The power of the pause is a tool used when practicing emotional intelligence particularly before you respond or react to someone or a situation so you have time to gather your thoughts, process your emotions and take a breath to help you prevent behaving in a manner you will later regret.
Today, with everything we are facing in these trying times of social distancing and altered lifestyles, why not take something that is perceived as negative and turn it into a positive? We can do this by taking a pause to have time to gather our thoughts, process our emotions and take a breath to help us prevent living in a manner we may later regret. What I mean by this is while we are forced to slow down, free up our busy hustle bustle schedules, take a step away from our work, schooling and other commitments and distractions maybe do some soul searching to evaluate if we are actually living a life authentic to ourselves.
In order to do that we first have to take this time of quiet to reflect and allow ourselves to go back to childhood-like thinking and see where our dreams take us. Then ask ourselves a series of questions to dig deep into our cores reconnecting with our passions, purpose and heart. Through this journey you may find that yes, you are living exactly the way you have envisioned for yourself and there is very little you would want to change. But if you realize you have made choices based on someone else’s expectations of the path to follow or have let your own expectations be influenced by what you think you should be doing based on societal norms or parental pressures it may be time to rethink and redirect yourself so you can get back on your own course of fulfillment.
I am in no way suggesting that you up and quit your jobs or pack your shit and move across the world on a whim, but if your life, especially on a daily basis, does not look like it’s actually yours, start taking the small steps that will eventually lead to big changes. I have recently read 2 books that may give you perspective, guidance and the mindset into this topic more professionally than I am able to offer. Brave not Perfect by Reshma Saujani and The Conscious Parent by Dr Shefali Tsabary (which by the way you do not need to be parent to benefit from) and there are of course many more to choose from as well.
In the meantime to help you with this process I recommend turning to essential oils to encourage your mind to relax and open up to this experience so you are able to get the clarity you are looking for.
~Roll Forgive (The Renewing Blend) over your heart to create a path to let go of burdens and guilt. ~Roll Adaptiv (The Calming Blend) on your wrists as a solution for stress, restlessness and being on edge so you can regroup. ~Diffuse the following separately or together:
- Lavender to help alleviate feelings of isolation and loneliness and bring you restoration and peace
- Peppermint which increases awareness and perceptive abilities
- Sandalwood cultivates a strong sense of self and independence
- Frankincense to induce feelings of inspiration and introspection
- Geranium when you need help with self-forgiveness and opens the heart to nurture the inner child
Leave a Reply