ACTIVE STOPPING

The practice of being active and stopping at the same time seems paradoxical. How can you be active and stop simultaneously? Active, regarding this practice, represents the choice to stop and the activities necessary for stopping well. You can get the most out of stopping by preparing beforehand. Beyond simply turning off your phone and choosing an ideal location, preparing has more to do with who is stopping? Which version of you is stopping? Being active in addressing many variables makes stopping more profound.

Is Active Stopping just preparing to meditate? No. Many meditative practices do involve stopping. Active Stopping, however, can facilitate a form of meditation, but it doesn't always. So besides preparing well to stop, what makes Active Stopping different from meditation? The "short" answer is that three types of Active Stopping exist. Stopping for the Sake of Stopping, Stopping for the Sake of Greater Awareness and Clarity, and Stopping for the Sake of Answering the Call are all very different from each other.

How do you know what type of Active Stopping to use? You can choose the type beforehand or you can let it reveal itself during the practice. In-touch-ness, for example, may facilitate a greater degree of awareness during Active Stopping. It can also cause you to move in certain way to "answer the call" physically. Both represent being more in touch. Enhancing awareness uses the sensory system. Answering the call, however, relies on the motor system. Stopping by itself does not highlight either of those two systems. Active Stopping, therefore, can be you "actively" giving yourself permission to let stopping do what it needs to do. With that level of openness, you simple participate with a "going-with-it-ness" that reveals itself.

Another profound component of Active Stopping is an organic sequence. Thriveapeutics pays attention to many phenomena. Having an intention to "open," for example, initiates a chain reaction. When you open, your body, mind, and energy begin to shift. You unwind tension, release densities, and lighten your tone. This loosening allows expansion and elongation within your being, which creates more space inside you, which invites more swirl within and all around you. From this place of moving energy, you are in a more optimal place for stopping and stillness. Instead of stopping with whatever tensions you have at the time, you make neccesary shifts within yourself to get the most out of stopping. These sequential activities, namely opening, unwinding, moving, elongating, making room, and ushering in swirl, all enhance the quality of the stopping, of the stillness.

When beginning an Active Stopping session, simply give yourself permission to prepare. At the moment you stop, you are still holding onto the tensions you had one second earlier so actively open, relax, release, drop in, give a great exhale with a resounding sigh, wiggle gently to let more tensions unwind, and become lighter and more spacious. With swirl present in your greater spaciousness, then settle down into the deep level of stopping and stillness. Preparing to stop that well may very be even more important than the stopping itself. The intention to practice Active Stopping allows you to "Tap the Juice," which supports you to "open," "dissipate and release energy," and move in order for your stopping to be of a higher quality.

An Audio Conversation about Active Stopping is available here. A guided meditation about Active Stopping is available here.