I would like to start this post by asking you to do something very simple. Please sit comfortably (or lay down if possible) and close your eyes, focusing on nothing else than your breath. Observe it, don’t try to breathe faster or slower; just let the breathing happen naturally….
What do you observe?
I observed that after I’ve exhaled, there was a very short break where the breathing stopped, and then my body began to inhale again. Very simple, but it made me aware of one central acknowledgement. Please try to observe your breathing again, but this time you must control your breathing in a sense that you must inhale immediately after you’ve exhaled. Try it for a couple of minutes and then observe the feeling in your body. What do you feel?
I can tell you how I felt. I felt peace and calm when I let the breathing happen naturally. I felt tense, out of breath, nervous when I forced my body to inhale immediately with no break after I’ve exhaled. To breathe is one of the most natural things in this earth, and even with that action there is a moment where everything seems to stand still. A small break can have such an importance for your health and if you neglect it, your body will get out of the balance instantly. So what is the role of a small break?
At almost any ordinary workplaces, to take a conscious break is not something that your manager would encourage you to do. If you look at any kind of management that the business sector operates with at the moment, most of them are about how to get things done more productively and efficiently (which can mean in some cases “don’t take too long break over the coffee machine”). Within innovation management, some companies have begun to acknowledge that when their employees take small breaks e.g. over a coffee machine, it can be the moments where the sharing of most valuable knowledge and experiences take place. It’s where the sharing happens naturally and not being “forced” to happen in meetings etc. Thereby knowledge sharing in the breaks can be a very useful source to generate new ideas that at a later stage, can lead to breakthrough innovation. Hence, informal knowledge sharing plays a very important role in every organization but most of the times, it is not something that captures the attention of the management team. We can argue that since a break is a naturally thing, we don’t need to manage it. Managers don’t need to encourage or “approve” it (so that you won’t feel guilty when you have taken a long break to talk with a colleague over the coffee machine). So what is this post about?
By taking the exercise above I suddenly acknowledged another aspect of taking a break! It’s not only about taking a coffee break, lunch break, weekend break, vacation etc. but it’s also about having a break within those breaks where you can be still and empty with no thought in your head! Just a simple presence in your body, with an intense observance of what’s inside and outside you. That’s the kind of break your body is taking when it’s breathing! I realized that it’s needed for us to be aware of it, nurturing it in order to be in balance. Live in balance. And we need to nurture it in very aspect of our living; at work, at home, on the street etc.
I hope that next time when you take a break over a cup of coffee, you will remember to come back to thia small break in your breathing- be one with it. And you may be surprise how easier it will be for ideas, solutions for your work or just peace to come to you through this small break! Very simple but profound- like our breath!
