Using the acronym STOMP,
This is a very brief,
Very short mindfulness practice that you can use anytime throughout your day when you need to collect your attention,
To slow down pause,
And check in with the wisest part of you.
And the S in STOMP means to stop,
Means to take that pause.
So stopping now,
Where you're sitting or standing,
Whatever your posture,
Halting movement,
Which can be difficult in our busy modern world.
So just stopping,
All action.
And the T in STOMP is to track one or two breaths.
So noticing the breath as it naturally flows into the body and out,
One after another,
Was tracking its movement into the lungs,
Belly,
In and out,
Right here.
And the O of STOMP means to observe.
So just noticing what's here.
The thoughts and the stories of the mind that may be chattering,
The emotions,
The feeling tone,
The sensations alive in the body right now.
What's here?
Just observing without judgment.
Just checking in to your experience right now.
And with the M of STOMP,
This is to see what matters most right now.
This is taking a pause to connect with your values,
With your heart space,
Right in this moment.
What matters most?
If this were my last day,
What would matter most to me right now?
And then in the final step of STOMP,
We have the P,
Which stands for proceed.
Taking this pause now to connect with our experience,
And what's present for us,
And what matters most.
We now move out of this pause into action again in our life.
Perhaps with a greater quality of attention,
With presence and awareness,
Tuning in to what matters most.
We are much more likely to move back out into our life and into the world with a greater sense of mindfulness,
Perhaps a knowing of what wisest action we wish to take.
