This is the stop exercise.
This quick exercise is part of mindfulness based stress reduction and it is something designed to ground us very quickly whenever we are feeling stressed or when we have thoughts and feelings milling around and we want to be more present and more effective.
And we can also do this to more fully savour our moments of happiness and enjoyment and again be more present.
The process itself is easy to remember because stop is an acronym.
It stands for stop,
Take a breath,
Observe and proceed.
So what I'd like you to do first of all is whenever you feel yourself in a situation,
When you feel that you are losing control,
You are getting into the grip of emotions,
You are getting blown away by this storm of things happening,
First of all remind yourself to stop and then straight after take a breath.
And we are going to take a few breaths.
And as you know we are not trying to control the breath,
We are just observing it as it happens in the body.
Just observing the natural rhythm of it,
How your in-breath happens naturally and how just as naturally you breathe out and what it feels like,
How it is filling your body,
How it is gently moving your body.
Notice your belly or your chest going up and down.
Notice the sensations around your nostrils.
That's right,
So we've done the S,
Stop and the T,
Take a breath.
Now it's time for the O,
Observe.
So what is happening inside you right now?
Starting from the thoughts in your mind,
What thoughts are crossing your mind?
Are there any words or sentences?
Are there any images in your mind?
And just remind yourself that thoughts come and go.
They are very similar to sounds in this respect,
They will enter your awareness and do whatever they do,
Grow larger,
Grow smaller and then leave.
And they might come back,
The same ones or different ones,
Change shape and then leave again.
And you have the option to just stand back and observe without getting involved.
And what about your feelings?
What are you feeling right now?
What are you aware of?
You could put labels on these feelings,
Frustration,
Stress,
Disappointment,
Anger,
Whatever they are,
Whatever you find.
And again,
There's no need to do anything with them,
Just observe.
Brilliant,
So this is your emotional landscape right now.
And what about sensations in your body?
What do you feel?
Is there anything that goes together with the feelings?
Is there any physical sensation tied up with it?
Tightness or tension or warmth?
Or maybe tingling?
It could be in your chest,
It could be in your belly area.
You might feel it in your hands clenching or your face crunching up,
Your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks.
What do you notice?
What is there?
So we have then the S,
Stop,
The T,
Take a breath,
The O,
Observe and now it's time for the P,
Proceed.
So by now you should have created that gap between the trigger and the reaction and you should be able to respond in a more informed way instead of reacting.
Of course your response might still be the same but it will be a choice and this is what mindfulness does,
It gives us a choice.
I really hope you find this useful in your everyday life.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
