S.T.O.P.

STOP is an exercise of the MBSR program (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction). STOP stands for S- stop and pause for a moment, T – take a breath. O - observe your body, mind, and feelings. P – proceed and bring mindfulness into the next moments. The aim of this exercise is to take a short break in order to bring your focus back to the present.

You become aware of distracting thoughts or stress and let go of them, bringing your attention back to the present moment. By consciously stopping and focusing on the breath and the present moment, the STOP exercise can help to interrupt the carousel of thoughts, calm the mind, and achieve greater clarity and serenity.

Please note that it is important to practice MBSR exercises such as the STOP exercise regularly in order to fully experience its benefits. Free introductory MBSR videos are available on my website, along with a complete MBSR online video course.

Transcript

Welcome to the STOP practice.

This is an informal practice that takes only a few minutes.

STOP is an acronym and stands for stop,

Take a breath,

Observe and proceed.

This practice is ideal to be used whenever we feel stressed.

The STOP practice helps us to step out of automatic pilot and coming back to the present moment.

So now let's start with the STOP practice.

If it feels right you can gently close the eyes.

So in case we feel stressed or we sense that stress is emerging we simply stop and pause for a moment.

Then maybe taking a few deep and conscious breaths and practicing grounding ourselves in the body.

The third step we are observing where in the body we can feel the stress.

Maybe it's in particular body areas or maybe everywhere.

Instead of resisting the stress in our body we are practicing to simply be with it,

Allowing it to be here,

Observing it and relating to it in a kind and grounded way.

If it feels right maybe breathing into the stress sensation in the body and out of it letting go.

And finally we emerge back into the day and proceed with whatever we were doing.

So when you are ready you can gently opening the eyes and coming back to the room.

This meditation is now complete.