“Whenever an answer, a solution, or a creative idea is needed, stop thinking for a moment by focusing attention on your inner energy field. … When you resume thinking, it will be fresh and creative.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
Most of us know this to be true, yet how many times do we take time for a conscious pause in order to refresh ourselves? I know that I used to pour myself an other cup of coffee and push through.
Let’s face the truth – This “where there’s a will, there’s a way” mentality results in mediocre work, as well as stress and fatigue.
For goodness and wellness sake, move your body and take a few deep breaths. Get out of your head for a few minutes … and notice the difference.
Taking a lunch break during the day is often overlooked nowadays. Yet this is the most important thing we can do to be fresh and creative!
I’m grateful to teach Mindful Hatha yoga at lunchtimes in two companies right now. Bringing together mindfulness and movement ensures everyone feels better and goes back to work with a lighter step and a smile on their face 😊
Please follow this link for more inspiration on Mini Mindful Moments.
There were many days when I worked when I would go walk around the building to clear my head and sometimes my emotions. I would come back sane (somewhat) and refreshed. Answers come easier then. Not taking a lunch break is a big mistake. It also makes people cranky.
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I so agree Kate! There are too many cranky stressed out people at work these days. The pace is getting more and more hectic, but the need for a break is often overlooked.
Thank you 💛
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You said it so beautiful Val. To get out of our heads, so true 🙂
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Thank you Irene 💕
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Very true! Thinking can become very limiting and also depleting sometimes …
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Thank you PD! May your pauses continue to ignite your creative spirit 💛
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I confess, I don’t take a lunch break at work. If I stop, I have a difficult time restarting. But I do work straight through lunch so I can leave at 2:00. This gives me plenty of time to workout, write, read and relax, once I’m home. Love the Tolle quote!
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It is a great quite isn’t it Jill. It sounds like you have your break just right for you …. A saved up one to always look forward to 😊
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Exactly! ❤
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That short break does wonders.
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Indeed it does ☺️ thanks David for sharing the goodness !
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There are so many beautiful places to be besides my head! Namaste 🙏🏻💚
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Now that is so true Karen 💕. Love this!
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Hi Val, does a siesta count? I’m a huge advocate and practitioner of same!!
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Absolutely Jean. After all your walking and mermaid activity I’m sure it is just right 😎
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What a great service you provide! Yoga at work, how awesome is that?
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I feel grateful to be there Eliza! Thank you for your encouragement!
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Wonderful advice, Val! Thank you.
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Thank you Ann! Pause well my friend 😊
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Thanks for the reminders, Val. Congrats in teaching yoga at two companies. Lucky them!
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Hey, Vincent – are you still blogging? I haven’t heard from you in yonks.
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My dear Hariod, it’s a pleasure to hear from you again and I appreciate you checking in. I’ve noticed the most inspiring and authentic blogs are grounded in life experience. So, I’m out and about creating and enjoying those. I’ll be back blogging again before too long. So, please stay tuned.
How about for yourself?
Vincent
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Oh yes, your blog is still definitely subscribed to. 🙂 For myself, then I just post once every six or seven weeks nowadays, and find that to be the right balance for me. I spend far more of my blogging time reading and interacting on others’ blogs than working on my own. Anyway, I look forward to reading your thoughts and reflections my friend, whenever they appear. 🙂
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Thanks Vincent! Its good to hear your voice 💛
I love bringing yoga out of the studio and introducing more people to the benefits. xo
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Thank you, Val. I’ve heard from more than one of my yoga teachers that life off the mat can be deeper practice than in the shala. I love how each moment can bring us more alive.
Thanks for all you’re doing.
Vincent
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Our heads are often too full.. So loved when you said “Get out of your head for a few minutes “… And yes you really do notice a difference.. 🙂
After a wonderful morning on Tuesday after my Granddaughter had had a sleep over, a three mile bike ride while I was walking.. Lots of playing, and imagination, painting, and other activities.. After lunch I said lets give Granddad a rest.. So we went for a medi.. I put on a short CD talking us through a walk.. She and I drifted through corn fields and crystal caves.. to fall asleep.. To have Granddad wake us an hour later We paused and were Refreshed.. 🙂 for the next session of play.. 🙂
Love and Hugs dear Val.. thank you for your wonderful insightful posts..
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Now that sounds so wonderful Sue! The perfect balance of love and living life fully with awareness and joy, while taking time to pause and refresh 💕 I feel refreshed simply reading about your day!
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🙂 thank you Val.. the days spent with our Granddaughter are always refeshing 😉
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I don’t know when I stopped forcing the river, but at some point – after swimming across a narrower part of the Colorado River a few times (walk upstream, swim like hell and arrive downstream, walk double the distance upriver, swim back) and after whitewater rafting a few times – I simply joined in the river’s flow. It’s a great visual, should one care to use it – stepping into the swirling currents and allowing them to envelop and embrace, washing thoughts and useless detritus of the mind away. Of course there are people who fear water for whatever reason, so perhaps a visual of the blur of freeway traffic (photos online ad infinitum) would work – merging one’s thoughts into that rainbow stream of lights, winding nowhere in particular until the mind is stilled. Peace to you, Val, as we wind down another week! Aloha ❤
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That really is an awesome visual Bela … I can relate to a smaller river from my childhood.. “stepping into the swirling currents and allowing them to envelop and embrace, washing thoughts and useless detritus of the mind away.” Perfect!
Blurring freeway traffic may be more accessible for people … unless they have had an accident. Let everyone create their own imagery for this one 💕
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For sure. I only ever mean this kind of thing as a suggestion. My life is blessedly different now, but I spent 30 years teaching these kinds of things to others in practice, writing, on radio, blah, blah, blah – hard to shake it off sometimes 😉 Aloha, Val!
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Aloha Bela! Enjoy the winding down into the weekend if that’s what happens in your neck of the world 😊
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My days now are an open book, so sometimes I forget to take a break from that openness. Yet doing so still works wonders.
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Doing with intention is worthwhile Elisabeth as long as we embrace the openness we have to do so 💕
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