Purposeful pauses to get you centered

It was a hectic day at work and there were many patients to examine and evaluate. The phone had been ringing incessantly since morning and I had started feeling a bit irritated and restless. There were calls coming from the OPD too, reminding me of the waiting patients, and that added to the stress.

As I was about to see the next patient, I excused myself for a minute. The staff and my residents thought that I was going to the washroom, but I had simply made my way to the adjacent balcony, paused and looked down for a minute. I could see the park below with people sitting leisurely and relaxing. It was around noon in the month of February in Delhi and the sun felt warm and delicious against my skin along with a cool wintry breeze. The sight of the clear blue expansive sky and the sound of birds chirping was healing and lifted my heart a bit. I closed my eyes and felt my body from within and became conscious of my breathing. I stood like that for a minute or so and then having become present and still from within I went on to see the rest of the patients feeling more alive and energetic.

The entire process took no more than a couple of minutes, it was a simple ordinary moment but strangely enough morphed into something beautiful and vibrant. In that moment of pausing and being present to what was happening, I was able to break the cycle of autopilot activity and hectic pace which was threatening to overwhelm me. In the process of slowing down, I experienced a moment of awe and stillness which felt deeply peaceful and liberating.  There was the realization that even in the midst of the most frenetic activity, we could be free if we could remember to pause and be still. The mundane could transform into a moment of inner peace and even joy.

We often get the feeling that we just don’t have the space or breathing room, necessary to be clear and present and to listen deeply to ourselves and others. Living on the busyness treadmill takes its toll on us and we feel a lack of creativity and connection when we suffer this lack of breathing space. We need more space so that we can step off the treadmill and focus on what matters most to us, instead of being pulled along by the demands of the squeaky wheel. We need more space to celebrate the small joys and wonders which we are surrounded by, but inevitably miss due to the constant busyness and hustle. When we pause, we can create the space to be compassionate, tender and more productive human beings, and be able to live with wholehearted presence and fulfillment.

Author and leadership coach Janice Marturano, in her book ‘Finding the Space to Lead’ teaches her clients how to create these moments of space by cultivating purposeful pauses throughout the day. She defines this as a moment in the day you notice the swirl of the day and choose to intentionally pay attention. This can be when in the midst of a busy meeting we may notice that our thoughts are racing by and we are getting mentally transported to another place, we may suddenly pause and become aware of our breathing and feel our feet against the ground. One moment of consciously becoming aware of our breath may be enough to come out of the spell of autopilot thinking and ruminating. A purposeful pause may be when we are hurrying past lost in our thoughts, and suddenly stop to see the glorious setting sun, and feel the rapture of being alive.

Taking small frequent pauses throughout the day has become a life transforming habit for me and helped me thrive despite a challenging and hectic routine as a  gastroenterologist  with a heavy work load. It has helped me be productive in my work as well as follow my mindfulness and meditation and other hobbies too. Simply pausing for a minute or so in the midst of activities can transport us back from the busyness of incessant doing and back to the peace and joy of being. It can be as simple as taking one breath in awareness, inhabiting our body completely or just being aware of what is happening at the moment.

How to S-T-O-P

There is a useful acronym which I often use and recommend: STOP. This translates as Stop or pause, Take a breath, Observe what is going on within and then Proceed with whatever activity one was doing. Those few seconds or minutes are enough to allow us to be centered and grounded again.

The famous spiritual Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron puts it beautifully, “Pause practice can transform each day of your life. It creates an open doorway to the sacredness of the place in which you find yourself. The vastness, stillness, and magic of the place will dawn upon you, and you can reconnect with the immediacy of your experience.”

I have devised several creative ways to pause  amid activity and ground myself and become present again, and would like to share these with my readers who may find it useful.

In between my hectic OPD, I occasionally take a minute or two, close the door and just sit and feel my body and back against the chair,  and the feet against the floor. Just taking a few breaths in awareness and inhabiting one’s body completely is enough to become mindful and grounded. The staff are quite used to seeing me take such small breaks and often will smile at each other knowingly when they see me like that.

There are several small nooks and crannies throughout the hospital where I often go for a few minutes to recharge myself with the battery of presence. A balcony on the fifth floor, a duty room in the third floor or some other room in a ward. It just needs a minute or two to break the cycle of autopilot and mindless activity and become aware again.

The 4 T way

Then I find the 4 T’s to be very useful to break our mindless routine and bring us back into the present moment.

Tea or coffee: Whenever I have a tea or coffee break it is time for me to pause and be mindful. It is not just about gulping tea or coffee in a hurry but allowing myself to sip the tea or coffee mindfully for a minute or so, even if time is short is a useful way.

Telephone: We can allow the sound of the mobile ringing or even the notifications to be a cue to pause and become present again. As it is we are inundated by phone calls and messages throughout the day and instead of  letting it become a mindless activity, from time to time we can remember that is our signal to become aware again.

Transition: We are always in transition throughout the day, and moving from one place to another can be very helpful to become present again. In my case when I go to the endoscopy room from the OPD or from the OPD to the wards, I try to walk as mindfully as possible, breaking the cycle of mindlessness which may have set in by then.

Toilet: We can use the washroom mindlessly in a hurry or choose to pause and be present again. The feel of water on our hands or soap can bring us back into the body and be present again. We are not taking out extra time, simply spending the time that we use anyway with a little more awareness.

I am constantly on the move, travelling from my home to hospital and from there to my clinic and back.  As I am about to reach a destination I pause for a minute, sit back, feel my body and breathe. This allows me to connect with myself again and be fully present.

While waiting for the elevator one can either aimlessly scroll the phone’s notifications, or choose to connect with one’s breath in awareness.

Taking such small but frequent pauses throughout the day not just helps me become grounded, but also allows me to take a small step back and assess the situation in a broader way. It gives us a bigger canvas from where we can see what is important and needs our priority, and helps maneuver situations better. Sometimes we just get overwhelmed by too much doing, and these pauses give the opportunity of connecting with our being. The combination of being and doing is really very powerful and therapeutic.

I would encourage each of you to devise your own creative ways of bringing such pauses in the midst of your hectic and chaotic life. You will immediately sense the difference in the way the day unfolds. When we pause, we are able to notice much more and inhale the fragrance of life deeply. We are able to hold the day delicately and in a more sacred manner. Life then stops becoming one endless chore after the other, becoming rather fluid and effortless. The beauty of these pauses is that you don’t have to modify your schedule in any way, just tweak it a little here and there. Try it out for yourself and see the difference.