Ignite Your Inner Spark: Harnessing the Power of Transitions and Pauses
In the rush of our daily lives, it’s easy to overlook the significance of pauses and transition moments. Yet, these seemingly small moments hold the power to ignite a profound shift within us and help us live a life that truly lights us up.
Discover the art of slowing down, taking a moment to pause in these liminal moments and connect with the different versions of yourself that connect the different chapters of your journey.
Spring is in the air and the growth is happening before our eyes. Each day on my walk I notice something that has popped up, changed color, reaching a little further toward the sun. Even in our yard, we joke about the different seasons of weeds. The grassy landscape changing every couple of weeks as we move from dandelions to clover to plantain to chicory. Noticing and understanding that the natural rhythm of things helps us feel grounded in the season, being able to anticipate what’s next.
While we are in spring, a season of transition, and expansion and growth and new beginnings, I think it's important to make sure that we honor that we're going through our own life changes. To take the time to pause, notice, appreciate all the things that are going on in this season of transition.
There is a letting go, and an embracing and excitement for what's ahead. And that can be kind of wonky and uncomfortable. And this can happen through all kinds of seasonal points of transition in your life. Even the most expected, anticipated and exciting moments bring a sort of transition period with them.
It can look like a transition into-
Motherhood
a new job
new responsibilities
new schedules
an addition to your family
a loss from your family
Generally, we are able to notice when these transitions happen because they are marked by a significant event or taking on a new commitment. Take the time to honor these moments of transition. Noticing the schedules, capacity, energy levels, pressures that are all in a state of flux and need some time to adjust to them.
Adding in a new sport or class schedule or the approaching summer break can be a transition that brings the stress of change and adjustment.
“When you pause, you give yourself the opportunity to choose a conscious response instead of simply reacting.”
Everyday Transitions
While the big life transitions happen throughout our lives, sometimes unpredictably, You often have extra support and empathy when big shifts happen but overlook the amount of chronic stress and energy our day-to-day lives invite in. Eventually though, even the big transition moments start to fall into the everyday flow of life.
Most of our lives are made up of everyday moments that we navigate between. And because they happen all the time, we don’t notice the way they affect us like the big ones do. We forget to notice the different seasons of our days, the different ways we have to show up depending on what version of ourselves we need to be in the moment.
In your day-to-day life, this can look like-
Driving and arriving, pulling up to your destination. Home, work, the store, school. That moment you arrive and you're sitting in your car. You park, turn the car off, gather your stuff, and go inside. Without pause, you start moving toward the next thing.
Even though the day you just had, the traffic you went through, the call you just got off of, the tough decision you just made, the everyday life moment you just had is leaving you in a drained or distracted state. Unprepared for what’s ahead.
This is when you need a transition moment.
Because when you get out of that car, go through that door, enter that meeting, put down the phone, whatever it is, you know how you’d like to show up, the energy you're gonna need, the resources you're going to have to call upon. The version of yourself that you want to be in that moment is going to shift. It’s going to require a different version of you.
Instead of getting caught up in the energy of them, step aside for a few moments. Step out of the swirl and take a breath and pause. Just as if it was a big life transition, acknowledge that you're going through something and that you and/or your world is shifting or changing.
In that pause, align your energy. Gird your loins you might say. Know that you are walking into a whole other realm that is going to need a different version of you.
I do this even when I’m heading out for my daily walk and before I come back inside. Taking a breath, a pause to realign my thoughts and intentions, leave what I need to behind and get present to the moment in front of me.
In the times I don’t do that, I end up taking a walk in name only. I carry the swirl with me. I physically walked the walk, but I wasn’t mentally or energetically present to get the full benefit of what I use my walk for. I come back without honoring the needs that I wanted to fulfill.
“Creating space for pauses and transitions allows for the magic of our everyday lives to come through.”
The same thing happens when you bustle from one moment to the next, without being present. And without the magic of the everyday moments, we miss out on the everyday magic of life. Of living a life that lights you up.
So anticipate and prepare for what is ahead of you, release what is behind you and be present in the now.
This practice is something you can use throughout your day, for life’s little moments. When you are transitioning from one identity, one way of being and expressing yourself to another. From wife to mom, to employee, to coworker, to teammate, to customer, to client, and back to mom, back to life.
Put into Practice
Before you rush into the house, or onto the next thing, acknowledge and honor that need to pause and transition. In these liminal moments, the space between, give yourself that moment to shift gears and take a breath and get present. Then you can move forward, moment by moment and always staying present. As I was able to name from reading the book Ichigo Ichie, when we have fears, we're living in the past and when we have anxiety, we're living in the future. That's why it's important to take the time and intentionally, mindfully live in the present. Ground yourself and reorient your trajectory.
Before you move into the next moment, pause and take a breath.
Acknowledge what resources you're taking in with you
What baggage you might need to put down
Where you're feeling empty
Where you're feeling full
The intention you have for this next moment
The type of person you’re intending to show up as
It might seem like a lot to do in just a couple breaths, but I challenge you to try. Name and acknowledge those levels. Name the type of person you are embodying as you walk through that door. When you can name it, acknowledge it, you can tame it. Now you can at least know where you are operating from so that you don't act out of alignment and probably cause more struggle in your day, trying to be a version of yourself you don’t have the capacity for.
Realign
In those breaths, look at your unmet needs, and work on addressing them as soon as you're able. If it’s walking through the door from work, it could look like-
a ritual of putting your things away, mentally and physically
saying a couple of affirmations to align your inner self and your intentions with your actions
spending a few minutes with snuggling or playing with your pet or kids
giving a really great hug
getting an intentional snack, glass of water or using the bathroom
laying down for a few minutes to reboot your system
changing your vibe with a kitchen dance party
asking for help about what’s needed
informing those you're with or near that you need something
It doesn't have to look like pouring your heart out to someone. Or dramatically making an entrance and declaring all the things you need, now. But it can feel good to share where you need help, where you need guidance, where someone can support you in being the best version of you.
Acknowledge the Power of Knowing
In this season of growth and change, learn how to harness the power of these moments of transition and realign yourself toward living a life that lights you up.
Acknowledge the power of these moments of pauses and transitions. Knowing who you need to be, the version of yourself that this next moment needs. Use them to help you shift your mental and physical energy and realign yourself with the journey ahead of you for this next phase of your day, of your week, of your life. Wherever you are, whatever your moment of transition looks like for you.
Use this journal prompt to help you start to notice and name where you need to add in your own pauses and transitions in your life.
If you want to take a pause and get to know who you really are, layered in between all of the other identities you are wearing, check out the Firefly Scout Illumination Kit. Remember who you really are, the you before you belonged to them.
Based on my own journey to remembering my magic, this collection of guidebooks helps you tap back into your inner knowing so that you can start living a life that lights you up. Encouraging you to take you own moment to pause and take aligned action for yourself. When you know, you grow and when you grow, you glow.
Invest in yourself and start your growth journey today.
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Stephanie Rose is a mom, wife, business owner and a forever student in finding ways to know herself better. She acts as guide for your own journey, sharing insights, tools and practices to help you remember your magic and live a life that lights you up. Sign up for her newsletter and check out her free resources.
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