By Kimine Mayuzumi
There is nothing passive about stopping, and when you decide to go, it’s a different kind of going because you stopped.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn
A few weeks ago, I led a session called Exhale – Reset through Reflection and Practice for a group of academics transitioning out of their academic year.
I was reminded again how exhausting this season can be for many academics — trying to wrap things up while still carrying endless deadlines, responsibilities, emotions, and mental fatigue before entering “summer mode.”
In academia, many of us move quickly from one semester to the next without fully processing what we have experienced.
That is why I deeply admired the participants for carving out time to pause in the midst of their busy lives. I was also moved by how they showed up with curiosity, honesty, and openness.
If you have not yet had a chance to pause and reflect on your academic year, I encourage you to spend some time reviewing your experiences and checking in with yourself.
In this essay, I want to reiterate the importance of pause and reflection so that we can experience a more intentional and effective reset.
But before exploring reflection more deeply, it may help to ask:
What does “reset” actually mean?
What is a reset?
Reset can mean different things to different people.
For some, reset means rest and rejuvenation.
For others, it means adjusting expectations, realigning with values and goals, or beginning again with greater clarity and intention.
Whatever reset means for you, there is often an intention behind it — an intention to move forward with greater awareness, reconnect with yourself, or prepare for a new beginning with more ease and clarity during a time of transition.
A meaningful reset is rarely accidental. It often involves a deliberate mental, emotional, and behavioral shift shaped by reflection and awareness.
As we move from one season to another, many of us naturally begin asking ourselves important questions:
- What do I want more of?
- What do I want less of?
- What do I want to carry forward?
- What no longer serves me?
And because transitions can feel both demanding and disorienting, they often invite us to pause and reflect before moving forward again.
As seen at the top, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s quote speaks beautifully to this kind of intentional pause — a pause that changes the way we move into the next stage of our lives.
But the kind of reset I am describing here is not only about professional productivity or academic performance. Our BLSD principles invite a more wholehearted form of reset — one that includes our wellbeing, relationships, values, emotions, and sense of self.
How does reflection through BLSD principles help us reset more holistically?
Reflecting on the past academic year allows you to gain valuable insights into both your academic and personal journey. Through our Being Lazy and Slowing Down principles, reflection becomes more than a performance review. It becomes an opportunity to reconnect with yourself more honestly and compassionately.
Reflection helps you recognize your successes through your own lens
In academia, we often overlook or minimize accomplishments that genuinely matter to us because we are so accustomed to external evaluations and institutional expectations. Reflection through your own lens allows you to acknowledge and savor your growth, efforts, and achievements in ways that feel personally meaningful.
By recognizing your strengths and affirming your experiences, you can cultivate greater confidence, self-trust, and clarity about what truly matters to you.
In so doing, you may also identify or reaffirm your core values and sense of meaning separate from your institution’s expectations. (See this article: Developing your own academic “index”: An interview with Dr. Beronda Montgomery.)
Reflection helps you approach challenges with greater compassion
Instead of dwelling solely on failures or feeling discouraged, reflection can become a space for healing and understanding. Through a compassionate lens, you may begin to recognize the broader circumstances surrounding your struggles and explore gentler, more sustainable ways of moving forward.
This shift in perspective can foster resilience and perseverance while helping you navigate future challenges with greater awareness and care.
Reflection helps you know yourself more deeply
By examining what worked and what did not, you can begin to notice patterns, strengths, needs, and areas for growth. This awareness is essential for developing more supportive habits, a healthier relationship with time, and approaches to work and life that align more closely with your unique needs and values.
Understanding yourself more fully allows you to engage more intentionally with the parts of your life you genuinely want to nurture.
Reflection helps you transition more intentionally into the next stage
As I shared during the session, one of our BLSD principles is: Transition requires intention.
Reflection itself becomes part of that intentional process. Reviewing your experiences signals a willingness to move forward with greater awareness, clearer intentions, and a deeper understanding of what you need.
This process can help you approach the next stage with a more open and hopeful mindset because you are no longer rushing past your experiences without acknowledging them. Instead, you are allowing yourself to learn from them, adjust thoughtfully, and move forward with greater clarity and care.
How to prepare for a wholehearted reflection experience
In the session I mentioned earlier, there was something meaningful not only about reflecting in community, but also about how we approached reflection together.
We practiced slowing down enough to notice the bigger picture beyond academic expectations and evaluations. We encouraged ourselves to reflect with compassion rather than criticism.
Reflection guidelines
Begin with compassion, not judgment
Speak to yourself the way you would speak to a little child.
Notice the whole picture — both celebration and struggle
Your academic year was about more than productivity or unfinished tasks. It also included your wellbeing, emotions, relationships, challenges, growth, and accomplishments.
Focus on awareness rather than trying to fix everything
Reflection is about noticing patterns, needs, and experiences — not solving everything today.
Compare yourself less to others and more to your past self
Notice the distance between where you were and where you are now with curiosity, affirmation, and compassion.
What felt especially powerful in the session I led was the sense of shared experience — recognizing that many of us carry similar exhaustion, anxiety, pressures, and questions at this time of year.
Through reflecting together in a supportive and intentional setting, many participants had already begun an important part of their reset process.
Participants shared that guided reflection helped them slow down, reconnect with what mattered most, and recognize experiences they had not fully processed during the academic year.
Sometimes our thoughts continue circling endlessly in our minds, but putting experiences into words can help us process them more fully and see ourselves more clearly.
Perhaps the most meaningful way to prepare for what comes next is to pause long enough to truly notice where you have been.
Wishing you a gentle and meaningful reflection as you transition into your next season.
Image Credit: Kento Higashimura