Traditionally Speakingby Pat Larsen - 5 January 2024

Beginning Again…learning to PAUSE.

Having just spent  the past few weeks engaged in the fast paced preparations and deadlines for the holidays, I happened upon a very useful tool that helped me to rethink and then re-frame my lightning speed approach to accomplishing tasks. I wanted something  that was reasonable and approachable. A way to grasp how to slow down yet still feel I was in control of the outcome of my day.  

I wanted to learn the simple concept  of choosing to PAUSE. 

No lengthy declarations this New Year from me, no reflections of mistakes, no need to continuously resist suggestions made by “others”  in my life (you know who you are) to just slow down.

Absolutely, no resolutions, except for this one tiny concept, to explore the extraordinary power of learning how to pause.

What does it actually mean to pause?     How does a “pause” fit into a day that would benefit us in any way?  

This is what I learned.

There are simple implied pauses that we naturally fit into every thing that we do.   Now let’s consider focusing on these pauses and seeing if we can eek out a way that might help us to add more of these moments as we begin again this year. 

We can use a “pause” in a gentle, loving way between breaths that we take, in connecting words that we speak by stopping briefly before continuing a conversation. 

Imagine a space    that you    leave purposely    to allow yourself or others to catch up with an idea that you are proposing.

When pausing we learn to become less hurried in our day and to actually slow the breath and the collision of disconnection of accomplishing a task. We remain focused. 

One of my favorite solution oriented “practice pauses” happened recently when I found myself in a frustrating situation at the grocers. Look people have bad days and there’s no sense in adding to it, is there? So I paused, took a moment to find a better solution that would fit the problem and that brief moment of pausing showed all parties, myself included, that we could work it out. And we did. 

Here’s another more tangible example, just in case I lost you altogether. 

Learning the concept of what it means to pause might also include something familiar. Perhaps you’ll pause to feel a gentle breeze, or to hear a bird song that might’ve been missed while on a walk. When you sharpen your focus you’ll find there are many places in your day to interject a brief moment of pause.

It’s a gift you can give yourself during a busy or ordinary day. It’s like multiplying the time you have in your day by taking a moment, briefly holding on, before stepping forward.

And so as I began on the occasion of this New YEAR…to practice PAUSING in as many ways as I can. We don’t need useless resolutions to begin the year again… do we?!? 

May your year be blessed with a blanket of meaningful pauses every day.

Pat Larsen is a Licensed Fitness Instructor who specializes in Senior &  Baby Boomer wellness.  Weekly classes are held at 

The Shamrock House in East Durham

As Creative Curator of  the AGING WITH GRACE program… Pat brings informative speakers often to The Shamrock House also.   

Please contact Pat qt 518-275-8686 for more information.