STOP Meditation Script

One Minute Breathing Space.  This practice provides a way to step out of automatic pilot mode and into the present moment. What we are doing is creating a space to reconnect with your natural resilience and wisdom. You are simply tuning in to what is happening right now, without expectation of any particular result. 

If you remember nothing else, just remember the word STOP

S = Stop & take Stock - Check in to Head/Heart/Body 

What is my experience right now?  Thoughts... (what are you saying to yourself, what images are coming to mind?) Feelings... (enjoying, neutral, upset, excited, sad, mad, etc.) Sensations... (physical sensations, tightness, holding, lightness, etc.)   Acknowledge and register your experience, even if it is uncomfortable. 

T = Take breaths…. Direct awareness to Breathing

Gently direct full attention to breathing, to each- breath and to each-out breath as they follow, one after the other. Your breath can function as an anchor to bring you into the present and help you tune into a state of awareness and stillness. 

O = Open & Observe Expand your awareness outward 

Expand the field of your awareness around and beyond your breathing, so that it includes a sense of the body as a whole, your posture, and facial expression, then further outward to what is happening around you: sights, sounds, smells, etc. As best you can, bring this expanded awareness to the next moments... 

P = Proceed with new Possibilities & Perspective 

Let your attention now move into the world around you, sensing how things are right now. Rather than react habitually/mechanically, you can be curious/open, responding naturally. You may even be surprised by what happens next after having created this pause...