Mind the Gap

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about a mindfulness practice I call minding the gap. So in between every song note, there's a bit of silence. Between every written word, there's a space. In between the movement of the out-breath and the in-breath, there's a moment of stillness.

In between every thought, there's a moment of pure awareness. And when we start to pay attention to those moments, the little gaps that lie in between things, we can find opportunities to pause, to be present, and ground ourselves in the calm, wisdom and strength that lies at the heart of who we are. So how can we actually practice minding the gaps? In meditation, one way is to become really aware of the gap in between the breaths and to make that the focus of meditation. Perhaps even following the out breath all the way to the last moment of the exhale, and then really leaning into that moment of stillness just before the new breath begins. It may be only half a second.

But it's a really wonderful practice. And I'm going to guide you through a practice of this in today's meditation. But you can also mind the gap in everyday life, too. There's moments when you finish a task and you really don't have anything that you have to rush to next. There are moments when the house is quiet, moments when you're in relative peace.

Now most of the time when these little gaps come, we tend to fill them up and quickly start doing again. But my invitation for today and for the rest of this week, if you care to, is to relish those moments of stillness. Open yourself to them fully. Just take a pause from the momentum of your life to simply be. Lean into the gaps.

So see if you can invite more moments of pause, more moments of stillness and presence into your day. A one minute pause in between tasks, a two minute rest under a tree, a short pause, or maybe even one deep breath before sending an email. That's the invitation to practice today and ongoing. Give yourself permission to mind the gaps, to enjoy moments of stillness and be nourished by them. Let them fill you up and anchor you in the calm depths of mindfulness.

As Jared Brock once said, "Inner stillness is the key to outer strength." So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And let's settle in now for today's meditation.