Practicing the Pause: Failing, Learning, and Committing to the 59th Minute

I have to be honest today: I slack off a lot in my practice. Even after ten months of doing the 59th minute practice, I fail about 50% of the time. My alarms go off, and I ignore them, swipe them away, or just can’t shift my attention.

It’s not laziness. It’s not a lack of belief. I believe in this practice. I see the power in it. I know the benefits. And yet — often, it feels excruciating to pause. To slow down. To redirect my thoughts to something outside of what I’m focused on. Sometimes I’m in the middle of a movie, a task, a thought, a conversation — and that alert goes off. My mind bristles. My body tenses. I feel irritation. I want to keep moving, keep doing, keep thinking.

And yet — there are moments, just as often, where I do pause. I soften my gaze. I breathe. I let my mind shift. I create a visualization. I honor the 90 seconds. And when I do, I’m proud of myself.

This practice has shown me something profound: most people don’t pause enough. I notice it in those around me — the people who never stop, never slow down, always rushing, always thinking, always doing. Their minds never settle. They make mistakes. They get frustrated. They never experience this quiet alignment, this microburst into the state akin to sleep, this intentional redirection of thought toward something better.

My failure rate doesn’t mean the practice isn’t working. Quite the opposite. It means I’m learning. Each time I falter, each time I skip a pause, each time I swipe away the alert in irritation — I notice it. I remember it. And I come back.

I will not give up on myself. I will not give up on this practice. Even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it irritates me, I show up. Ten months in, I can see the change. I can feel the subtle shifts in my mind, in my heart, in how I respond to the world. The pause is growing in me. The awareness is growing in me. And the intention to co-create a better life, a better world, grows stronger with every imperfect attempt.

So yes, I fail. Yes, I slack off. Yes, I feel irritation and resistance. But I am committed. I am practicing. I am learning. And I am showing up — for myself, for this practice, and for the collective heartbeat of the 59th minute around the world.

Even failing, I am moving forward. Even failing, I am practicing. And that, I realize, is the point.

★★★★★

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