STOP for Self-Compassion

Welcome. In this micro-practice, I'm going to share how a moment of embodied mindfulness, the STOP for self-compassion, can give you a quick dose of kind support to counter the sudden jolts of disruption and discomfort that can come out of the blue on any given day, leaving any one of us feeling just a bit off center. We've all experienced moments when some thought or new information, some observation that's occurred to us has taken us from feeling stable to feeling agitated or even worse. A news item leaves you saddened for the state of the world. An email from your boss makes you feel uncertain about the future of your job, and so on.

Well, what follows is a practice that will give you a tool to use just in those moments when you notice yourself shooting into reactivity. A practice that'll give you the space within which to choose a more effective response. And the moment you start to catch yourself in the act of going into reactivity, that's where your mindfulness practice is working. It's giving you that boost of awareness that can pay dividends in your everyday life. And here's how.

Right at that moment, bring the STOP practice in and bring it in with a view toward bringing self-compassion in. So in this case, S is for stopping what you're doing right then and there. T is for taking a conscious breath in the moment that you've paused. The O is for observing that this is in fact, a moment of distress, discomfort, dis-ease. And then meeting that moment with self-kindness right then and there.

Opening up to self-kindness. And then finally, P is for proceeding with compassionate action towards yourself, that may if you're lucky, extend to others in conscious and maybe even unconscious ways. So let's try the practice right now. Think of a moment when you found yourself recently reacting to something you found the unpleasant. Now just stop.

Take a conscious breath. Observe that this is a moment of distress and open yourself to an offer of kindness. And then proceed with an action chosen for its potential to alleviate your own suffering and perhaps to alleviate the suffering of others along the way. Thank you for your practice. I look forward to meeting you here again.

And until then, journey compassionately.