Permission to Pause
The Earth as A Muse
Mary Oliver has been one of my muses for a long time. The way she writes captures the simple beauty that exists all around us. She captures the sweetness in the details that we so often miss; she has a profound ability to notice. In this poem, when she states that “she doesn’t know what prayer is but she does know how to pay attention,” I felt it. How often do we rush from one task to the next, one event to another? How often are we optimizing our time, making everything we do efficient and with purpose? Have we forgotten that we too are a part of nature, that we are also here to be idle and blessed? How often do you stop and pause and simply notice the leaves shaking in the wind or the clouds floating by?
The ability to pause, to stop and notice, and to rest can seem like a luxury these days. It’s free to stop and notice the first flower of spring, to stop and feel the warm air on your cheeks. It’s free to put down your phone and look around at the world, at the people next to you, and take a moment to feel the wonder of simply existing. To me, this is prayer: the reverence of simply being alive.
There is the ability to pause by taking a few moments, and there is also the opportunity to take a longer, more structured pause by taking a yoga class or receiving a massage, not only taking a moment but an entire hour or two to stop and notice. Notice your body, notice repetitive thoughts, notice where you are holding. To allow another to bear witness to your experience and hold you in your unique beingness.
I wish we as a society could offer yoga classes and massage for free because these opportunities to pause are invaluable and should belong to everyone. I often think of our ancestors, before currency, when skills and services were traded. Bring me some homegrown vegetables or a bowl you made, and I will trade you healing touch or a movement practice. I often wish we could go back to those times.
Although I would love to see you on the table or on the mat, what I truly wish is for you to stop and pause and notice, to fall down in the grass and feel blessed.
Renée
