Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'm going to offer you

a very simple mindfulness

micro-practice, the STOP method.

So this, this was developed

by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and it's a

wonderful mindfulness practice to

use when we're feeling reactive,

stressed, or triggered in any way.

So it's really simple.

So STOP, it's an acronym.

S stands for stop.

So physically becoming still.

T stands for take a deep breath.

And something that's very, very

useful to do when we become triggered,

because it helps us to calm our nervous

system and become present again.

O stands for observe.

So observe your body and emotions.

Be present with them and observe them

and by doing so, we take a step back from

them instead of being taken over by them.

And P stands for proceed

with awareness and kindness.

So often when we're triggered, we want

to react, we want to lash out, but

here we set an intention to continue

with whatever we're doing from a place

of awareness instead of reactivity.

So I want to give you an opportunity to

kind of just try this right now with me.

So perhaps bring into mind right now,

if you care to, um, the last time you

felt really triggered, really reactive.

And just noticing as you remember this,

what it feels like in your body to have

that surge of reactivity or triggeredness.

Okay.

So now with this in mind,

just S stands for stop.

So just pausing where you are and just

becoming still and settled for a moment.

And then take a deep breath in, and out.

And as you breathe out, perhaps

allowing a little bit of tension to

release from the body on the exhale.

Just seeing how that feels.

And then O stands for observe.

So just noticing what's happening

in your body, in your emotions,

in your thoughts right now, and

just being present with them.

So noticing what's here as a way

of stepping back from the emotion,

stepping back from the thoughts.

And then P, just proceed

with awareness and kindness.

So the invitation for today and

for the days to come, whenever

it's useful, is to be attentive.

And if you start to feel triggered

or reactive in some way, when

you do just remembering to stop.

So that you can just take a moment to send

to yourself, become present, and then you

can respond instead of react, and bring

more awareness and kindness into the

moments where you often need it the most.

And my wish is that this practice

is a source of greater connection,

peace and ease in your life.

And as always thank you for your practice

and being a person who's doing this

work, working towards bringing more

wisdom and wellbeing into the world.

And as you care to, just beginning

to settle in for today's meditation.