What does it take to create change?

Over the past two weeks, I've introduced you to the principles of "be in your body" and "cultivate ease." If you've been playing with these in your life, I'd love to hear what you're noticing.

Which feels like a nice segue into the next principle:

"You can't change anything you're not aware of."

It's pretty obvious, isn't it? But the challenge for many of us (including especially me!) is that we may say we want awareness, but welcoming awareness can be uncomfortable. It's easy to welcome the "good things", but we tend to push away, ignore or deny the things we don't like to see in ourselves, or that might require us to change.

One of the benefits of Pausing is the opportunity to notice - to grow awareness. And if we can notice without judgment, we can learn what is helping us, what is working against us, and then decide what we want to change.

What does this look like in our bodies?

If I'm not aware of a pattern of movement that is causing me pain, I can't do anything about it. (other than complain about the pain) Once I've noticed that my knee hurts when I do a certain movement, I can start to play with the choices available to me and create a new pattern of movement that decreases pain. (And yes - I'm using my principles of cultivate ease and be in your body here as well!)

What about in the rest of life?

Life is busy. When we're racing from one commitment to the next, rebounding off of one crisis to another, we're often holding on for dear life. We get so focused on not letting go that we lose perspective. What exactly are we hanging on to?

We become stressed, discontented, angry, sad, or just "off". We know something has to change, but when we're "in it", it's almost impossible to discern what our choices are.

When we learn how to Pause and notice (without judgment!), we gain clarity and perspective. We can become aware of the patterns in our relationships with ourselves and others, get curious about which patterns are creating stress and tension, and make choices about how we want to change those patterns.

I make it sound so easy there, don't I? It is simple, but it's rarely easy, especially with old patterns that have been "baked in" over a lifetime.

I invite you to Pause throughout this week and notice.

Can you grow awareness without judging, without deciding something is right or wrong, better or worse? It's just information. You don't even need to do anything with it right now. (Or ever - it's your choice!)

If you find yourself judging new awareness, or are stuck on what to do with it to create meaningful change in your life, coaching can help you create the steps toward that change. A curiosity call is a great way to learn more about coaching and see if it feels like a fit for you. It's free and there's no obligation. Schedule your call here:

Want to spend more time learning about the principles I've been describing? The Power of the Pause is a 10-week journey of growing awareness and resilience. Learn more about the book here.