Josie Miller describes how a brief pause during a riverside walk brings her back into the body, explains how tunnel vision fuels stress, and leads a short guided practice using breath and peripheral vision to shift into calm.
Josie Miller introduces herself, her background as a holistic health coach, and the topic she will discuss: the power of pause.
Josie recounts noticing light on the river during a walk, which pulled her into the present and made her realize she had been rushing and consumed by thoughts, leading her to appreciate the restorative effect of that brief pause.
She explains how tunnel vision and busyness trigger the fight-or-flight response, prolonging stress, and introduces the idea that expanding peripheral vision can signal safety and calm the nervous system.
Josie leads the viewer through a brief guided pause: breathing, looking around, and using peripheral vision to notice body sensations and release tension to shift into a calmer state.
She offers simple moments to insert pauses (e.g., after work in your car), reminds viewers to notice their body and surroundings, and closes with well-wishes to take a pause.
Alright, hello cadre. It's Josie Miller here. I am a holistic health coach and co-founder of a beverage company called Charm Social Tonic. And I just wanted to hop on here and talk a little bit about the power of pause. And so the story behind this is I was taking a walk earlier this morning and I noticed the way that the light hits, I was by a river and I was just marveling at the way the light hit the river and it made me pause and brought me back to my body and I realized how present I was in that moment and I also realized that how consumed I was in my thoughts and that it had been a little bit since I had really paused.
And took a moment because I was rushing earlier this morning. Uh oh, looks like I'm having some connection problems. Okay, there we go. I think we fixed it. But I was rushing this morning and... me back into the moment and made me pause. It brought me back into my body and I realized, wow, I really needed this. I really just needed this simple little moment to bring me back and remind myself of what actually matters and that I'm okay and that I'm safe and like, yes, I have things to do, but They will get done at some point or another and I will get to work when I get to work and they will be done.
And truthfully, I really did not need to be thinking about everything that I had to do earlier this morning and leading up to that moment. And I also want to talk a little bit about how much of an impact that has on your nervous system as well, because when we get in a state of tunnel vision and extreme focus that turns on our fight or flight response because we're stressed, we're thinking, we're preoccupied, and our bodies aren't able to calm down when we are in that type of state. And it can be really easy to get caught up in that, get caught up in the busyness of everything and all the tasks we need to do and just checking things off the to-do list.
And all of a sudden we can find ourselves in that stress state for a prolonged period of time, maybe the whole day, maybe even longer. And it can even bleed into your next day. Like for example, with me this morning, my mind was just running and it went into my morning this morning and I realized, oh my gosh, it's time to just take a pause and relax. And there's a little bug on me. And that has a big impact on your nervous system. The act of simply just taking a moment to Bring yourself back into your body and look at what's around you.
Your eyes have a big connection with your nervous system, and when you're stressed, like I was saying, your vision gets narrowed. It's a survival instinct. But you can actually biohack your nervous system into that rest and digest state by coming back and actually expanding your vision so that you can see your peripheral. And that's a tangible little tip that you can use when you find yourself stressed is to just sit and focus on a space, a space on the wall. Or for example, I'm looking at a tree right now.
And as I'm looking, I'm looking at the tree, but then I'm also seeing what I can see in my peripheral vision. And that is a cue to your nervous system to help calm things down and that you're safe. And yeah, just like a little pause. It seems like a small thing, but it's really not. It can truly change the entire trajectory of your day. And so one thing I would like to leave you with is When was the last time that you took a pause? And maybe let's just do that right now. How about that? Let's just take a moment and pause.
Take a deep breath. Exhale out. And just look at what's around you in your environment. taking it in, allowing your peripheral vision to unlock itself, calming down your nervous system. What's around you? How does your body feel? Do you notice any tension anywhere? Imagine that tension slowly releasing, melting off your body. Feeling a little bit lighter. All right. Now gently bring yourself back. And what I'm leaving for you is what is another time in your day that you can make room to take a pause?
Maybe it's after work when you get into your car. You just take a moment and you just sit in your seat and just take a breath. Let it out. Notice your body and notice what's around you. All right. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day and remember to take a pause.
