After having some fun with topics like being an introvert during the Pandemic and getting high off of Wim Hof’s breathing techniques, we dive into a discussion on Our Single Most Life-Transforming Tool (a client favorite).
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The “Power Pause” is a game-changer (just ask any of our coaching clients)!
In fact, one of our clients, Dawn, was so inspired she wrote an entire blog post on this tool for the Sexy Fit Vegan blog.
The Power Pause is meant to allow you to explore your thoughts and emotions before you take action. It allows you to respond, with intention, rather than react and immediately fall into old unhealthy patterns (aka programs).
With this tool, you have the power to become the designer of your destiny.
The Power Pause is the key step in our Self-Empowerment Coaching System, which you can learn about in Episode 7, and hear specific examples of by listening to this episode.
We often talk about being the observer, but we don’t realize how challenging it truly is… at first. Using the power pause is how we grasp the opportunity to become the observer of our thoughts and emotions. From there, we have the power to choose new thoughts that will serve us better. We then are able to CHOOSE our actions and can choose HEALTHY behaviors, like eating a nutrient-packed meal, rather than going for the junk out of habit.
We had a client recently asked, “Am I denying myself of what I am truly feeling.”
Taking a power pause doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be seeing rainbows and unicorns. This technique is more of an opportunity to give yourself the chance to feel your feelings and then choose what you’re going to do about it.
What we call “the human experience” includes both positive and negative emotions. When something sad happens, feeling sad is what needs to happen (NOT feeling sad is a symptom of a sociopath after all)!
Susan David puts it so eloquently in her extraordinary TED talk. She says, “Negative emotions are our contract with life. We cannot be fully human and experience negative emotions.”
When Shye jumped off the bed last month, l felt guilty. If I had put her steps in the right place, maybe she wouldn’t have jumped. However, instead of getting lost in guilt and spiraling downward as I used to do, a took the Power Pause, and observed the guilty feelings, and the thoughts causing them. I chose new thoughts. “It’s not my fault. Accidents happen. It is what it is.”
I let myself be sad and scared that it was happening. I even gave myself a couple days to not be on my game (have a bit of a pity party), and after that, I figured it out.
I didn’t overeat, under-eat, over-exercise, under-exercise; I just let myself sit in those emotions and was able to make healthy choices out of love for Shye and myself.
Society tends to shame people, especially in this “positive” culture. It’s easy to get embarrassed when things are going wrong, which spirals into shame and then turns into dysfunctional patterns, even major emotional disorders including major depression, eating disorders, and destructive anger issues.
So, your homework is to start practicing the Power Pause in your life every day. It takes practice, and you may not remember to take the pause in the moment.
When you DO remember, you can use it to run back through the past situation.
Think to yourself, how could the power pause have helped me at that moment? And then replay that information to you, approaching yourself with curiosity and compassion.
With consistent practice, over time, the Power Pause will become part of your new “operating system” and will be the key to helping you build an empowered mindset and healthy habits for the rest of your life!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Episode 7 (Self-Empowerment Coaching System)
From Bitch to BFF: The Power of the Pause in Everyday Life
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Ella Magers, MSW
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