The Pause Between: Finding Stillness at Year’s End
As the year draws to a close, there’s often a rush to finish things — to tick off lists, prepare for the holidays, or make plans for the new year. The energy can feel fast and full, even as nature itself is inviting us to do the opposite: to slow down, to soften, to rest.
In yoga, we learn that pauses are not empty spaces to rush through — they are sacred. There’s the pause between the inhale and the exhale, between one movement and the next, between thoughts. Within that stillness, something powerful happens. We reconnect to ourselves. We remember that we are not defined by what we do, but by our presence in the doing.
This December, my yoga theme is “The Pause Between” — an invitation to embrace stillness and honour the quiet moments that help us reset.
The Power of the Pause
Think of the breath. After each inhale, there’s a subtle, natural pause — a moment of fullness before the exhale begins. And after each exhale, another pause — a moment of emptiness before the next breath arrives. We rarely notice these spaces, yet they are always there.
When we learn to rest in those pauses, we discover a profound calm. It’s a reminder that life doesn’t move in one constant flow — it expands and contracts, it moves and rests. Allowing ourselves to pause means allowing ourselves to be fully human.
How Yoga Teaches Stillness
Every yoga practice is filled with opportunities to pause. The moments between poses, when we notice how the body feels; the breath that carries us from one shape to another; the stillness of savasana, where we absorb the effects of all that came before.
This month, our classes will explore this idea through movement and breath — slowing transitions, finding steadiness in stillness, and reconnecting to what lies beneath the surface of doing. It’s not about stopping completely, but about moving with greater awareness.
Each week will carry a thread of this theme:
Pause to Arrive – finding your ground and settling into presence.
Pause to Breathe – discovering calm in the spaces between each breath.
Pause to Reflect – gently looking back to learn and let go.
Pause to Renew – restoring your energy through stillness and rest.
Reflection as Renewal
At the end of the year, we often focus on what’s next — resolutions, goals, new beginnings. But before moving forward, there’s value in pausing to reflect. What have you learned this year? What have you let go of? What are you grateful for?
Stillness offers clarity. When we give ourselves permission to pause, we create space for insight, creativity, and gentle renewal to emerge — naturally, without force.
Restorative Yoga: A Space to Pause
If your body and mind are craving stillness, my Restorative and Somatic Yoga evening on Friday 19th December offers the perfect opportunity to embody “The Pause Between.”
This two-hour session is designed to help you unwind deeply before the festive season — with long-held restorative poses, soft breathwork, and slow somatic movement to release tension through the shoulders, spine, and hips. It’s an invitation to truly rest and reset before the year ends.
Bring your favourite blanket, cosy socks, and an openness to doing less. Sometimes, the most nourishing thing we can do is to simply pause.
A Gentle Closing Thought
In the natural world, winter is not a time of productivity; it’s a time of rest and renewal. By embracing “The Pause Between,” we align with that same rhythm.
As we step into the final month of the year, may you find space to breathe, to reflect, and to simply be. Because it’s in the quiet moments between one thing and the next that we often find the most truth, peace, and light.
