You can do this Burst for free in the Bearmore app. It walks you through each activity, step by step. Pick a time and we'll get it ready for you.
Breath work
Israa's permission-to-pause work names conscious breathing as the body's most immediate off-the-clock signal. Ten minutes of slow nasal breath with longer exhales. This kind of breathing relaxes your body and your mind comes along with it.
This works well because a calm, open state can help you listen more deeply and feel music more emotionally.
Listening to music (mindful)
Israa writes about using listening to music as sensory input that starts to let you know you’re off the clock. Fifteen minutes with music you enjoy, it’s not a productivity playlist. Sitting, listening and relaxing, not doing anything else.
This is one of the stronger pairings because music brings up specific emotions and memories that give self-guided inquiry concrete starting points to explore.
Self-guided inquiry
Israa's work names the things we do that keep us busy but never satisfied. Tonight's prompt: what am I holding on to that isn't mine? Sit with it before responding. It’s not forced problem-solving that’s required, more like observing and writing.
This works well because reading mindfully gives any reflections a quieter space to keep settling.
Reading (mindful)
Twenty minutes with a book that has no work value attached to it. Israa's argument is that rest worth having is the kind that doesn’t pretend to be productive. Fiction, poetry, a novel from years ago, the older the better.