Pacing: Discover What Is Important and What Is Not
I remember a time where I was exploring pacing, by only doing one activity at a time, and doing it slowly.
This was an interesting experience, as I noticed that my nervous system started to calm down as I was moving from my so often ‘achiever’ mode to a more relaxed state of being, where I felt generally more compassionate and gentle. However, there is definitely more to pacing.
Pacing, allows you to be more in tune with our system. We all have a window of tolerance, a certain capacity of doing and interacting, within which we can feel and remain relatively ok. However, the moment you cross it’s boundaries, you can start to notice more physical symptoms, more emotional distress, and a drop in your energy levels. Pacing allows you to pick up these very first signals from the body, like tension, superficial breathing or brain fog, and to act on them by pausing or changing activity.
Pacing also helps you to differentiate between what is important and what is not.
Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed, but this overwhelm happens when you feel out of control, when you are running behind and are trying to keep up.
Pacing can move you to the opposite direction. Slowing down gives you the mental space to clarify what YOU want and need. From this place of clarity you can start to align yourself with your most important values, like putting your health on the first place. From this position it is much easier to say ‘no’ to others or to turn your schedule around.
So pacing allows you to be more aligned with yourself. It helps you to pick up the signals from your window of tolerance and to act on them, which is ultimately really an act of self-love.
