Short PROPS Practice: Fast Stress Relief Anytime

Need a quick reset? PROPS is a simple acronym practice you can use anytime to pause, get out of your head, and come back to the present moment. In this short track, we take a few breaths with each letter in P-R-O-P-S, giving you an easy way to slow down and reconnect.

You can adapt this practice to fit your day—use the guided version here, or shorten it into a 1-minute reset on your own. If you’d like more time and deeper guidance, see my companion track PROPS Practice: Anchor Into the Present Moment.

This session includes a brief introduction, light background music, and guided prompts. There is no chime or bell at the end.

With gratitude to Kat Sneddon, a dear friend and gifted teacher, for introducing me to this practice.

Transcript

Welcome.

Thank you for joining me for practice today.

Our props practice today will be a nice short one and it is really a great reminder that a brief practice can really still be incredibly powerful.

So let's just settle right into a comfortable position.

You might be sitting,

Lying down,

Standing.

A little bit of gentle movement is okay in this short practice.

Finding what feels right for where we are right now.

I'm taking a couple of deeper breaths here.

Letting them signal to the body we're taking a moment to slow down.

Letting the body and mind know it's okay to relax.

It's okay to soften.

Maybe gently allowing the eyes to close if it feels alright.

The eyes can also remain open.

Gently allowing that gaze to become unfocused.

Let it be fuzzy.

And we'll start our props practice with P for pause.

This is what we are doing right now.

We are pausing.

Pausing our day.

Noticing here what does it feel like to pause.

Is there discomfort or ease?

Is there attention here?

Maybe some relief?

Just noticing whatever's there.

No need to change what's happening or judge.

What does it feel like to pause?

Moving on to R.

Receive deep breaths.

Maybe allowing the breath to deepen.

And as we do,

Noticing what it's like to receive these breaths.

And receiving the breath like it's a gift from someone or something else.

Rather than feeling like the breath is something that you need to do or force.

What is it like?

Notice what it's like to receive deep breath in this moment.

Our next letter is O for observe.

We're observing what's happening in our pause in our breath.

Observing what is happening in the body,

In mind.

What's happening with our energy,

Our emotions,

Our mood.

What is here to observe?

Exploring anything that comes to the surface.

No need to change it or judge it.

Dislike it.

Just notice what your being is telling you.

Shifting next to the letter P for proceed.

Here's where we prepare to shift out of practice and continue on with the day.

But allowing this cue of proceed to mean a process of shifting back into the day.

Rather than a hard stop to our practice,

This is our procession towards the end.

So notice what it feels like to know that it's time to shift back into the day.

Noticing what it feels like to know you still have a long way to go.

Noticing what it feels like to know you spent a moment pausing,

Practicing here.

And we'll end our practice today with S for smile.

Allowing just a gentle little smile to come to the face.

Noticing what it feels like to smile.

Noticing the physical sensation in the face.

Noticing any energetic,

Emotional,

Or mood shifts that happened as the smile comes.

Noticing any resistance or judgments.

Taking a deeper breath here,

Filling the lungs.

And allowing the exhale to be slow and deep.

And if the eyes have been closed,

Gently allowing them to flutter open.

Slowly allowing the vision to focus.

Taking in the surroundings.

Thank you for showing up today,

For pausing,

For doing something good for yourself.

And thank you for allowing me to be here along with you.

I'll see you next time.