A Sacred Pause Before What’s Next
Last week, I had my first Nordic skiing experience. And before you ask — yes, cold, snow, and wearing a lot of layers is not usually me! But, for my miel, I made an exception.
What I thought Nordic skiing was (a gentle cross-country glide) versus what it actually is confirmed one thing: I’ll gladly stick to tubing and snowshoeing. :)
During one of my many falls — and yes, I stayed and completed the entire lesson — I decided to lay on the snow a little longer than necessary.
There, on the ground, I had a quiet conversation with God. I shared gratitude for this humbling experience, especially as a dancer and lifelong athlete. Looking up at the trees against the blue winter sky, I thought about the Indigenous people who walked this land long before me. Then my thoughts moved to the Black Indigenous histories across the Delta regions — Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee — to Afro-Seminoles and the Mardi Gras Indians, and to the lesser-told stories of Black frontiers and Black Eskimos in the Pacific Northwest.
As I continued resting on the snow, I wondered: Did they ever lie on the ground like this too? Taking a breath. A pause. A moment of stillness between survival and movement.
That moment on the snow became something deeper — a reminder of the power of pause.
After eight years in business, and reaching many of the goals I set over the last five, I’m approaching year nine this June. I can feel that creating intentional space as I enter my 40s is not optional — it’s required of me. There is always power in pausing. Stillness makes room for newness to enter: new energy, deeper presence, and transformative healing.
As I step back from branding and marketing for a bit, the words from Octavia F. Raheem’s book Pause, Rest, Be resonate deeply:
“Please stop spinning.
Please stop scrambling to be productive in the ways that mattered yesterday. Honor the lessons of yesterday and let everything else about that recent, yet distant past fall away. Something is happening now that demands us to be present for it.”
And so, I pause.
To listen.
To heal.
To become present for what is unfolding now.
Love, Tiana M. Duncan
Stay in Touch with Us
While we enter this season of pause and intentional stillness, please remember that you can still stay connected with us. Our movement videos remain available on YouTube and Instagram — gentle spaces to return to your body, your breath, and your own rhythm whenever you need grounding, presence, or renewal during this time.
