Q: Why do you use “pause”? Ruth Murray use to say that it’s not a “pause”, it’s a “STOP”.
A: Yes. So did Margaret Goldie!
Personally, I use “pause” in my teaching because although, like “STOP”, it creates a gap between stimulus and response…
It also implies that something has already been set in motion by your INTENT to move, but you're making the conscious choice not to act on it immediately.
Then, if you do some Constructive Thinking (directing), your nervous system has the chance to reorganize itself according to your intrinsic, efficient "animal" movement savvy…
Instead of you being directed and controlled by your personal, inefficient "human" habitual response.
SO…
If the word “STOP” is a PERIOD, then “pause” is a kind of a COMMA that indicates a process has begun, but is being consciously moderated.
To me, “Pause” doesn’t feel quite as final as STOP, so it tends to keep people from getting STUCK when they’re Inhibiting.
Pause vs. STOP
So did Marjorie Barlow - they used to say if for example you put a video on Pause, when you restart the video it just continues where it left off. But if you stop the video you can then have choices - to go back to the beginning or continue or do something else.