Learning to breathe into the quiet moments

Breathing in between the gluggle jugs and jumpers: lessons from the shopfloor on leaning into a slower pace.

Photo by yucar studios on Unsplash

Greetings from Ilkley where I’m writing this sitting in bed with a morning cup of tea, curtains still drawn masking the still black sky and hints of sleet and snow forecast for later. I’ll give my Vitamin D a much-needed boost later and do a shift at my other job in Oliver Bonas where the sale rails have made way for sherbet-like Spring colours that do not match the sky outside.

From pink knitted cardigans edged in orange, and this turquoise jumper that’s been flying off the shelf to this cafetiere and these espresso mugs in sunburst ombre shades called ‘Tresillo’ which according to Wikipedia is a Latin American rhythm.

All very peppy and perky and the perfect antidote to the murky sky outside.

Baby it's cold outside...but it's warm in here

The intensity of those Christmas, Twixmas and New Year shifts I wrote about last year has given way to a gentler rhythm, but I have been told there might be a pre-Valentine’s Day rush for cards and jewellery and to be ready for blank faces responding to gentle enquiries of ‘Does she prefer silver or gold?’.

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Embracing a slower pace

I think the biggest challenge in these early 2024 shifts (other than taking a photo I’m happy to wear on my new lanyard) has been this slower pace.

The fast pace and intensity of Christmas was my normal and when January hit things inevitably slowed down. Customers were back to work and fed up with the persistent gale force winds and torrential downpours. Bored of wrestling themselves into waterproof coats and shoes, shoulders perma-hunched and heads dropped to withstand the wind.

Shopping weather it ain’t and those that were brave enough to venture out weren’t always in the mood for a chat.

I noticed how I’d fidget in the quiet moments, rock backwards and forwards from the balls of my feet to my heels. I’d do laps of the store righting photo frames, twitching jumpers on hangers that I’d lined up on my previous lap.

There were classic water cooler conversations about what to watch. Everything from Band of Brothers to Vigil and Mr Bates vs the Post Office. But I’d struggle to switch from conversations about the episode of The Great Pottery Throwdown where the contestants made gluggle jugs and how I was sure that our gluggle jugs appeared in the background, back to serving mode. My mind would often go blank when faced with the till.

But I do delight in saying the word gluggle and I defy you to say it and not smile too.

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It took a few shifts to work out that while this quieter, slower pace wasn’t exactly normal, it wasn’t not normal. I just had to lean into it and remember to pause and breathe.

I’ll add here that I do two four-hour shifts a week which means I often miss things like unpacking big stock deliveries and I’m often not around for the big merchandising switcheroos. My focus is always on the customer, covering the lunchtime shift and handling the restock where we bring up products from the stockroom to replace stock we’ve sold.

It has given me time to start getting to know my colleagues though, and them me. We’ve had chats about my writing and their studies. A couple of them are students so we talk about how and where we get the work done. I introduce them to Writers Hour. We talk accountability and the merits of studying in cafes, where the best local co-working spaces are and how we love our local library.

We share stories about our families, my children who are closer in age to many of my colleagues than they are me. I’m asked, ‘Would you ever move back down south?’ to which I answer, ‘I’m not sure, but I do love the Northumberland coast.’

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It’s ok to relax into the slow moments

I’m reprogramming my brain and body to relax in these slower moments, to allow myself to stand and just be. The shop can change a lot in between shifts and this slower pace gives me a chance to discover the new lines and rediscover existing products given a new perch, in between wiping finger marks off the glass jewellery cabinets and dust from plant pots released from the dungeon.

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Cool head, warm heart

Without going too deep about all of this, what I’ve noticed is that my tendency to want to be seen to be doing something, that ‘look at me and what I’ve done, I’m busy busy’ to prove my usefulness and value is so very deeply ingrained.

I’m learning though that it’s ok, that it is in fact sometimes part of this job, to simply be there, ready to smile a hello. You’re not exactly doing nothing, because you’re always ‘on’ but taking a moment, standing still is ok.

I also have a habit of responding overly quickly to requests and questions, often with a speed and urgency that isn’t warranted and that’s when I make mistakes. I rush, charge at things, forgetting that no one’s timing me on how long it takes me to run down the stairs to retrieve a Click and Collect parcel.

Cool head, warm heart is our mantra.

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And don’t forget to breathe

I guess it’s a bit like those moments mid-warrior pose in yoga, the hundreds in pilates or squats in any exercise class when the instructor helpfully calls out, ‘Don’t forget to breathe’ and the whole class groans, because what the heck? You want me to breathe as well as co-ordinate my limbs and button in my abs.

Well, yes. Learning to pause and breathe is so bloody helpful but it’s something that I think a lot of us need reminding to do. It’s why I turn to Suzy Reading and her book ‘Rest to reset’ for simple guidance and practical exercises you can do anywhere.

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Thank you

I’ll sign off with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reads my words, whether you’ve just found me on Substack or you’ve been receiving my sporadic emails from the beginning in those heady pre-Substack days.

I’m incredibly grateful for every subscribe, like and comment and particularly enjoyed the piano conversations on the back of my last post and hope that it has nudged a few more people to play again.

Thanks for reading! Til next time, Harriet

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Finding my own meandering writing path

Thoughts from the shop floor (pt.1)

Layers of loveliness

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