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[the pause...]
[the pause...]
Is an invitation
For us all to take a breath together
To collectively fall silent and become aware of the moment we’re in.
We don’t know how this will turn out, how could we?
And here we are, bodies and souls, placards and pigeons, tarmac and the deep soil below.
The world witnessing itself
And out of the pause… Let’s see!
How do we open to the other/wise in these times of crisis? When we have no single spiritual or soul tradition to lean in to together, what helps us plug in to mystery? With roots in different traditions and improvisational practices, [the pause…] emerged during the launch of Extinction Rebellion as an experiment in participatory prayer /performance. It’s an invitation to breath, to bear witness, to listen for what’s wanting to emerge: grief, mischief, the more than human world. . .
[the pause… in practice]
PRINCIPLES
The pause is a very human practice made necessary by the failings of modernism, colonialism and capitalism, however it is a practice that at it’s best is pointing to the decentering of the human mind and the human creature, with the possibility of coming home as part of the web of life, as consciousness.
[the pause…] is an idea, an approach and a collection of practices.
We are in a time where the multiple traumas of our personal and collective past are coming to the surface whilst at the same time we are facing unprecedented issues across ecosystems and society. We have never before had so much information to have to process emotionally, physiologically and cognitively. There is an urgency and yet the most important thing we need is to slow down enough to tend to our fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses to be able to meet these troubling times from a place of more resilience, heart and understanding of the orientations that got us here in the first place.
[the pause in practice…] is a training and participatory research endeavour tailored to your particular context and needs. It aims to cultivate more creative, inclusive and holistic practice and support you to respond well to the times we’re in.
If you are interested in inviting [the pause…] into your environment read more about my consultancy work.
a work in progress film by Emilio Mula
WARNING: includes an image of historic racial violence
[the pause…] @ EXTINCTION REBELLION 2018
What if we make ourselves available for something new to emerge?
[the pause…] is a project rooted in feminine principles of receptivity and rest, in politics and possibilities of decolonial thinking, the emptiness of mystic traditions and the vitality of embodiment and play. It began in 2018 on the edges of Extinction Rebellion and speaks to the reciprocity between inner and outer awareness, reflection and action, reverence and irreverence.
At its simplest, the pause is about the power of ‘just taking a moment’ - for ourselves, as a group, in a process. When cultivated as a shared attitude and skill, we can sit with the unknown, with awkwardness. Quieter voices are heard, our jangled nervous systems are soothed and more understanding, mutuality and emergence become possible. It builds resilience in relationships as we meet the trouble. It has more power than we can imagine, and is more challenging than we might assume. And that’s just the beginning…
On Saturday 17th November at some of the Extinction Rebellion sites we will be inviting [the pause…].
A simple structure to enable moments of pausing together within the mass actions
Part performance art, part ritual, part ordinary moment. In the midst of thousands of people.
How it works:
There will be a ‘pause posse’ at some of the sites, holding this sense of receptivity, witness and curiosity most of the time. Now and again, one of the pause makers will ring a bell. This is our invitation to pause together. Other ‘pause makers’ will be spread out in the crowd and will ring their bells to carry the invitation - like a mic check or a murmuration.
If you’re up for it - everyone pauses. Conversation, activity, movement stops. For a good while (even 10 seconds once the pause has spread can have a big impact! We arrive together in to THIS moment, bearing witness to this, to us and others, to the field. We remember why we are here and let our curiosity get involved…
And then, naturally, something will begin or continue: conversation, activity, more stillness.
This is an experiment.
It’s a radical act to slow down, make space, rest back into the silence in the midst of action.
This invitation to receptivity, stillness and awareness is disruptive to our normal modes of being. The ones that got us into the mess we’re in.
To practice this together - in the midst of action - is a call to the wild, the liminal, the other-wise
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
— Arundhati Roy
In November 2018, as part of one of Extinction Rebellion’s first protests, I brought [the pause…] as experimental, participatory direct action. What follows is from the flyer I released at the time:
