SPACE; A Practice for Conscious Response

TL;DR – The SPACE Practice

SPACE is a simple, embodied practice for moving from reactivity into conscious response.

When agitation arises, it’s not a problem – it’s information. A signal inviting awareness back online.

SPACE creates a small but powerful pause where the nervous system can settle, perspective can return, and wiser choice becomes possible.

• S – Stop
  Pause for 5–7 seconds to interrupt automatic reaction.

• P – Perceive
  Witness thoughts, emotions, and body sensations without fixing or analyzing.

• A – Anchor
  Ground the body through breath and felt presence.

• C – Consider
  Open a listening field for insight, inquiry, or inner wisdom.

• E – Engage
  Choose an aligned response – action, restraint, or rest – from presence.

Practiced regularly, SPACE strengthens the bridge between awareness and action, helping you meet life with clarity, maturity, and conscious participation.

FULL ARTICLE from Daniela Hess

I shared the practice of SPACE in our Great Energy Qigong last week as a simple way to interrupt reactivity and give yourself conscious choice in the middle of everyday moments.

You’ll know it’s time to use SPACE whenever you feel agitation.

Agitation is not a problem – consider it your Ally! 

It’s your internal temple bell, ringing to say, Pause… come back… choose consciously.

Agitation shows up differently for each of us.

For a long time, my personal flavors of agitation were impatience, irritation, and frustration. Those were my tells. And interestingly, as I healed my physical layer – reduced inflammation, addressed deficiencies, supported my metabolism through functional medicine and optimal ranges – those textures completely changed. The body matters. Energy matters. And what we’re working with here is not abstract.

So here’s  the practice…
This is a simple, profound way of moving from unconscious reaction into conscious response.

Not once you’ve already blown up.
Not once the moment has passed.

Right when agitation appears.

S – Stop (Pause)
When you feel agitation, Stop. Pause.

Not forever.
Just long enough to interrupt momentum.
Pause for 5 - 7 seconds.

This short pause is powerful. It breaks the automatic loop and gives your nervous system a chance to settle.

When you pause for 5 - 7 seconds, you’re giving the brain just enough time to interrupt the automatic stress response. In those seconds, activity can begin to shift out of the amygdala – the part of the brain responsible for threat detection and reactivity – and back toward the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for perspective, reasoning, and choice.

That brief pause also allows the nervous system to register that there is no immediate danger, which reduces the surge of stress hormones and gives emotional activation a chance to crest and begin to move rather than escalate. 

5 - 7 seconds isn’t about calming yourself down completely – it’s about creating a small neurological window where awareness can come back online and a different response becomes possible.

This is an important moment and opportunity for you to remember: ‘I don’t actually have to react.’

P – Perceive (Witness)

Now, step back slightly and observe.

Witnessing is the moment where you step back just enough to see what’s happening without immediately getting pulled into it. You’re not trying to change your thoughts or emotions, and you’re not analyzing them. You’re simply noticing. This is what I’m thinking. This is what I’m feeling. This is what’s happening in my body right now. 

When you witness, you create a small but meaningful separation between awareness and experience. That separation is what allows intensity to soften and patterns to lose their grip. Nothing has to be fixed in this moment – being seen clearly is already a form of regulation.

Witnessing creates space. And space creates choice.

A – Anchor (w/ the Breath)

Bring your attention to your breath.
As you inhale, imagine drawing in golden-white light from a great sun above you.
Let it pour into you like thick honey or a cascading waterfall.

Feel this light move through your head, your heart, your belly, and down your legs.
Let it extend out your feet, rooting you deep into the Earth’s core.

You are standing in a Golden Column of Light.

The embodied child of the Union of Father Sky and Mother Earth.
Anchored. Present. Here.

Let the nervous system settle. Let the body feel held.

C – Consider (Contemplation, Reflection, Inquiry, or Ask)

From this anchored place, gently turn inward.
This is the space where you Open rather than push. After Witnessing and Anchoring, you’re no longer trying to ‘figure something out’ from the mind alone. You’re creating a ‘Listening Field’. 

There are a few different pathways you can enter here.

Sometimes Contemplation is what’s called for – resting with a question or situation without needing an answer. 
Sometimes Reflection naturally arises – seeing how a moment connects to patterns, values, or past experience. 

Inquiry brings a more open, flexible mind – gently questioning what you believe, what you’re assuming, or what story is running. 

And sometimes the clearest move is simply to Ask a direct ‘What’ not ‘Why’ question and then allow Wisdom to rise up to greet you in the space between your thoughts.

You might ask:

•  What’s actually happening?

•  What matters here?

•  What is the kindest response?

•  What does my growth seek here?

•  What am I being asked to learn?

•  What value wants to lead?

Stay here long enough to truly Listen as this is the place where something quieter and truer can emerge and find You.

E – Engage (Inspired Action)

Now, choose.

This is the moment where choice becomes Embodied. The word Inspired comes from the Latin ‘inspirare’ - to be breathed into by the Divine creative forces. 

When we arrive here, we’re no longer acting from habit or reaction. We’ve created enough space for something wiser to move through us. 

Because we’ve paused, witnessed, anchored, and considered, we’re now in dialogue with Life, ItSelf. Wisdom doesn’t have to be chased. It rises up to greet us in the space between our thoughts.

From this place, Action is not forced. It’s not driven by urgency, fear, or the need to control an outcome. We feel ourselves participating in a co-creative dance with and AS Life… We’re not being danced by circumstances. We ARE the dance. 

Sometimes what arises is a clear next step. Sometimes it’s restraint. Sometimes it’s rest. Sometimes it’s a quiet internal shift rather than an external move. Action and non-action are equally valid here, as long as they are chosen consciously.

This step in the sequence is where your growth and maturity lives. Not in how many years you’ve been alive, how many rotations you’ve made around the sun, but in how you meet the moments that ask something of you and the depth of awareness you bring to the moments that shape your life.

Maturity develops through awareness. Through moving from automatic, unconscious patterns into conscious creation. We choose where our attention goes. We choose how we speak. We choose whether to engage, wait, or step back. And those choices, made again and again from this grounded place, are what shape YOUR Precious Life.

Engage, in this sense, is not about ‘doing more’. It’s about aligning what you do – or don’t do – with what you most deeply Value. It’s the quiet power of acting from Presence rather than from reflex. And over time, this is how a steady, intentional, conscious, and Inspired way of living takes form.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Why This Practice Matters

This entire journey is about moving from automatic, unconscious, egoic survival strategies into conscious participation.

Reactivity is fast.
Choice requires space.

And here’s the key sequence I want you to remember:

Energy supports Awareness.

Awareness affords you Choice.

Choice creates your Precious Life.

When your body is resourced, your mind clear, and your system regulated, you can actually choose your next step instead of being run by old patterns.

How to Practice This Week

Practice SPACE when you’re not agitated. This really matters!!!

When we only try to use a practice in the heat of the moment, the nervous system is already activated and habits are already running the show. However, when you rehearse SPACE in calm moments - when you’re making tea, walking, transitioning between tasks, or noticing a mild irritation - you’re building familiarity. You’re teaching your system what this sequence feels like before you need it.

Think of it as laying down a pathway. The more often you walk it when things are easy, the more accessible it becomes when things are hard.

As you practice, get curious about your personal textures of agitation. What are the first signals that tell you you’re starting to tighten, rush, or contract? For some people it’s impatience. For others it’s irritation, self-criticism, urgency, withdrawal, or a kind of mental spinning. You don’t need to attempt to ‘fix’ these -  just simply recognize them.

And remember, ‘Agitation is your Ally’ - It’s information! 

It’s the signal that says, ‘this is a moment where Awareness wants to come back online.’

And remember – those signals can change over time. As the physical body becomes more resourced, inflammation reduces, and the nervous system stabilizes, the flavor of agitation often shifts. What used to set you off may soften. What once felt overwhelming may become workable, increasing your capacity to stay present and choose consciousl

Practice SPACE gently this week. You won’t catch every moment, and you don’t need to do every step every time. Some moments will pass you by, and others will invite you in. Each time you practice, even briefly, you’re strengthening the bridge between awareness and action.

With UnReasonable Love 

🙋🏻‍♀️xoDaniela

PS: If you’re enjoying this way of learning - the combination of body-based practice, inquiry, nervous system awareness, and the application of conscious living in real life - this is exactly the kind of work I contribute inside the Great Energy Qigong Training, which begins in February.

• Christopher teaches the Qigong practices alongside Robin and Rebecca.

• We teach Traditional Chinese Medicine.

• And I teach the application of Conscious, Inspired Living - how we work with our energy ‘off the mat’, inside the Living Curriculum of our actual lives.

You can learn more about Great Energy Qigong Certification teacher training here