Hi and welcome to this short meditation.
This is the STOP meditation.
S T O P.
S stands for stop.
T take a breath.
O open and observe.
P proceed.
These are the four steps that I will guide you through over the course of this meditation.
Over time the intention is for you to not need this recording and for this protocol,
S T O P,
To become second nature.
This is your opportunity to step out of automatic pilot and into the present moment.
If you have made it to this meditation then well done.
Well done for noticing that the autopilot tried to hijack your awareness.
We are here to create space,
To reconnect with your natural resilience and wisdom,
Your original state.
It exists beneath and behind the noise.
It exists before the autopilot and it is here,
Ready to be dropped into anytime you're ready.
So let's begin.
Get comfortable and take a long slow deep breath in through your nose,
Filling all the way up from the belly and the diaphragm and the chest and then you let it go through your mouth with an audible sigh and do that two more times.
Slow long deep inhale and letting it out with an audible sigh.
One last time all the way in to the belly,
The diaphragm,
Filling up the chest and letting it go.
First stop.
Acknowledge what is happening in your head,
In your heart and your body.
Bring yourself to the present moment by deliberately asking what is my experience right now?
What are the thoughts?
What are you saying to yourself?
What are the images that come to mind?
Just noticing what comes up.
You don't need to jump in or give it a narrative.
And next your feelings.
What feelings are present right now?
Is there something you are enjoying?
Something you're upset about?
Perhaps excited or sad or angry or anywhere in between.
Just noticing what is present and being with it fully in this moment.
And now your sensations,
The physical sensations.
What is present for you in this moment?
Are you aware of any tightness or tension in your body?
Are you aware of any parts of your body that are relaxed or feeling particularly light?
And just acknowledge your experience,
Register what is there to be witnessed,
Even if it is uncomfortable.
Just welcome whatever is present as though you were greeting an old friend.
T,
Take a breath.
Direct your awareness to breathing now.
Direct your awareness to the sensations of breathing now.
Gently direct your full attention to breathing.
Cover each inhale and each exhale with awareness.
One after the other.
And repeat this painting of each breath completely with awareness.
Drench it with your awareness.
The breath is your anchor to your body.
And your body is your anchor to the present moment.
Through these anchors,
You can establish a state of awareness and stillness and presence.
It's a matter of choosing.
Choosing to detach from autopilot and choosing to surrender to the present moment.
Spend the next few breaths fully embracing the sensations associated with breathing.
And we move on to O,
Open and observe.
Here we will expand awareness outward,
Beyond your breathing.
Expand your field of awareness,
Beyond your breath,
To become aware of your body as a whole.
Are you aware of your posture?
Your facial expression?
Perhaps you can expand even further to where you are in relation to the things,
The objects or other people in your current setting.
Perhaps you are aware of a particular temperature in the air,
As you feel your skin against the air.
Are you aware of any sounds or smells?
And as you bring each of these aspects of experience into your field of awareness,
Can you do so without judging,
Without labelling,
Without needing to explore or explain?
Fully expanding your sphere of awareness to encompass the whole of this present moment as you are able to through your sensory experience.
And finally,
P,
Proceed.
Now is the time to embrace new possibilities without expectation.
In a moment,
I will ask you to open your eyes.
And when you do so,
Allow your attention to move into the world around you from you and your sensory experience to embrace and absorb everything that is happening right now.
So take a deep breath in.
And on your exhale,
You can open your eyes and try and take in as wide as possible your peripheral experience through all your senses.
Can you maintain a spirit of curiosity,
Of openness,
Of acceptance,
In the same way that you practiced that acceptance and curiosity with your breath and with your embodied sensations?
Can you move into the rest of your day or evening in the spirit of that openness and curiosity?
Take a deep breath in now.
And on the exhale,
Which you can sigh out and let be long and relaxing,
Open your eyes.
And as you do so,
Let your attention move into the world around you.
Sense how things are right now.
Allow your awareness to be unattached as wide as possible,
Really taking in the peripheries of your experience.
I invite you to maintain the spirit of curiosity and openness and acceptance that you practiced with your breath and body just now.
Walk into the rest of your day with this spirit of openness.
Notice your responses to the stimulus in the environment now.
Notice as if noticing for the very first time,
With fresh eyes and an open heart.
Thank you for your effort.
Have a beautiful day.
