LIVING !

Mindful Living, One Small Pause at a Time

This morning, I didn’t touch my phone until after my first cup of tea.

It wasn’t planned. I just stood there in the kitchen, watching the steam curl up from the kettle, the soft clink of the cup settling in its saucer. Something in that quiet moment told me not to rush, not to scroll.

And just like that, my day began with presence instead of pressure.

I’ve read a hundred articles about mindfulness—breathe in, breathe out, meditate for 20 minutes, light a candle, chant something ancient. But this? This was just a breath and a pause. No rules, no rituals.

Later in the afternoon, while walking through a slightly chaotic street (because that’s how my city is), I found myself fixating on a bougainvillea blooming defiantly between two concrete buildings. I smiled. Maybe that was another moment. A micro-moment of noticing, of being alive to the now.

I’ve started collecting these little pauses—

—Like how I now listen to music without multitasking.
—Or how I actually chew my food instead of gulping it between emails.
—Even looking up at the clouds from the terrace has become a habit. Strange, isn’t it?

I don’t know if this makes me a 'mindful person' yet, but I do know this: I feel less lost. Less rushed. Less like I’m missing something all the time.

And in a world that’s constantly buzzing and blinking and breaking news-ing... that feels like something worth writing about.

Have you paused today?