Mindfulness on the Go: STOP

What you need:

• Mindfulness on the Go - The STOP Technique video (YouTube)
• Teaching Others to STOP worksheet

What you do:

1. Ask your child, "What are some tools you use to feel calm and to remind yourself of mindfulness?" Remind them that mindfulness is the act of bringing kind and curious attention to the present moment.
2. Explain that today they will practice the STOP method of mindfulness and then they will be asked to teach this method to someone else.
3. Show the video "Mindfulness on the Go - The STOP Technique"
4. Ask, "What did you notice?"
5. Review the STOP acronym on worksheet.
6. Share a situation from your daily life in the past week where you wish you could have utilized the STOP method. Replay that incident with your child using the STOP method.
   • For example: Someone cut you off in traffic and you yelled. Once you yelled, you realized that only you got upset and the other person went speeding ahead. If instead you had stopped, taken a breath to calm yourself, observed why you were upset, and then proceeded with care, you may have realized that you don't know that person's full story. They could have had an emergency that caused them to cut you off. You don't gain anything by yelling.
7. Now practice each step with your child and ask them to share an incident from their life and replay it using STOP.
8. After you review and practice the acronym together, write the same acronym (or a new acronym connected to taking a mindful pause) and draw your own pictures for each step.
9. Now have your child use the worksheet to plan how they will teach someone else the STOP method. Decide who they will teach and even share the practice with your whole family.
10. Place their STOP worksheet somewhere in your home as a reminder to pause and proceed with attention and care.
11. Ask, "What can help us to remember STOP in our day?"
12. Have them share what they learned with other family members.