Pause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Times of Change
Restoring your body, mind, and spirit amid change is an act of courage, empowerment, and hope. This warm, powerful guide will help you honor the changes and spaces in your life with purposeful rest and reflection.
Listen to a sample from Pause, Rest, Be
(Audio book available now | Listen on Soundcloud
If you’re trying to push your way through endings, beginnings, and places of uncertainty, only to find yourself more confused, disconnected, tired, and uncertain, this book will hold and fortify you.
Yoga teacher and activist Octavia Raheem offers us the motivation and guidance we need to restore ourselves in the midst of all sorts of change. Change in our lives—whether it be welcome, joyful, challenging, or more subtle—presents us with the opportunity to pause and gather our energy to work with whatever lies ahead.
Drawing wisdom from yoga philosophy and her many years of teaching experience, Raheem offers us the motivation and guidance we need to restore ourselves in the midst of all types of change. She gives us three simple restorative yoga poses (savasana, side lying pose, and child’s pose), and offers short teachings, reflections, and practices to see us through times of ending, beginning, and liminal/transitional space. She shows us how slowing down, stillness, and deeper connection to our own transitions empower us to move through collective shifts with more grace—and what it means to navigate shifts and change with presence and courage.
“Octavia Raheem has the authentic, searing voice of a teacher who is intimate with the mercurial nature of transformation. Pause, Rest, Be contains powerful stories, expertly guided restorative postures, and anchors for self-study and reflection. Radical, meaningful, and practical medicine for a volatile, rapidly changing world.”
— Bo Forbes, Psy.D., E-RYT, C-IAYT author of Yoga for Emotional Balance
Octavia Raheem is a wife, mother, author, highly sought after rest coach, experienced yoga teacher, and activist.
She is the founder of Devoted to Rest™ a transformational rest focused mastermind for visionary leaders committed to making profound impact in their fields and NOT burning out while doing it. She teaches high achieving women how to awaken their fullest potential through the power of rest. With 10,000+ hours of training and teaching experience, she is a true luminary in the areas of rest, restorative arts, wellness, and yoga. Octavia has been featured in Yoga Journal, Well + Good, Tricycle, and more.
As seen in
Upcoming Events
May 3-5, 2024
Rest Revelations : A Rest & Write Retreat
All inclusive rest & write retreat led by Octavia F. Raheem
At Elohee Retreat Center, North Georgia USA
Beyond Pause, Rest, Be with Octavia Raheem
Devoted to Rest™ Mastermind
Begins January 10, 2025
Online immersions, in person retreat, 1:1 rest coaching | Details here
Praise for Pause, Rest, Be
“This book is a prayer that invites us all to be still enough to notice that each transition is a portal to healing, remembering, and knowing. Octavia weaves practices and sacred wisdom in practical ways that honor where we are at any given moment on our journey.”
— Tracee Stanley, Best-selling author Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity, Founder Empowered Life Circle
"A sacred call inward—home to yourself. Pause, Rest, Be is a poetic prayer of real-life wisdom, and the depth of stillness is felt on the page. Octavia's words are a soothing invitation for us to courageously do what most of us fiercely resist: slowing down, letting go, and listening. Whether you are mourning the loss of an old life, in the midst of vast uncertainty, or beginning a new chapter, this book will support you to soften, feel, rest, and move closer to the truth of who you are."
— Shannon Algeo, author of Trust Your Truth: Heal Self-Doubt, Awaken to Your Soul's Purpose, and Live Your Badass Life
“Place this book on your nightstand, or alter. But where ever you place it, keep it close at hand. It is a banquet, a feast for the soul. Turn to any page and be fed by the wisdom of the ages. Inspired and inspiring, this is a brilliant offering from Octavia Raheem.”
— Gail Parker, Ph.D., CIAYT – Psychologist and author of Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma, and Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Trauma with Yoga. President of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance.
“Part practice, part poetry, this book will feed your soul. Octavia is a magnificent voice of truth. In a sea of overachievement, Octavia reminds us that rest is just as powerful as action, and that through rest, we can align to an even greater sense truth.”
— Justin Michael Williams, Author, Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide for the Rest of Us
"It's not an exaggeration to say that Pause, Rest, Be is life changing. Like a restorative backward bend, our heart opens and heals with the support of Octavia Raheem's words. This book is like a song, and could be called "Octavia's Gita." How lucky we are to hear her siren song, drawing us back to the truth of our essential self."
— Jivana Heyman
Pause, Rest, Be is now available!
Officially #1 in Mental & Spiritual Healing on Amazon!