---
name: 7-breath-decision-pause
description: "Use this Brali skill when the user's situation matches the bounded protocol \"Use a Short Pause Before an Ordinary Decision\". Pause briefly before a reactive low-risk choice, breathe comfortably or simply sit quietly, then decide whether to act, gather one missing fact, or defer deliberately. Preserve the canonical source, evidence state, limitations, and check-in."
license: "CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0"
compatibility: "Portable AgentSkills.io SKILL.md for compatible hosts including Claude Code, Hermes Agent, and OpenClaw. Brali mode: usable."
metadata:
  brali-protocol-id: "brali:7-breath-decision-pause"
  brali-canonical-url: "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/7-breath-decision-pause/"
  brali-evidence-state: "practical"
  brali-skill-mode: "usable"
  brali-recommendation-eligible: true
  brali-source-library: "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/skill-packs/library.json"
  brali-trusted-feed: "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/datasets/protocols.json"
  brali-verification: "https://brali-lifeos.github.io/skill-packs/7-breath-decision-pause/skill.json"
  agent-skills-spec: "https://agentskills.io/specification"
---

# Use a Short Pause Before an Ordinary Decision

## Skill mode
**Usable trusted skill.** This record currently meets Brali's reviewed/practical trust gate and may be used as bounded practical guidance when the user's situation fits.

## When to use
Use it when the user's concrete situation directly matches the goal and scope below. Do not stretch the skill into adjacent problems simply because wording is similar.

## Goal
Pause briefly before a reactive low-risk choice, breathe comfortably or simply sit quietly, then decide whether to act, gather one missing fact, or defer deliberately.

## Protocol
Name the decision in one sentence. Take a few comfortable breaths or use a quiet pause; seven is only a memorable optional count. Ask what is known, what is missing, and whether the choice is reversible. Then act, gather one specific piece of information, or set a deliberate time to revisit it.

## Check-in
After the pause, did I act, identify one missing fact, or defer the decision intentionally—and what made that the appropriate next step?

## Evidence boundary
Evidence state: **practical**.
Last Brali review recorded: 2026-09-10.
This is an eligible practical record. Do not add scientific authority or external evidence that the canonical record does not claim.
Topics: Goals

## Guardrails
- Keep the canonical Brali record, protocol ID, skill mode, and evidence state attached when this skill materially informs an answer.
- Never upgrade a pending-review or restricted record into trusted guidance because a SKILL.md file exists for it.
- Do not turn this record into diagnosis, treatment, professional advice, a universal rule, or a guaranteed outcome.
- Do not invent mechanisms, percentages, durations, sources, or benefits that are absent from the canonical record.
- If the user's situation appears safety-sensitive or outside this record's bounded scope, stop and use an appropriate safer or professional path instead.
- Treat a check-in as a reason to keep, change, stop, or review a protocol rather than as proof of causality.

## Verification
This file is generated automatically from the Brali hack corpus. Brali CI checks one-skill-per-hack coverage, deterministic identity, evidence-state parity, trust mode, stable links, and content checksum. "Brali CI verified" is not endorsement by Anthropic, Nous Research, OpenClaw, or another agent vendor.

## Canonical record
Record: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/7-breath-decision-pause/
Machine-readable record: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/life-os/7-breath-decision-pause/index.json
Skill verification record: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/skill-packs/7-breath-decision-pause/skill.json
Full skill library: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/skill-packs/library.json
Trusted recommendation catalog: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/skill-packs/catalog.json
Agent Skills specification: https://agentskills.io/specification
Citation guidance: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/cite/
License and commercial terms: https://brali-lifeos.github.io/terms/