One of the greatest disadvantages of a modern lifestyle is that we are constantly on the go. Multitasking is the new fashion statement, and we guilt trip ourselves every time we take a break. Pause Rituals are an antidote to the obsession we have with optimizing our time, resources and energy in a seamless manner. These practices are very personal activities that we need to build in our daily schedule that allow us to take a break and energize us.Just as we choose to charge our phones and laptops, pause rituals do the same for our mind, body and the soul.
The idea of calling it a pause ritual emerged from the understanding that while we all appreciate the value of pause, it only assumes importance when we translate it to a palpable, behavioural goal/ritual we can work toward. The word pause means a temporary halt – a break -in our daily life. Here the word is ritual which basically involves creating a set of self-soothing activities in our daily schedule, instead of engaging only when we are heading for a breakdown/meltdown.
Your exercise class, for instance or the practice of deep breathing are examples of pause rituals. They are acts that we perform singularly, while keeping our gadgets away.
