At Avoke, our instructors talk a lot about The Gap. But what does this mean exactly?
Simply stated, The Gap is the moment of choice before you respond or react to any given person or situation. It is a pause, in which there is a space for choice––for you to decide what’s next.
In life, every moment contains a stimulus. A noise from the next room. A headline you read on your phone. A car that cuts you off on the road. However these stimuli can also come internally from your thoughts. Perhaps these are thoughts you are having about a recent argument you had with your roommate, or thoughts about why you weren’t chosen for that promotion. These thoughts are internal stimuli to our consciousness. Our thoughts evoke emotion and in turn, our actions.
Often, we’re ‘triggered’ in these moments, meaning we feel a negative emotion: fear, anger, hurt, judgment. When we’re on auto-pilot, we react to the negative emotion in an unconscious way (yell, speed up, pout, numb out, reach for the ice cream carton).
But when you notice The Gap, you have a better chance of responding creatively to the stimulus, rather than reacting. There is a moment following every type of stimulus in which you have a choice. Will you react as you usually do out of habit, or will you choose a different response, a more positive one that perhaps better aligns with your intention of how you want to live your life?
Take responsibility to stay present and choose how to respond.
We like to say, “just Gap it!” This is a cue to encourage you to use the moment to take a breath and choose actively and choose differently. The Gap is a space that allows us the freedom to create the life we want.