Practise The Pause Quotes

WHAT IS CALMNESS? Calmness is not a character trait, it’s simply a skill. You have to decide that it matters, that the quality of your presence would be better if you slowed yourself down and were really connected to people and the moment you are living in. Then you practise until gradually it becomes part of you. It benefits everyone around you – they feel peaceful and happy in your presence. It’s exactly what children need in a parent. And it benefits you – with less stress hormones, you live longer and feel better. Calmness is well worth cultivating. Calmness is made up of certain actions; breathing deeper, dropping your shoulders, settling your muscles, feeling your feet strongly planted on the ground, focusing your thoughts on the job in hand in a steady easy way, and not going off into panicked thoughts. Even just counting three or four breaths, in and out, will slow your heartbeat and calm your mind down. Calm people are actually doing these things automatically; when an emergency strikes they intentionally calm themselves more in order to counter the tendency to panic and do the wrong thing. Self-regulating your level of emotional arousal is an incredibly valuable skill for life. All you have to do is notice, am I calm? If not, breathe a couple of times consciously, feel your feet on the ground, and notice how, as the last burst of adrenaline clears away, the calmness response starts to kick in. Practise this for a few days, and soon the natural appeal of calmness will pull you more and more to that peaceful and steady place. Everything is better – the taste of food, the scent of flowers, the feel of the water in your shower, warm on your skin. You will find that time slows down, and you can think more in the pause before you open your mouth. And that has real benefits!

Tamella held up a hand and the grumbling subsided. "I know you're all disappointed that there's no contracts now that you're ready. You might be wondering what the point of all of this was, all the training, the tests, the rules, if you'd never get to apply your skills. Why bother, right?" She paused and waited. They nodded, one by one, Azulay last. "We're not here for us," she continued. "We're here for Ghadid. As long as Ghadid needs us, we'll keep training new assassins. The contracts are relatively recent in the history of our family. We've persisted through worse. But one thing has stayed constant: Ghadid will always need us. So this may be your last official lesson, but I want you to keep practising. Keep honing your skills. If not for ourselves, then for the next generation. Ghadid will need us again. And we'll be ready.

Stop and reflect on your life regularly. Pressing the pause button to practise gratitude is the way to make it a constant in your life.

Once I’d been practising regularly for a few months, I felt calmer. I was less irritable and didn’t need to react immediately if I was angry or something triggered me. I was really able to give it that microsecond pause. Practising being present makes you more grounded. You breathe, and feel: This is where I am, which slows everything down. You feel more contented and at peace, so maybe there’s not so much conflict or busyness going on inside you. In that state, it’s easier to deal with things, as opposed to when you’re in that stressed-out mode; when you’re just reactive.