Growing up, I was often told I was “too sensitive.” But when you think about it… what exactly does it mean to be too sensitive? And why do we tell other people what sensitivity level they are, when we aren’t the ones experiencing the sensation or feeling inside their body?

As kids, I think we spend so much time learning how to exist in the outside world. We learn the rules, expectations, and how to behave around other people. Those things matter, but I also wonder what would happen if we spent just as much time helping children understand their inner world. Not by telling them what they’re feeling…But by helping them discover it for themselves.

Because every emotion has something to teach us, and emotions aren’t a problem to be solved. They’re part of the ongoing conversation and relationship we have with our own body and mind. So what if we gave ourselves, and our kids, a little more space to get curious about how something actually feels inside our body?

Maybe that’s why I love the pause so much. Not because it gives us the answer, but because it gives us a chance to notice what’s happening inside ourselves before we decide what to do or say next. We can’t always choose what we feel. But we can learn to build a relationship with those feelings…staying curious about why they might be showing up, while also staying kind to ourselves as we continue learning from them.

Pause. Feel. Then choose our way.