This short practice can be used whenever you're experiencing stress,
Anxiety,
Or overwhelm.
Practice this periodically throughout your day when you're feeling any challenging emotions.
With practice,
You'll find it available for you even while you're doing activities like driving in traffic,
Standing in line,
Or having a difficult conversation.
Through this stop practice,
You can develop a positive habit and create a new baseline of attentiveness,
Becoming more present.
To begin the formal practice,
Take a deep breath in and out,
Just checking in with your body,
Becoming present.
What are you noticing?
Muscle tightness,
Shallow breathing,
A racing heart,
Any sensations that you might attribute as your fight or flight response.
And maybe you're becoming aware of emotions connected to these physical sensations,
Irritation,
Aggravation,
Anger,
Fear,
Or overwhelm.
The first step is to stop.
Take a moment,
Become still.
Do nothing.
Let go of the doer doing anything at all.
Just stop.
Don't push anything away or try to hold on to anything.
Be still and just stop.
The second step is to let be.
Let everything just be as it is,
Do nothing.
Disengage the need to fix or correct any internal and external phenomena that you may be experiencing.
Take a deep breath in and a long,
Slow exhale.
The third step is to let go.
Let go of resisting,
Analyzing,
Holding on to the experience.
Take a few deep breaths into your belly and exhale slowly,
Just letting go.
Do this so your body understands what letting go feels like.
This will cue your parasympathetic nervous system back into a state of rest and digest.
Now check in with what is left in your body,
Staying with the felt sensations here,
Now.
Allow yourself to stay in your body,
Relaxing into it,
Further letting go.
Do this whenever you feel stress or anxiety,
Tension,
Any difficult emotions.
Remember,
Stop,
Be still,
Do nothing.
Don't even try to stop because trying is doing.
Let be.
Allow whatever is being experienced to just be as it is.
And let go.
Exhale to the deepest level of releasing the doer.
Then rest in a quiet,
Still pause as you experience the felt senses in your body.
Do this often to make any positive changes,
Becoming more resilient,
Lowering your stress levels.
Turn the formal practice into an informal practice in your daily activities.
Namaste.
