Stop before you start by Taking 5
One of my favourite practices to share with corporate clients and counselling clients alike is a simple practice of pausing after ‘one thing’ and ‘before the next’.
This practice is inspired by Perth Meditation Teacher Eric Harrison*, and my lived experience of what helps to manage anxiety, stress, and a busy, achievement focused personality style which often results in fatigue and burn-out.
“Before you start a new activity, take a big breath and sigh. Breathe out and mentally stop. Find that point of stillness at the end of the breath. Prepare yourself to act. Consciously start the new action.”
Eric’s ‘Stop before you Start’* practice above is a lovely way to pause for the time it takes for one full breath.
My invitation to you is an extension of this. I invite you to stop before you start and ‘Take 5’, by adding some body awareness and gratitude to this powerful pause.
Join me as I guide you through the practice in the video here, with instructions below.
A spot meditation: Stop before you start, by Taking 5
1. Feel your feet on the floor (FOF) – drop your attention down to your feet…. Can you fill your toes with your awareness? You might wriggle your toes to feel your feet, or press your feet into the floor to help ‘get out of your head, and into your body’.
2. Feel your bottom on the chair (BOC) – allow yourself to sit into the support of the chair you are seated in (skip this if you’re standing!). And notice your posture (seated, or standing)… you might notice the position of your legs, check your knees are soft, and check your shoulders… that they aren’t closer to the ears than they need to be…..
3. Take a sigh breath – a full breath in through your nose, then hold it a moment, then let all the breath out, with a sigh, through your mouth…..
You might add in a ‘shoulder shrug’…. Lifting your shoulders up as you breathe in, taking them back a little as you hold the breath, and letting them drop down as you let all the breath out….
4. A moment of gratitude. This can be for anything you wish.
Maybe an inner smile of appreciation for your ability to anchor to the present moment, by grounding through your body (FOFBOC) and using your breath to shift to out of thinking mode into sensing mode for a mo….. you may even feel some centredness in your body as you take one, or a few, conscious breaths.
5. Bring intentionality to what’s next, before proceeding. What is your next activity? Consciously deciding – what is on the schedule to be attended to, or what do I need, to operate at my best…. Or what attitude will be most helpful for me to bring to my next task.
In this way you are being less controlled by auto-pilot mode and cultivating your ability to consciously decide how you will respond. This supports you in being able to pause between stimulus and response; to be more responsive, and less reactive.
Why this is such a helpful practice
Practicing this ‘Take 5’, little and often, throughout your day provides an opportunity for your nervous system to experience a micro break. Each time you practice, there is a moment of resetting, and refreshment; adding up to more energy at the end of the day.
You might like to imagine (when you are go, go, go with lots of stress in doing, doing, doing), your nervous system as a very taut piece of string, with no give as it is too busy getting onto the next thing, highly alert and reactive. When you ‘Take 5’ you ease this tension for a moment, and the stiffness of the string alleviates a little… and each time you allow this moment of slack in the string, you are experiencing a moment of rest and recovery. The nervous system comes back in to balance, and you may experience more clarity in your decisions…
I hope this practice is helpful to you and if you’d like to learn more please do get in touch.
I offer corporate mindfulness and healthy habits courses, and individual counselling, and mindfulness coaching.
*Eric Harrison ‘The 5-Minute Meditator’ 2005