This column, Fitness Corner — and my entire career in the fitness industry — has been all about taking action. In fact, my entire life has revolved around taking action.

Work toward something. Push forward no matter what. Get good grades. Grind it out. Create a foundation. Layer habits. Prove yourself. Build, build, build. Network. Communicate. Active recovery. Reach out. Track sleep, calories, energy levels, moods. Practice. Post on social, check email, text, like, follow, follow back. Exercise more. Eat more protein. Write daily. Get it done. Always keep moving. Never stop, never ever or . . . .

Or what?

The analyzing, the striving, the self-criticism, the “it’s not good enough,” the relentless thinking! I don’t think I have ever stopped moving physically, mentally or emotionally in my whole life.

As Dr Phil would say, how’s that working for you?

Exactly.

I wouldn’t be writing on this topic if it was continuing to work for me, would I?

I think most of us know how to go, go, go, but not so much how to stop and be still, even though we’re told it would be good if we did so. Of course, constant activity, flight or fight mode, creates chronic stress, which we’re also told is not good for us. We know they’re right because we feel it.

They say the answer is to be mindful, which will help to calm our anxiety, reduce our fear around what feels like an increasingly frenetic existence, mitigate our health-damaging stress and diminish the pressure we feel to be constantly on. It sounds great, right?

I even have all the skills to practice mindfulness, thanks to my childhood when I was required to do yoga, meditation, chanting and breathing whether I wanted to or not. I have dabbled in all of those things and more in my adult life but with difficulty, given the negative connotations from my past. No, I didn’t like being forced to get up at 3:30 every morning for the young years of my life!

Yet, as self-aware as I am, and as a fitness professional whose job is to support my clients to feel better in their lives and themselves, it’s so very clear that for all of us bringing more mindfulness into our daily lives would be beneficial.

The power of taking action is undeniable and amazing. But so is the power of inaction — stopping to allow ourselves to experience exactly where we are at, just as we are, in that moment. To be mindful.

Some may be surprised to hear that becoming comfortable with inaction is exactly what I have been gently attempting to do, for a few months now. I don’t mean time on the couch in front of the TV or drinking a glass of wine to take the edge off. I mean, sitting there with myself for a set period of time every day, focusing on my own breath, just me, myself and I. I am surprised to find I actually quite like it.

I have always told myself I didn’t have time to do this, but lately I feel like I don’t have time not to. Perhaps you are feeling the same way.

As a relative beginner in this area, I’m a long way off from offering a “how-to get mindful” list beyond my favorite tested advice of “be consistent, be gentle with yourself and start small.” But if you are interested in a roadmap to more closely examine this area of your life, gift yourself this book: The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness & Neuroplasticity by Melanie Greenberg PhD.

I can’t say enough good things about this book but most importantly, it doesn’t trigger my negative connotations. It’s validating, supportive and practical and it is written in such a way that it makes me want to do all of what it recommends and more. It gives me hope for a better relationship with myself and this brain that never stops worrying, stressing and relentlessly thinking!

I credit this book with getting me to this point and what I hope will be far beyond. I’m already feeling the benefit of the moments of inaction I am bringing into my days.

We all deserve to find peace inside the body and mind in which we live our entire lives. It is a joy to find a process that resonates for me. Taking action to attain inaction.

They say it can be done. They say it can be life changing. So far, I’m finding they aren’t wrong.

Coach Pritam Potts is a writer and strength coach. After many years of training athletes and clients of all ages as co-owner of Edmonds-based Advanced Athlete LLC, she now lives in Dallas, Texas. She writes about health & wellbeing, grief & loss, love & life at infinitecapability.substack.com and www.advancedathlete.com.