The Space Between Stimulus and Response

Let's begin by finding a comfortable posture. This could be sitting down, lying down or standing. If it feels okay to do so, you can close your eyes. And we'll take one deep breath together to settle in. Breathing in through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth. Inviting the jaw to soften and relax. Letting the shoulders be at ease. And inviting the belly and hands to soften. With your next exhale, feel any lingering tension just melting away.

As your breath comes back to its natural rhythm. And we'll spend a few moments collecting our attention at our breathing. As the mind wanders, just gently bringing it back to this breath, this moment, over and over again. In this meditation, we're are practicing, finding that space between stimulus and response. The beautiful thing about meditation though, is that we're training that capacity in every single moment.

We're slowing down enough and stilling ourselves enough that we can see our usual reactivity and practice not reacting in our normal way. I think one of the best ways to practice this is to increase the level of stillness. So for the next couple of minutes, the invitation is going to be, to be completely still, not moving your fingers, not even moving your tongue. And when you feel that urge to move, that urge to react, just practice taking a breath. And relaxing into it.

That's the space between stimulus and response. So I'll give you some time in silence to practice. Just noticing all the impulses to move, to scratch an itch, to adjust your posture ever so slightly. You'll be able to make it through a minute and a half and still be okay on the other side. So really practice relaxing into the discomfort and not immediately reacting to the stimulus.

Before we close, let's take one more deep breath together. In through the nose. And slowly out through the mouth. And when you're ready, you can start to move your body again and allow your eyes to open. Great job.

You know this can be tough, even if only for a minute or two, but by training that capacity to be still, you're developing the internal infrastructure to be with difficult experiences without immediately reacting to them. That's the space between stimulus and response. So practice this throughout your day. Thank you for your practice. Until we talk again, take care.