The Sacred Pause

How slowing down became my greatest source of peace

Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash

First published on Medium

It’s funny how easy it is to get caught up in speed — in the endless doing, the striving, the measuring. For years, my days started and ended with screens. Twelve hours of staring at glowing rectangles, chasing the next deal, the next trade, the next client project.

At some point, I wasn’t working anymore — I was spinning. I was the kind of tired that no nap can fix. That was my normal.

Then life decided to make me stop.

The Breaking Point

It wasn’t just burnout that broke me open — it was a hurricane. Hurricane Helene hit our region hard, and we had to evacuate. I remember packing up the essentials, stepping outside, and feeling this eerie stillness in the air. Nature had paused everything.

That week, the storm outside mirrored the one I had been ignoring inside.

When the power went out, when the water stopped flowing, when the internet went silent, something else came online — a whisper inside me asking, 

“What if I stopped?” 

Not just physically, but deeply.

I had spent years as an investment adviser and software engineer — always chasing, optimizing, producing. My identity was tied to performance. But in that pause, I started to see how empty that chase had become.

The First Real Pause

The first real pause came in a moment of temptation during the evacuation— a friend offered me an exciting trading project, something that would’ve reignited the hustle. My reflex said yes, the people-pleaser in me said yes, but my heart whispered no.

For the first time, I listened to the whisper.

Saying no to that project wasn’t about rejecting opportunity — it was about reclaiming sanity. It was the first sacred pause I ever took.

I didn’t have a name for it then, but it was the beginning of a new rhythm — one built around meditation, reflection, and daily stillness.

Let’s Pause Together

Before I tell you the rest of the story, let’s experience what I’m talking about.

Let’s take a few minutes to pause — not as an escape, but as a return.

I invite you to gently close your eyes if you feel comfortable. Take a deep breath in… and let it go.

Feel the weight of your body on the chair. Feel the floor beneath your feet.

Now, bring to mind something or someone that naturally opens your heart. It could be a loved one, a pet, a memory, or even a sense of divine presence.

As you breathe, imagine sending a gentle wish toward them:

“May you be happy. May you be peaceful. May you be joyful. May you be free from suffering.”

Take a few breaths in that space. Feel how your heart softens, how your breath steadies.

Now, let that same kindness turn inward.

May I be happy. May I be peaceful. May I be joyful. May I be free from suffering.

Just notice the shift.

That’s the power of a pause — it’s not about stopping time; it’s about touching eternity within time.

Take one more breath.

And when you’re ready, open your eyes.

What I Discovered in That Pause

When I first started practicing this — sometimes for just three minutes a day — my life began to reorganize itself.

I realized something profound:

What’s holy to me isn’t the output. It’s the process.

It’s the morning hours when I write, heal, and create. It’s journaling through the old stories that kept me small. It’s the moments when I listen — not to the world, but to that still, quiet voice inside.

That’s where sacredness lives.

And the more I paid attention, the more I noticed something beautiful — peace doesn’t come from controlling life; it comes from being fully present for it. It comes from uncovering habituated, conditioned, non-reflected ways of being, layer by layer.

As I often remind myself, prayer is speaking to God, and meditation is listening. Why not do both? Creation, after all, is a conversation — a two-way flow.

The Antidote to Hustle

Rainn Wilson once asked in his book Soul Boom (affiliate link):

“What is holy to you personally? […] Where does sacredness live? […] What should be sacred to all of humanity?”

That question hit me like truth does — quietly but deeply.

I started asking myself every morning, 

“What is one thing that is sacred to me today?”

That one question rewired my life. It turned productivity into purpose. It made me realize that the real wealth I was seeking wasn’t financial — it was peace of mind.

Peace became my portfolio.

When I built my business around that truth, everything changed. I didn’t work less — I worked better. My energy felt sustainable. My creativity deepened. I couldn’t wait to start working each morning; I was serving from overflow.

Let’s Practice the Sacred Pause

Let’s take another few minutes together to feel what it means to make something sacred.

If you’d like, close your eyes again.

Take a few deep breaths.

Now bring to mind your day — everything that’s on your mind, all that’s waiting for you when you leave here.

And now ask yourself, quietly,

What is one thing that is sacred to me today?

Don’t overthink it. Just let the first thing that arises — a person, a value, a moment, a feeling — come forward.

Hold it in your awareness.

Breathe into it.

This is your sacred center. The place from which your best self acts and speaks.

Now, with one more deep breath, commit — even if silently — to honoring this sacred thing in some small way today.

Take your time. And when you’re ready, slowly open your eyes.

What We’ve Lost — and What We Can Reclaim

When we lose touch with what is sacred to us, we lose our peace. And peace, I’ve come to see, is the most precious wealth in the world.

Without it, we cannot serve others or ourselves in our highest way. We just spin — busy, exhausted, half-alive.

But when we pause, when we listen, everything changes. Even burnout becomes a teacher. Even emotional upheaval turns into a source of enlightenment. Even a hurricane becomes holy.

Because in the sunlight of awareness, as Thich Nhat Hanh said, everything becomes sacred.

A New Kind of Wealth

So here’s the paradox: When we stop chasing success and start cultivating stillness, success begins to find us — not as an achievement, but as alignment.

I have been building my business around that truth. I’ve been building my peace around that truth. Now I get to share it with you.

And the invitation I’ll leave you with is simple:

Pause daily. Reflect weekly. Retreat deeply.

And each time you do, ask yourself — What’s sacred to me today?

You’ll find that question alone is enough to change everything.

Closing Invitation

If this message resonated with you, I’d love for you to stay connected.

We’re building an online community called Shift Your Identity — a space for people who want to live, work, and create from peace, not pressure; who want to build a conscious life, not one shaped by adopted expectations.

You can join us online, continue exploring these and other practices, and share your reflections.

But most importantly — take this pause into your life. Protect it. Nurture it.

Because peace isn’t a luxury. It’s our birthright.

And the pause is how we come home to it.

With love and alignment,
Cristof Ensslin

The Sacred Pause: The Solopreneur’s Antidote to Burnout

How a simple question from Rainn Wilson’s “Soul Boom” helped me replace hustle with holiness and build a business that doesn’t cost me my peace.

Photo by Frank Leuderalbert on Unsplash

You know the feeling. It’s 3:17 PM on a Tuesday. Your to-do list is a tyrant, your inbox is a bottomless pit, and the glow of your screen feels more like a prison spotlight than a gateway to freedom. You’re chasing client work, algorithm updates, and revenue goals with a frantic energy that, deep down, feels hollow.

You started this journey to build a life of purpose. But somewhere along the way, the purpose got buried under the productivity. The meaning got lost in the metrics.

I (Cristof) was deep in this exact grind. As a freelance programmer, my worth was measured in billable hours and completed projects. I stacked them high, convinced that maximizing my income potential was the ultimate goal. The result? I was a husk. Stressed, burned out, and painfully disconnected. The romantic dates with my wife? A forgotten concept. Quiet moments with my cats? A luxury. My morning meditation? The first thing sacrificed on the altar of "busyness."

I had traded my inner peace for outer progress, and it was the worst bargain I’d ever made. I was doing all this work for my family, but in the process, I had become completely absent from my family. I was building a business to create freedom, but I had become a slave to it.

Then, I read a paragraph in Rainn Wilson’s book, Soul Boom (affiliate-link), that stopped me cold. It was a simple invitation—a plea, really—amidst a chapter on meaning. He asks:

“Please take five minutes to consider… What is holy to you personally? Where does sacredness live? What should be sacred to all of humanity? What is most definitely not sacred? What have we lost by not having more ‘sacredness’ in our lives?”

His hope was to spark one action: a moment of pause.

Reading that, I felt a deep resonance. I had already stepped away from the 24/7 freelance grind, but the mental habits of hustle culture were stubborn ghosts. The frantic energy, the guilt for pausing — these were my default settings. The word ‘pause’ in Rainn’s passage wasn’t a life raft from a sinking ship, but a validation for the dry land I was already standing on. It was permission to make my new reality feel not just like a break, but like a sacred, permanent shift.

So I closed the book, set my phone aside, and applied this new lens of ‘sacredness’ to the peace I was trying to build.

Here’s what I discovered in that sacred pause:

What is holy to me is not the output; it’s the process. It’s the sacred act of healing, writing, and creating between 8 AM and noon each day. It’s the time I spend journaling to untangle childhood traumas and insecurities, not just to become a better businessman, but to become a whole man. This is the foundation upon which a meaningful life—and a sustainable business—is built.

Sacredness lives as a feeling in the heart of my being. It’s not an abstract concept; it’s a tangible energy I can locate in the center of my chest. It’s the universal love and joy I can access through a momentary pause, a deep breath, a conscious re-centering. It’s my internal home base, and I had been away from home for far too long.

What should be sacred to all of us is getting out of the hustle culture. It’s making non-negotiable pauses to reflect, realign, and simplify. The endless heist for money, fame, and power is a hollow game. The true spiritual journey is the one that leads to an inner happiness independent of outside factors—the kind of success that no market crash can ever take away.

That Tuesday afternoon grind? The constant busyness devoid of meaning? That is the opposite of sacred. It’s what leads us away from our true path. But here’s the beautiful paradox I learned: that feeling of emptiness, that volcanic pressure of dissatisfaction, is also what eventually forces us onto a spiritual quest. It’s the catalyst. As Thich Nhat Hanh said,

“in the sunlight of awareness, everything becomes sacred.”

Even our burnout can become a teacher if we pay attention.

So, what have we lost by not having more sacredness in our lives? We have lost our peace. And peace is the most precious wealth in the world. For this very reason, my current LinkedIn banner states:

“There is no greater wealth in this world than peace of mind.”

See it here and connect.

Without it, we cannot serve others or ourselves in our highest possible way. We just spin on the hamster wheel, wondering why we’re so tired but getting nowhere.

Your Practical Pause: A 5-Minute Business Strategy

This isn’t woo-woo; it’s the most practical productivity hack you’ll ever adopt. Your sacred pause is your strategic advantage. It’s what prevents burnout and fuels authentic creativity.

Here’s how to start, today:

1. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Do this before you check email or social media.

2. Ask yourself just one of Rainn’s questions: “What is holy to me personally in my work or life today?” or “Where can I find a pocket of the sacred in my schedule?”

3. Listen. Not with your brain, but with that feeling in the center of your chest. The first answer that arises without ego—that’s your truth.

4. Protect it. That thing that came up? That’s your new non-negotiable. It is more important than one more email.

When I started doing this, everything changed. I didn’t work less; I worked better. My creativity became more focused, my energy more sustainable, and my connection with my clients more genuine because I was no longer running on empty. I was serving from a place of overflow.

I regained my peace. And from that place of quiet wealth, everything else flows.

What is one thing that is sacred in your work and life? Share it in the comments below. Let’s create a living library of what truly matters.

If this piece resonated with you, you’ll love our weekly Simple and Aligned newsletter. Every week, we share one simple prompt, one insight, and one actionable tip to help you stay connected to what’s sacred in your work and life, so you can build a business that feels like a calling. Join us here and get free access to our ever-expanding library of PDF-guides for more conscious living and success.

With love and alignment,
Cristof (and Sophia)

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