Taking A Moment To Pause

“Itealaich”
Self-Portrait, July 2020

It is incredibly important to take a moment to just exist and notice. To calm the racing heart and the crash waves of mental turbulence and simply be in the moment we are in.

Anxiety, busyness, chaos. They all clamor for our attention every single day of our life and we often give in to the habit of feeding the negative aspects of our daily lives. We race towards burnout and hurry into our busy schedule without taking a moment to breathe.

Thick fog clouds our mental landscapes and our thoughts race in a million directions. This needs to be done and so does that. I have to go and do this, this, and this. We hurry through the day, sleep fast, and wake up to do it all over again.

When was the last time you just stopped?

Even if it’s just for a second. When was the last time you noticed? The last time you realized that your hands can feel the surfaces around you and your ears can pick up distant sounds you hadn’t noticed before? When was the last time you really looked around you?

Life hurries us ever forward on the march of time, but it’s so important to take time to be in the moment. Even if it’s just for a second. Try putting down your phone and center yourself by going through each of the senses. This simple exercise can be the best way to ground yourself, especially when you start with the sense of touch.

What do you feel?
What do you hear?
What do you taste?
What do you smell?
What do you see?
What do you feel?

This simple practice of noticing has a way of warding off spiraling thoughts and grounds you in the present moment. It doesn’t have to take long at all, just a few minutes of uninterrupted time to perceive the world you exist in and notice the world inside of you.

Your mental landscape is as important as the physical one around you. Don’t let the busyness of life keep you from tending to it. Peace, relaxation, and stillness are vital to our health and thriving in this life. Use the art of noticing to ward off the mental fog of anxiety and chaos.

Don’t let the hurry steal away your inner connection and peace.