Take a moment to allow your body to settle into a comfortable position.
Now close your eyes or if it's more comfortable,
Keep them slightly open and just relax your gaze.
Now begin to take a few gentle breaths in and just continue breathing deeply and when you're ready,
Gently direct your awareness to your shoulders.
Just allowing them to sink down a little bit farther with each breath as you exhale,
Letting your body sink down into the surface it is resting on.
Now think about for a moment what your purpose here is today.
To prepare physically and mentally for your birth,
To prepare for parenting your baby,
To prepare yourself to better handle the stresses of life.
Emotions can be complex and can simply be understood as a combination of thought patterns and physical sensations.
With wisdom and care,
You will be learning how to be able to let go of your emotions rather than allowing them to rule you.
In times of stress and other difficulty,
We can practice the acronym STOP to help us refocus our attention in productive ways instead of stewing in our stress and negative thoughts.
To practice this,
Think of a situation that causes you to feel anxious,
Frustrated,
Worried or sad.
Just pick something small for our practice today like being put on hold for an exorbitant amount of time or remembering you have an appointment just minutes before you're supposed to be there.
Visualize the experience and give it space to be present in the mind and body.
Recall what thoughts and emotions this type of situation typically bring up for you.
Take a few moments to imagine what you might feel in your body in a difficult situation like this.
Maybe it's tightness in the chest,
Feeling hot in the face,
Stomach feeling knotted up or something else.
Now recall how you usually respond in this type of situation.
Maybe you silently berate yourself or another person.
Now as you've had a chance to think of a stressful situation,
Let's practice our STOP breathing space and how it can help you stay in control in the midst of difficult emotions and challenging situations.
The letter S represents STOP.
When you recognize your thoughts are spinning out of control,
You might hold up an image of a big red STOP sign up in your mind or you might simply say out loud or in your mind the word STOP.
The next step is T,
Take a breath and gently direct your full attention to your breathing.
Breathing in and out,
Focusing on how your breath feels in your body,
Perhaps even how it sounds as you inhale and exhale.
Depending on the situation,
This may be one breath or several breaths as time permits.
Then the letter O is next.
Observe or tune in.
Bring yourself into the present moment by asking what thoughts and images are running through my head?
What am I feeling?
Upset,
Sad,
Anxious,
Scared,
Insecure,
Guilt,
Worried,
Shame?
What physical sensations am I feeling?
Hot?
Tightness?
Tingling?
Or maybe something else?
When you're ready,
Expand your awareness beyond your breath to your whole body,
Sensing your posture,
Your facial expression,
And then even further out to the things you are seeing in front of you,
Focusing on the colors and shapes you see,
The textures you feel like your feet touching the carpet or tile,
Your hands resting on the fabric of your clothing,
Then branching out to the sounds that you hear,
Maybe the whir of a fan,
The sound of traffic outside,
A dog barking,
Birds chirping,
Then even further out paying attention to the aromas in your environment,
Perhaps the smell of your cotton t-shirt or the lingering scent of hand soap you use to wash your hands.
Then when you are ready,
Move on to the letter P,
Proceeding and considering new possibilities.
Allow your attention to move to the world around you and open yourself up to new possibilities,
Solutions and ideas to solve the problem ahead of you,
Asking yourself,
How can I handle this situation?
How can I express myself with respectful tones and still get what I desire?
How can I respond to myself or others in love?
How can my mindful response to this difficult circumstance help to calm others?
You will have many opportunities to practice stop breathing.
The next time a challenging situation arises,
Choose to look at it as an opportunity to practice your new skill.
Remember the more you practice,
The stronger you will become at responding to life's difficulties with a calm and competent intention.
This practice is not about making everything instantly all better.
Rather,
This practice is about learning how to respond to challenging situations with a calm and focused intention rather than a quick emotional reaction.
A mantra you can give yourself during times of stress or other worry is,
I choose my response.
I choose calm.
I choose patience.
Before we close this meditation,
Just take a few more moments and return your awareness to your body and your breath,
Bringing your awareness to your baby and the space in your body that holds your baby.
Thank yourself for taking this time to practice a calm and intentional response to life's challenging situations and send yourself and your baby light and love.
