The Rest Between Notes

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been earnestly working on a dance routine for a Samba Queen/King contest—a fundraising event for Samba Fogo, a nonprofit dance company devoted to sharing Brazilian culture, music, and dance with schools across the state, as well as local festivals and community events. It’s a wonderfully supportive and inclusive community of musicians and dancers. If you ever get the chance to see them perform, I highly recommend it.

But I digress.

As I said, I’ve been working on a dance routine. Two minutes long. Set to music that everyone dances to. Each dancer creates their own choreography, infusing it with their own personality, their own flair. And yes—it’s stressful. I did this for the first time last year, and I have just about the same amount of nerves now as I did then.

Last year, my goal was simple: don’t fall down.

This year, I’ve raised the bar—more complicated footwork… and still, don’t fall down.

As everyone has been preparing, my teacher reminded us of something essential—something many dancers and musicians forget:

The space between the notes is just as important as the notes themselves.

The rests create rhythm and dynamics. Without them, there would be constant movement or sound—no texture, no phrasing, no meaning. Just noise.

The same is true for dance. Without pauses, without moments of stillness, movement becomes frantic, indistinguishable from one moment to the next. It’s the space in between that allows us to perceive, feel, and respond.

The Space In Between

This idea extends far beyond music and dance.

The pause between words when we speak.
The moment between thoughts.
The still point between the inhale and the exhale.

Each offers a glimpse into the quiet intelligence of pause.

These moments are small, fleeting, and often overlooked—but they are powerful. Over time, they add up. Standing in line at the grocery store. Waiting at a red light. Sitting in your car before turning the key. These everyday moments offer endless opportunities to notice the space that appears, again and again, in between the noise.

The truth is, we have more access to these pauses than we realize. They are ever-present reminders that no matter what is happening, there will be a break. A rest. A moment of reprieve.

Yoga Nidra, Hypnotherapy, and the Power of Rest

This is where practices like Yoga Nidra and hypnotherapy gently invite us home.

Both practices intentionally guide us into the space between—the liminal state between waking and sleeping, effort and ease, conscious thought and subconscious wisdom. In this deeply restorative state, the nervous system is given permission to rest, repair, and recalibrate.

Yoga Nidra isn’t about doing more.
Hypnotherapy isn’t about fixing yourself.

They are practices of allowing.

Allowing the mind to soften.
Allowing the body to rest.
Allowing insight, healing, and clarity to arise naturally—without force.

Just like the rests in music, these moments of stillness create coherence and meaning in our lives. They help us distinguish one moment from the next, one chapter from another. They remind us that we don’t have to fill every space with effort or noise.

Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do is pause.

An Invitation

If your life feels loud, rushed, or overfilled…
If you’re craving rest that goes deeper than sleep…
If you’re ready to explore the healing potential of the space in between…

I invite you to experience Yoga Nidra or hypnotherapy as a way of remembering what your system already knows: rest is not a luxury—it’s essential rhythm.

Just like in dance.
Just like in music.
Just like in life.