The Power in the Pause

There’s an unmistakable sense of safety that settles over you when you finally step back from the noise of the world—the endless to-do lists, screens, expectations, and comparisons—and remember who you really are. Not your job title. Not your roles. Just you.

“Stillness lives just beyond the noise. In the pause between breaths, we remember who we truly are.” — Soul Journey with Steve Wooten

This week, I attended a Kriya Yoga class that emphasized something profoundly simple yet often forgotten: the calm, still place within us is our rightful center. It’s not a luxury or a rare spiritual achievement—it’s a birthright. And most of us only encounter it by accident, in moments of overwhelm.

Think of that moment in the body’s freeze response during fight or flight—the instant when time stops. The world feels razor-sharp, senses heightened, breath suspended. It’s a strange clarity that evolution gave us to detect danger—to listen, smell, taste, and prepare. But what if we could reclaim that same physiological state as a spiritual practice? What if, instead of meeting it with fear and paralysis, we learned to meet it with presence, curiosity, and wonder?

Imagine beginning each day from that still point.

Imagine waking up and “readying yourself for whatever may come through that door”—not with dread, but with awe. Not to survive the day, but to receive it.

Stillness: Simple, but Not Easy

Stillness is just on the other side of everything that is not stillness. It isn’t something we create; it’s something we uncover. It’s the invisible measuring stick within us that allows us to even recognize restlessness, chaos, and tension. Without knowing stillness, we couldn’t name the noise.

And so, when we return to this inner sanctuary, we aren’t escaping life—we’re reclaiming it. Every breath we take from that place recalibrates our nervous system and reminds our soul: I am safe. I am centered. I am home.

A Simple Kriya-Inspired Breath

Let’s take a moment to reconnect to that home within.

1. Sit tall with your spine long and shoulders relaxed.

2. Close your eyes and place your awareness at the point between your eyebrows—the Kutastha, or spiritual eye. This isn’t a place of tension; it’s a place of awareness.

3. Inhale slowly through the nose for a count of 6, feeling the breath rise up from the base of your spine to the crown of your head.

4. Hold for a gentle count of 3, sensing the energy suspended in quiet readiness.

5. Exhale slowly through the nose for a count of 6, feeling the breath descend back to the base of your spine, carrying away any scattered thoughts or tension.

6. Repeat for several cycles, allowing each breath to feel like a wave moving through you—steady, cleansing, alive.

Notice what begins to happen in that space between breaths. There’s a pause—a living silence. This is your still point, your sacred center.

Now that you’ve found it, nurture it.

Let it become familiar again. You don’t need to earn it or force it; it’s already yours. As you move through your day, remember that the pause—the breath between the moments—is your anchor.

There’s immense power in the pause.

It’s where your soul whispers, “I’m right here.”

And from that still, steady place, the world no longer feels like something to survive—it becomes something to explore with wonder, reverence, and joy.