Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'm going to talk

about the pause practice.

So during daily life, we often find

ourselves caught up in autopilot mode.

So in autopilot mode we're living,

but we're kind of only half here,

because half of our attention or

more is lost in wandering thoughts.

So for instance, while we're

driving our car, we might be

mulling over our problems.

While we're making lunch, our mind

wanders and fantasizes of something

like a holiday or a home improvement.

And instead of being fully present

when we're with our loved ones, we're

often just lost in our own thoughts.

So the pause practice is this

really simple way to pull ourselves

back out of autopilot mode and

come back into the present moment.

So here's the practice and the

simple invitation for today.

Each time you notice that your mind

is wondering, just pause what you're

doing, physically pause, and just take

three deep, slow, mindful breaths.

As you breathe in, bring your attention

out of thinking and into feeling the

flow of your breath in your body.

And then with each breath, just seeing if

you can become more and more focused on

what's happening in the present moment.

So you connects with your senses

what you can ,hear, what you

can see, what you can feel.

Just letting awareness

really wash over you.

So for me as I take these three breaths,

it really feels like this mental fog

slowly lifts, and then the clarity and

peace and vibrancy of awareness returns.

After the third exhale, I've really

anchored back into the present

moment and I'm more able to carry

it forward into the rest of the day

or at least into the next moments.

So today, see if you can use the

pause practice whenever you need

that little bit of extra support to

just come home to the present moment.

And with those three breaths you

can connect again to the fullness,

the aliveness and the richness

of the moment around you and also

to the, you know, to that mental

clarity and that wisdom within.

So I wish you a really wonderful

day of practice with this.

Have a little bit of fun with it.

And as always, thank you so much

for your practice and for your

presence here in this community.

And let's settle in now

for today's meditation.