The Holiday PAUSE: Joy, Cheer, Stress, Grief, and Loneliness
The holidays can get busy, running from events to stores to school concerts, they can bring cheer and joy, and they can bring stress, grief, and loneliness.
One of my favorite ways to encourage clients to cultivate awareness and to slow their nervous systems down is to practice a PAUSE. Take a PAUSE right now!
Shift your weight in your seat. Close your eyes. Breath in/out. Focus inward. What do you notice? Sense the support from what you’re resting on. Notice any areas of tension, pain, or discomfort. Breath in/out. Open your eyes. In just a quick 30 seconds we can shift our awareness and state.
One of the best ways that I have found to handle big emotions is the resource-based conscious movement practice of Open Floor International. It provides connection, support, and allows your body to regulate.
PAUSE is one of Open Floor International’s core movement resources. Those that have an embodied sense of PAUSE are able to stay calm, connect with their breath, listen quietly, are open to creativity, and able to connect with spirit and others. Indications that PAUSE might be a growth area for one would be if one is always moving, pushing limits, emotionally reactive, struggles to be open to new ideas, or is unable to be present in relationships
Come take a collective PAUSE from all that the holidays entail! We’ll be working with PAUSE during the following upcoming Open Floor Workshops:
Sweet Surrender MINI RETREAT- Turn of the Year 2023>2024 the afternoon of 12/31/23.
Open Floor SOUL MOVES Moving Meditation on 2/25/24.
Looking forward to moving with you soon! If you haven’t tried an Open Floor class yet, you have no idea what you’re missing!! Give it a try! Reach out with questions!
P.S. The psychotherapy approach of Brainspotting is my other favorite way to regulate the nervous system! I have a Self-BRAINSPOTTING Workshop set for the evening of 1/23/24. Sign on up!
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OFI Teacher Training Curriculum V3, July 2021
