The Scripture ~ “People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, steady on their feet because they keep at it and don’t quit.” Isaiah 26:3 The Message
The Spiritual Focus ~ “Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God.” Arvo Part
The Devotion ~ Imagine a day like any other day. All the stars seem to be aligned, everybody is doing what they promised and every plan is unfolding just as you had hoped, and then the world turns. Not a crisis of life or death but one distraction after another that causes you to wonder what is going on! You wonder if you can handle one more situation, solve one more problem.
Our human instinct is to act quickly, make a decision, even react to quickly because we want things to return to the previous state of homeostasis or balance. While that may be our instinct, a practice that is more helpful is the practice of pausing. Hitting the pause button on our thoughts, seek silence and reflect before acting.
In the book of Isaiah and throughout the psalms there is story after story of challenging situations the people faced. They were reminded repeatedly in scripture that God is their refuge and shield. After each proclamation was the word selah. There is some discussion about what the word means. Some believe selah indicated a musical pause, in a narrative story. Others believe selah signified a place for one to pause, reflect and consider God’s promised presence before acting.
Pausing and reflecting is one of the most difficult practices in a generation cultured toward immediacy. We tend to value quick, decisive, action. Interestingly, when we are able to pause, reflect and trust God’s promised presence we see different paths through our situations.
The practice of hitting the pause button is a practice of stopping, connecting with our breath, being silent in the moment and realizing, now isn’t forever. The breath calms our reactive system, we are steadied on our feet, balanced, returned to wholeness. From small distractions to major crisis, pausing, reflecting and remembering God’s promised protection is a faith and Yogadevotion practice that serves us daily as we live off our mats and into the world.
Breath Prayer
Inhale ~ Se
Exhale ~ lah
Copyright © 2016 – Cindy Senarighi, Yogadevotion, LLC
