Reflection
Creating Space to Think
What the mind and body can tell us when we pause
By Helen Gormley · 16 September 2026 · 4 min read
Found on the street: a little space to pause and notice.
But space is not empty. It is where we begin to notice.
Space can feel uncomfortable.
When a diary opens up, a meeting ends early or a conversation pauses, many of us rush to fill the gap. We reach for a screen, start another task or look for the next thing that needs attention.
But space is not empty. It is where we begin to notice.
Without space, we can keep functioning while losing contact with what our mind and body are trying to tell us.
Thinking does not happen only in the head
I have long been interested in mind and body integration. Thomas Hanna used the word soma to describe the living body experienced from within. This shifts our attention from how the body looks to what it feels like to inhabit it.
The body often registers an experience before we have found the words for it. A tightened jaw, shallow breathing, restlessness or a sudden loss of energy may tell us that something needs attention.
This does not mean every sensation contains an answer. It means the body is part of the information available to us.
Science writer Annie Murphy Paul makes a related argument in The Extended Mind. Thinking draws on resources beyond the brain, including our bodies, physical surroundings and relationships. Where and how we think can change what becomes available to us.
Space gives us choice
A pause creates a small gap between experience and response. In that gap, we may notice that we are tired rather than unmotivated, uncertain rather than incapable, or overloaded rather than failing.
We may recognise that a decision needs more time, a boundary needs to be named or a conversation needs to happen.
Space does not remove difficulty. It helps us meet difficulty with more awareness and choice.
A ME WE US view
Space is both personal and collective.
ME
Do I have moments without input? Can I notice what is happening in my body, energy and attention before I move to the next task?
WE
Do our conversations allow time to think? Can silence exist without someone rushing to fill it? Do we listen for understanding or prepare our reply?
US
Does the organisation protect thinking time, or treat every gap as spare capacity? Do our meetings, technology and expectations create room for reflection and sound judgement?
When every space is filled, people have less opportunity to process, connect ideas and choose their response. Creating space is therefore part of how we support human capability.
Movement can create a different kind of space
During a period when work, home and family life had blurred together, I found myself dancing in the kitchen with my daughter.
Dancing changed the quality of the moment. I could stay in one place or move across the room. I could change direction, rhythm, level and pace. My body reminded me that there was more than one way to move.
That insight reaches beyond dance. When thinking becomes stuck, movement can help us experience possibility again. A walk, a stretch or a change of environment can interrupt the loop and give an idea room to emerge.
Four ways to create space
- 1.Begin the day with ten minutes before taking in messages or news.
- 2.Pause after a demanding conversation and notice what remains in your body.
- 3.Take one question for a walk rather than trying to solve it at your desk.
- 4.Leave a few quiet minutes in meetings before an important decision.
What might you notice
Creating space is not withdrawing from life. It is making room to meet life more fully.
In that space, we can reflect, restore, reconnect and decide what deserves our energy. We may hear our own voice more clearly. We may notice another person more completely. We may discover that the next step is different from the one we were about to take.
“The space we create is where the mind and body can reconnect, and where new choices become possible.”