Welcome to this gentle space of softening,
A space to pause just long enough to melt the stress that can so easily find us.
Let's start by softening the jaw,
Unclenching the hands,
And letting the shoulders drop.
This is where reflection begins,
With the self,
And with noticing.
Your notebook is welcome here,
But your presence is enough.
What particular stress is tugging at you today?
Stress is a natural part of life,
But the ways in which we deal with it can shapeshift the trajectory of our day,
Of our lives,
And the impact on our bodies.
Let me tell you a story.
Stress used to find me often,
Whether it crept in during my long commute to work,
Or when I felt fear or worry about how to be a parent in today's ever-changing world.
I knew from reading and studying and research that our bodies carry things.
What we feed grows.
Inhaling deeply here.
Exhaling.
Noticing what's coming up for you.
I'll continue with my story.
After years of flowing in and out of stress,
The simplest way to approach it was to pause.
When I reached the point where I confirmed that there was no immediate physical danger,
My body could relax.
I could experience calm.
I could return to calm.
But sometimes,
I didn't.
The stress cycle kept spinning because my thoughts,
The emotions,
Were stuck.
I stayed there.
I fed them.
What we feed grows.
When I realized this,
I thought about the power of the pause.
What could I create within that moment of pause?
What can you create within that moment of pause?
I learned that it wasn't the stressful event itself that caused the stress.
It was the way I was dealing with it.
I needed to acknowledge,
Understand,
And then let go of the emotion I was attaching to it.
I needed to give the feeling space.
Space to be heard,
Space to be seen,
And then space to move on.
We can't eliminate stress.
In fact,
There are very good reasons why we need our body's natural responses to stress.
But we can reduce the amount of time we are inside of it and therefore shift the effects on the body.
What feeling or shift did that moment offer me?
It brought me to a method for acknowledging and moving through stressful moments.
Checking in now with your body and guiding your attention to those places.
Let's move through six steps of pause,
Six pillars for pausing in that stressful moment.
Breathing in as you see fit.
Breathing out.
There's no right or wrong here.
One.
Acknowledging the feeling.
Noticing it as it is.
Without judgment.
Greeting it as you see fit.
If your notebook is near.
Wonderful.
But your presence.
Is enough.
Two.
Listening to that feeling.
What is it telling you?
What is it asking of you?
What is it pointing you towards?
Three.
Asking yourself why you feel this way.
Is there something underneath?
Four.
Reminding yourself that you can do hard things.
That you get to decide what and how you think.
And the actions you take.
They are up to you.
Five.
Taking action.
What will you do next?
What will your next move be?
You get to decide.
Six.
Tracking the length of time you spend inside this emotion.
The next time a moment of stress pops up.
Does the amount of time you spend in that emotion shrink?
This is where growth resides.
When the amount of time you spend in this heavy emotion shrinks or shifts.
Your toolkit for navigating stress expands.
Breathing in.
And slowly breathing out.
What gentle invitation can I offer from this story?
Thinking about the world around you.
Where do you want to spend your time and energy?
It's valuable.
Which environments soothe your heart?
You can find moments of calm within this six-pillared pause.
Come back here to this meditation.
Any time a moment of stress ripples in.
You get to decide how long it stays there.
To close,
If something stirred,
Let it land on the page.
Even a single word is enough.
