Take time to stop being busy and ‘Just Be’ instead

The more I notice those in my surroundings, the more I see that few take the time to stop, pause and breathe.

We get so wrapped up in our rushing and Doing the Next Task, that we don’t stop to ponder at all at what this is doing to us, long term.

And it’s the long-term effects of rushing and Being Busy that is our biggest problem.  We can cope with the here and now stress – we shrug it off, we dive into more or the same, we stuff it down, or drown it out with substances.

A few years back I went on a Suicide Training Day at HMP to make us aware of the signs of stress and how to offer support.

One of the early exercises was a simple question – how do you handle stress? We wrote things down.  We put our hands up. We offered our answers.

No-one, but me, said Mindfulness or Meditation, or Breathing was their way to handle stress.

No-one but me (and these were long time staff at HMP establishments) said they took ‘five’.

Every single answer was more obvious – sport, dogs, reading, TV, walking, drink, ciggies.

Its’ why I’m pushing Mindfulness right now.

Just stop and breathe easy. Deep breaths, eyes closed, breathe it away, see it leave you, take 5 (minutes), visualise something pleasing, and breathe, and pause, and feel stress come away, and breathe, and be still and quiet.

And rinse and repeat. Take 5. And another 5, before you hit a brick wall of panic and overload.

Stop, Pause, Breathe.

We all know how to breathe. There’s no fancy way of breathing in mindfulness.

Just be aware or your breath. Draw it in deeply. See it fill you with a healing light, reaching the parts that need it, damping down any pain, easing the worry, freeing the hurt, helping the upset come away.

No biggie. No courses required.

Just you. And The Quiet.

Don’t smother it down in Noise. Don’t press it down with a layer of camouflage.

See it. See where it’s hiding, and let it come loose and float away.

Easy peasy this Mindfulness malarkey – if you want it to be.

No, no courses required. But you need to stop your Doing first ,and Be instead.

If you would like a Pause, Breathe and Mind the Gap Workbook you can get it here.