All right,
Welcome back.
This meditation,
You can either listen to the sitting,
Laying down,
Or maybe even taking a walk.
Now,
Something that allows you,
Whether it's in stillness or in movement,
To pay attention to your breath and preferably to create a space where you're by yourself or not talking to another person,
Engaging in a conversation where you can keep your focus,
Your mind on these words.
So,
I recently heard the acronym STOP during a meditation offered by Deepak Chopra,
Which most of you,
You may know him,
Deepak,
He's a spiritual teacher and he leads many powerful,
Beautiful meditations.
And STOP,
The acronym that he offered was S is STOP,
Simply STOP.
So how am I suggesting that you use this acronym?
So for me,
How I've personally been using it is if I feel,
I'm going to use this analogy of something boiling.
So when I can feel my emotions,
Whether it's whatever type of emotion that's heating up,
Like boiling water and feeling like something intense,
Intensity,
Intense emotions are starting to bubble up to the point that something might blurt out of my mouth that I would regret.
This is one I would want to use STOP that I'm sharing with you today.
And this is really effective and it's simple enough for adults and for kids.
So the first letter S is simple,
It's STOP.
So just simply STOP.
Stop what you're doing,
Stop yourself in your tracks,
STOP.
And then T is take three deep breaths.
So we'll do that right now.
Take a breath in,
Open mouth sigh out.
Let the shoulders soften down from the ears.
Second breath,
Breathe in.
Hold.
And a slower sigh empty out.
I'm going to slow down one more time,
Big breath in.
Hold.
And big sigh out.
And then O.
Observe what you feel in the body.
Observe the physical sensations.
And notice the impact of those three breaths.
And continue breathing.
Slow the breath.
And as you stop also allow your eyes to stop and land on one spot.
Or if you're walking,
Can you keep your eyes focused as you move forward without turning your head right and left.
So inviting a slowness to the body,
A slowness to this time and space.
And just slowing down time as you enter this space to stop.
And then P.
So Deepak,
Deepak or Deepak Chopra.
He shares P as proceed with compassion and kindness.
And for me,
For some reason,
The first thing that comes to mind is proceed with caution.
And for some reason for me that lands,
To be cautious,
To be cautious with my words towards myself,
Towards my thoughts,
Towards others.
And when I think about proceed with caution,
It also makes me think of that yellow caution tape that you're careful,
That you're careful whether you enter that space.
And for me that space might mean that I'm feeling that maybe I'm at the boiling point.
So for me to proceed with caution is actually to step back,
To step back that I might need more time before I step forward.
And yes,
Proceed with compassion and kindness.
So stay in this space.
We've been together right now for about five and a half minutes.
I'm going to stay with you a few more minutes and I'm going to repeat this again and I'll lead you to breathe again.
And then we'll end this meditation in two minutes of breath work and silence.
So S is to stop.
So stop in your tracks.
Stop yourself from speaking.
Stop yourself from doing anything you might regret.
Stop.
T,
Take three breaths or more and I'll lead you through three breaths right now.
And this time I'm going to count the breaths and I'm going to invite you to hold at the top and then you can sigh out with the exhale.
So inhale,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold.
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Empty.
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold.
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
Empty.
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Hold.
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
O,
Observe the physical sensations.
So stay here in the meditation,
Focus on the body.
Notice how the body receives and releases the breath.
And then before we move on to P,
Stay here and breathe in silence.
Keep the eyes and the mind focused.
Notice if the eyes or the mind start to wander,
Reset,
Begin again,
Focus the eyes.
Notice your breath.
And then moving on to P.
P,
Proceed with caution,
Compassion,
And kindness.
And as much as you need to repeat again,
There's always time to take a pause.
And the more you practice the muscle of mindfulness,
The more it will become a default reaction instead of the emotions,
The intense emotions taking over you.
Instead this practice of meditation and mindfulness,
You will be in the practice of regulating your emotions,
Choosing your actions,
Your words and behaviors,
And being in a space of power where you feel grounded and connected to your center and connected to how you want to show up in your life and how you want to be in relationship to others.
I hope you find this tool,
This STOP,
S-T-O-P tool useful.
I know I use it a lot myself and I share it with others.
We're all in this together and know that you are not alone in feeling frustrated or challenged by life,
By stresses.
Keep practicing.
Keep practicing mindfulness.
Take your breaths.
Pause and stop.
And choose kindness.
Focus towards yourself,
To others,
And to all beings.
Thank you for being here.
Namaste.
