Mind the Gap.

healthwellnessyogameditationmindfulnesshealingSelf-Improvement

Jun 11

"It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up space."
- Pema Chodron

Episode 49.

Mind the Gap. It has become an iconic phrase in London, painted in the underground of "The Tube", and announced as an automated warning at every stop; a warning to step over, and not fall prey to the chasm between the platform and the rapid transit car. A warning because, yikes, that could leave a mark at 50mph.

To my American ear, the word "mind", spoken in a British accent, does not indicate warning, but a gentle reminder. And so it is, a reminder to mind the gap. And what is "THE GAP"? My 1994-self would immediately call up the store in the mall, where every item was coveted; a purchase rendered by the cinch of the navy blue bag with white print, "THE GAP".

Now, in 2021, I am appreciating THE GAP as SPACE, an opening, a pause. MIND THE GAP. Allow for opening. Cultivate space. Embrace the silence and stillness inherent in a pause.

This is not our default pattern. This is not our cultural inclination- to MIND THE GAP. Instead, our societal norm glorifies achievement bred out of strain and strife, a go-go-go mentality, and rewards us for multitasking, keeping pace, and drowning it all out with more and more noise, chatter, and scrolling.

Our trauma-laden bodies and minds are so enveloped in the fear of sitting still with any pain, that we keep moving to keep from feeling.

The detriment of not minding the gap may not be apparent right now, but it will rear its head, either by seeping in slowly, with incremental, cumulative impact, or by taking you out in an abrupt fashion, a wrecking ball of destruction to pierce open and expose the raw cavern that is within the crack of not minding the GAP.

If we tune into the space, we can cultivate intentional opening vs. habitual constriction; deliberate responses vs. impulsive reactions; mindfulness vs. compulsiveness;  being vs. doing.

Minding the GAP is creating an opportunity to change-up our default, automatic, habitual patterns- we can only do this by shining a light on the dark, dusty corners of the room; by opening the window to let the light in; by taking a moment of stillness and silence; by allowing for a pause and being present for open space; by minding the gap.

Love and Space,
Jessica

“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen - that stillness becomes a radiance."
- Morgan Freeman

"To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment."
- Eckhart Tolle