The value of the pause
/@2022 Nicole Bratt, Patrick’s Point, California
Hello again, friends,
I've been on the road for just over a week. Celebrating a wedding, enjoying beloved family and friends, basking in the warmth sunshine, eating good food, forest bathing, and coastal sightseeing complete with harbor seal pups and Gray whales. It has been joy-filled and breathtaking.
When I'm in motion for a sustained amount of time like this, I notice that when I lie down at night, I feel as if I am still in trajectory down the highway: a persistent hum in my ears, vibration in my cells, an alert agitation.
One particularly long driving day, despite my exhaustion, I couldn't sleep initially because of this agitated energy. So I put on a yoga nidra recording and feel asleep before the recording ended.
The yoga nidra practice (often called "yogic sleep") allowed me to pause... return my body to a blessed state of inertia and reset my thoughts into a quieter, rest-inducing pattern. There are many ways to access a peaceful mind-body, of course. Yoga nidra is just one. I have found developing a skillset for calm and stillness to be profoundly useful in my life. Here's a simple practice for you:
Stand or sit comfortably – just stop moving/fidgeting/being in motion.
Take a breath that feels sweet, in and out through your nose.
Now... notice. What you see around you, what you can hear, what you can smell and/or taste. Take however long you need to become fully present.
Once you have sensed what is around you, close your eyes. Take another sweet breath.
Can you sense within to the place that is centered, quiet, and calm? Can you access the you that is the witness, rather than the doer/maker/achiever? Re-discover that place.
Be there – still and wholly aware – for a moment. Remember that it is enough.
Love and peace,
Nicole