Slow Down to Speed Up

© Martha Wooding-Young, The Resilient Executive, LLC. Walking labyrinth at the Serra Retreat Center, Malibu, CA.

Are you always moving forward, pressing on, pressed for time, trying to finish one thing so you can move on to the next? In our progress-oriented culture, we tend to live in the gap between where we are and where we think we ought to be. Funny thing is that where we think we ought to be is usually a fast-moving goal post we never reach. I encourage my clients to make time for a daily pause practice, to gather themselves, to recenter, to find their breath, to return to embodied presence. For those who want to take it a step further, I encourage retreat, either for a weekend or a week. As you read this, I am on silent retreat for a week in our log cabin at Heartwood Farm. I spend my days meditating, and in the breaks, I weed with great attention, and gently walk the fields and woods feeling each step, smelling each aroma, hearing each bird call. 

When I coached middle-school girls lacrosse, and the girls were all crowding around the cage on offense, I would call out to them, “POOP!” This had two immediate effects. All the girls on the bench would giggle … and the girls on the field would magically respond by taking two big steps back to reset the play. The acronym stands for Pull Out Of Pressure. This is as valid for leaders at all levels as it was for middle-school lacrosse. When you step back, go quiet, take time for contemplation, the world slows down with you, and you can see more, hear more, make more connections. Want to talk about how to plan and structure your own sacred pause practice or retreat to infuse your subsequent progress with renewed insight and energy? Reach out.