Mindful Moment

​Pause

 

There is a pace to modern life that keeps our minds switched on.

 

Another email. Another decision. Another thing asking for our attention.

 

Without even noticing, our bodies begin to match the pace.

 

For the next four breaths, let these words be your only focus.

 

 

Serenity is within me.

 

Take a slow deep breath. 

 

Serenity is within me.

 

Breathe again.

 

Serenity is within me.

 

And one more gentle breath.

 

Serenity is within me.

 

 

Notice what has shifted.

 

Perhaps your shoulders softened.

 

Perhaps your breathing slowed.

 

Perhaps your mind became just a little quieter.

 

However small the change, your body responded to the experience your mind cultivated.

 

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Beyond the Moment

 

The Experience Your Mind Creates

 

Four slow breaths.

 

One simple phrase.

 

Less than a minute.

 

Yet there’s a good chance something changed.

 

Perhaps your shoulders softened. Perhaps your breathing slowed. Perhaps your thoughts became just a little quieter.

 

So what happened?

 

Your nervous system doesn’t only respond to what’s happening around you. It also responds to what you’re experiencing within.

 

Think about how your body reacts before a difficult conversation. Your heart might beat a little faster, your shoulders tighten and your breathing becomes shallower. Nothing has happened yet. Your mind has simply anticipated the experience.

 

The opposite is just as true. Calm experiences can invite your body to respond differently. Your mind and body are always in conversation. Every thought, memory and experience has the potential to influence how your body reacts. Even while sitting at the very same desk, your body can begin to soften.

 

That doesn’t mean we can think our way out of the demands of modern work. Life will always ask things of us. But it does mean we have more influence over our internal experience than we often realise. 

 

Perhaps that’s why attention matters so much.

 

The exercise you just completed didn’t change your environment. It simply invited you to place your attention somewhere different reminding your nervous system that another pace exists.

 

If a few slow breaths and one repeated phrase can influence your experience, what else can?

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