Susan: Kudos to you for really developing mindfulness in a way that is powerful, purposeful and envokes creativity!
Best, Irene
Thank you for sharing this technique. I think many leaders see the benefits of developing mindfulness, but don’t meditate because they believe they haven’t got the time. I think most people can include this technique very easily into their working day.
You are so welcome, Terry. There are so many techniques/exercises that are terrific, free and only take a couple of minutes a day. I developed The Pause for myself many years ago, and hundreds of clients have used it since with really terrific results. I think that it is so important to find techniques we can use that do not add stress to our already packed schedules.
Very best, Irene
Irene, this is great! I just need it to clarify my mind in this moment of my life, I going to practice it, the I tell you how it works. Thanks. Just one more thing, is possible to translate this to Spanish and share it I’m my blog? Obviously with your rights and reference.
Hi Ivan: Thank you so much for your wonderful comments! I am passionate about developing tools and techniques one can do fast, easily! I would be honored if you would share my post in Spanish on your blog with attribution re rights and reference to my site! Please do send me the link when it is up so that I can share it.
Very best! Irene
Irene, if you don’t know it already, you’re the best kept secret in the whole wide world. Your content is refreshing and informative. This 3-minute Breathing Exercise to help one’s recuperative efforts through calmness and meditation just shows the breadth & scope of your value. You seem to be a bottomless pit of substantive wellness ideas and suggestions. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Felix: Thank you so much for your very kind comments and message. I work and write in service, and am always delighted to receive such wonderful feedback. I hope that I will not remain a secret, as it is my goal to help as many people as I can:-)
Sincere thanks,
Irene
Great advice as always Irene! Thanks for sharing. We could all do with a little pause in our hectic lives!
Dear Mike: Thank you SO much for your wonderful comments! I do apologize for the delay in replying, but there are techical glitches with the blog that I hope my tech support will fix this week!
The imperative to not only do a pause, but to just take blank time very 90 minutes so we can recharge is critical to ideation, cognition and health. I love quick tools (I call them Cool Tools) that one can do almost anywhere, and that help drive all 3Qs (IQ-EQ-SQ); tools that help us reset the internal gps, develop greater mindfulness, enhanced focus, whole brain thinking while re-energizing us! I have developed them in ten years of working with clients, twenty five + years of working in high stress, high change arenas…and I also collect them. It is amazing what we can do in a few minutes a day! Here is another post I hope you enjoy! Recharge+Repower in 3 min or less http://bit.ly/11Di1ES | Whole Brain Leadershipl
Very best! Irene
Hi Irene,
The Pause 3minutes is a wonderful excercise we practiced in India as the so called “pranayama” , by practicing we get Glorious in our face, we call it :”Thejus”
thanks for highlighting.
Ravig
chennai
Dear Ravig: Thank you so much for your comment. Very appreciated. I did not realize that there was a similar exercise in India, but it does not surprise me! The breadth and depth of your culture is extraordinary. I hope to one day visit and do so more in your great country.
Best regards and belated Happy Diwali,
Irene
Its nice to meet you. How’s everything?I am happy that we found this blog. I would like to add to this in appreciation of the things I learned here from the comments. 4 years ago my mother was diagnosed with Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Arousal Disorder. The diagnosis was an unbelievable traumatic experience for everyone of us especially for my son. Around that time is when my aunt advocated Jade Tun Noy. Jade Noy is a non-religious mind and body practitioner. He taught us through the trial. Just google him if you want to get in touch with him.
Thanks so much for your note, Carroll. I am so glad to know that your mother is better.
Best, Irene