Mindfully Pausing, Finding Stillness and Giving thanks

Thanksgiving Day, a time to pause and remember. Five years ago COVID forced a pause, and we benefitted greatly from that one positive aspect of the pandemic. We can pause again, today, using the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy 3-Minute-Breathing-Space. A recording of that is at the end of Annie’s post - Donald

Thanksgiving Day, 2025

It’s been almost 5 years since the early days of COVID and while it began with nothing but fear and uncertainty, we all managed to adjust, and turned towards what was possible. A few months in, I remember enjoying the slower pace, finding a new appreciation for our current state of good health, and happiness in quality time with family. While the world around us quieted, we were presented with a single option; to slow down and disconnect from life as we knew it.

This quieting of the world (far less noise, less cars on the road, reduced interactions, fewer people out, empty office buildings, etc.) was so significant, scientists named it the anthropause, or “human pause”. The evidence of the benefits to the environment and various ecosystems during this time were notable then, and continue to be encouraged. (New York Times, July 2022)

What then, if anything, did we take and bring forward from this ‘pause’?

For me, fear and uncertainty come and go, as does the instability of a schedule or routine. For some of us, loneliness creeps in, or the opposite, an uptick in plans and activities, which brings its own set of unpleasant feelings.

During this holiday season, I plan to find time to slow down and disconnect, for ‘a pause’, taking a break from thoughts of what lies ahead. If you could use a break, try finding a moment for yourself to bring peace and order, stillness and gratitude, into your awareness, even if it’s just for a few breaths, in and out.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Ideas for pausing on Thanksgiving Day:

• Take a walk or spend time in nature, listening for what sounds are present

• Take a 3min breathing space: 1.) bringing attention to your experience as it is, right now, what thoughts are here, what sensations are present? (1 min) 2.) Focus your awareness now on a single act, the movement of the breath. (1 min) 3.) Allow awareness to expand to your entire body. (1 min) or (Guided, here below, by me)

• Meditation: Living, Loving, Awareness (20 min), Tara Brach