Do you have a self-care Practice?

Shared by Natalie

Recently, I was guided through an exercise where I was to create a
“Care Square”.

A Care Square is essentially drawing a square on a piece of paper with
four quadrants on it.

The upper left quadrant is titled 5-minutes
The upper right quadrant is titled 10-15 minutes
The lower left quadrant is titled 30-minutes and
The lower right quadrant is titled 60-minutes.

I was asked to list self-care practices that I could do in each of the
designated time frames from short to longer self-care practices.

In doing this exercise,

I realized that my #1 self-care practice is
Practicing the Pause Practice.

The Pause Practice overarches any other self-care practice…

Even before I can choose one of the many self-care practices available to me

I have to choose to Pause

and

Get out of my own way,

Inviting Inspiration Within to help

And then choosing to

Follow the Wise Guidance of Inner Inspiration.

In a Pause, I am willing
to be guided
in the direction of self-care.

Slowing down

and

choosing to nurture
my mind and body
in the moment.

I can Pause and gently say,
“I am willing to experience my calm quiet mind.”

This is an open invitation to my inner self to receive CALM.

It’s like opening a window and
experiencing a fresh morning breeze. Ahhh…

Soon I find my mind becoming clear and
my Inner Inspiration beginning to come forward.

The Pause Practice is a quick and practical practice!

~~

Won’t you let ~Pause~ be an integral part
of your self-care practice?

Sharing by Mary

Spinning On This Wheel . . .

Today I am resting my mind.
I thought that would mean doing nothing. Ironically, I did
quite a lot! Cooked and ate a healthy breakfast, sat in quiet stillness
centering my mind on PEACE, did daily to-do, moved my body with an
open heart, had a conversation, wrote a few work emails, and now I am
sharing this post with you. A truly productive day and all while resting
in this Well of Peace Within. How? Read on > > >

As I Practice Pausing For My Peace of Mind, I recognize the chaos and
craziness my Me-Character brings into all aspects of daily life.

In Practicing and Applying Pause, I connect with a
Deep Inner Knowing and Loving Presence ~ A well from which I draw
a sense of inner peace, wisdom, and love for myself and others;
Wherever I am, Whatever I am doing, and Whomever I am with.
It’s a moment to moment decision.

Wherever I am . . .

I am willing to want peace.
As I move through this day, in stillness and on the go,
I can pause to be present to peace.
At home, at school, at work, or play,
I am willing to get out of my own way.
Peace on the inside is one pause away.

Whatever I am doing . . .

I am willing to want peace.
Not all tasks are easy, some are new, some are old,
others seem to never end as I go to and fro.
Yet, whatever task is before me, this I can say,
I want peace, calm, and patience in my day-to-day.
Peace is in the pause, only one breath away.

Whomever I am with . . .

I am willing to want peace.
We may not know one another, or we may be family or friends.
Perhaps you’re my neighbor or in the car coming around the bend.
Yet, this I am willing one moment at a time,
to see you with peace in the middle of my mind.
There is a reason our paths have crossed though I needn’t
know what that is.
We are passersby in space and time,
in a world that forgets connection and can often be unkind.
The good news is I can extend you my peace of mind.

Pause is Not Just a Good Intention or a Bright Idea!

Pause is a Practice as we’re spinning on this wheel.

When I am willing to Practice Pause,

I am serving a Bigger Cause.

One that’s not about me and my special requests.

Rather, one that is recognizing another as my guest.

Sunday Post ~ PAUSE ON THE NEWS ~

Pause showed up on the local news! Thank you to KMOV-TV for showing
our Kids Can Pause and Parents Too! book going into the book bags to
HELP FAMILIES PAUSE to ACCESS their INNER WISDOM
for Peace of Mind with Everyday Life!

Pause & other organizations donated to fill 500 book bags with school
supplies & Pause books and Pause Practice Cards!

Kids aged 5 – 15 and adults showed up to stuff 500 book bags
so kids can begin the new school year
READY to ROCK N’ ROLL and
LEARN through accessing their Helpful Self.

An Inspired Way to Truly Learn!

Today’s Pause

EXPERIENCE INSPIRATION as it flows
through form, namely, you. YOU ARE THE
FORM for the Formless Flow of Inspiration.

YET, IT IS NOT FORM THAT BLOCKS
INSPIRATION, it is the thought of
unwillingness.

SO MANY TIMES YOU DECIDE AHEAD OF
TIME IN YOUR MIND WHAT SOMETHING
is going to LOOK LIKE, taste like, is going to
feel like or sound like, all based on
PAST EXPERIENCE.

REMEMBER,
Inspiration is here to serve in the now!

~Let Inspiration Serve ~

Pause for Now

~ PAUSE ~
Put a Bandaid on it!

Shared by Natalie

Do you ever ignore Inner Wisdom?

Sharing The Pause Practices and Pause free books and practice
materials with participants at the Better Family Life Job and Resource
Fair recently, I kept finding myself struggling with the box
full of our purple plastic bags we give to our customers to hold
their Pause goodies.

The box was flimsy and falling apart.

As I observed myself interacting with this failing box
over and over again,
I began to laugh at myself
remembering something that had happened earlier in the week…

I had been given a direct opportunity
to put the bags into a different, sturdier box,
BUT
instead of flowing with that moment and following inner Wisdom,
~because I was tired~
I opted to put some tape on the box and quickly patched it up.

I put a Bandaid on it!

> NOTE: The Pause Crew is sweating profusely at this
swelteringly hot outdoor event >

> Participants, our customers, are lined up eagerly willing to
receive their Truly Helpful Pause goodies >

! And the tape on the box was coming undone !

! The box was sweating and falling apart !

! Bags are spilling out !

. . .

Choosing to Pause…

…and Transferring those bags into a fresh
new box before the event could have
saved me time in the long run!

…I am reminded that temporary fixes
will never outlast the wise solution
that comes from Inspiration Within.

And that’s my lesson.

Pause ~ Listen ~ Follow

to save time and energy in your day!

PAUSE is not a timeout.

Pause is a time ~ in.

A rest in the space of peace, of possibility, a conflict-free zone.
No chaos. No division. A space from which to listen. A space from which
you can receive what to think, say, and do, or not.

PAUSE is the first move. To pause is to begin again.

The Pause Practice comes in 4 important steps.

Here is the FIRST STEP you can practice now if you so choose!

Let’s Begin

PAUSE

The decision to stop in this moment.

I AM WILLING

to experience my calm, quiet mind.

BEGIN

with a one ~ moment pause.

REST

Continue pausing for as long as you choose.

Apply this Pause Practice in any communication,
relationship, activity, situation, and circumstance.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, and whomever
you are with, you can pause.

Watch what happens!

Grateful for you,
Mary

Help for Peace of Mind

I am certain that if more of us applied the Pause For LOVE Practice

everyday with communications, relationships, activities,

decisions, situations, and circumstances,

everyone’s mental healthy would be drastically improved!

That goes for applying the Pause for My Peace of Mind Practice, too!

Hands down. No doubt. More LOVE.

I am willing.

How about you?

If you do nothing with this book after
reading it, that will be fine, as it will have
done something worthwhile within you.
And this you will take with you wherever
you go. It is a message without pompous
appeal, mass appeal or worldly appeal.
Certainty seldom reveals itself to those
who do not want to hear it. LOVE is
certainty. The choice to hear is always
ours.

Excerpt, Pause Golden Book, Page 7

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

The Unveiling of LOVE

any ordinary day

Shared by Mary

Something is shifting in my daily life. At several recent events that Pause
participated in, I put Pause to the test! I decided to truly use The 4-Decisions
Practice of Pause while interacting. The result was immediate > a direct experience
of the Expanding Capacity of LOVE. Together, our willingness to pause,
step back from our dashing, open to Something Wonderful, and ride this
wave, allowed for an experience of Real LOVE blossoming. The JOY given
and received in our willingness to be present with
one another, to listen, encourage, and allow our eyes to
meet assured us that it’s okay to pause!

Though seemingly diverse events, everyone was seeking the same thing ~
LOVE, HEALING, CONNECTION. An inquiring 11-year-old girl asks to meet up
with me for 1:1 mentoring, a weary woman caregiving for her parents asks if Pause
can help her with the challenges she’s facing, an elementary school principal invites
Pause to share with teachers, students, and parents, university students studying
for final exams wanting calm and focus, young men interested in opening to their
inner Wisdom, an organization helping with suicide prevention, and simply ordinary people living their everyday lives, are some of the individuals the Pause
Crew Truly Encountered recently while sharing The Pause Practices.

The common thread running through all of these encounters was the direct
and tangible experience of LOVE BEING LIVED in daily life. Awareness of
our connectedness to one another translates into healing one another.

This experience is fully available to everyone while living our daily lives.