Stopping

Why is stopping, REALLY stopping, so difficult for us so much of the time?
When we are in the middle of an activity, engrossed in our task, why is it nearly impossible to tear ourselves away in order to stop and re-organize ourselves so that we can accomplish our task or do something else in a better way?

How do you typically react when you are deeply involved in an activity (or thought process) and you are suddenly interrupted for something which seems trivial in comparison?
How do you react to yourself in the same situation, if it is you who knows you should stop?  Do you listen to yourself?  Or do you ignore yourself and continue on with your task?  Do you stop or do you force yourself onwards, or do you force yourself to stop, or do you allow yourself to choose consciously whether to stop or not?

Stopping is an essential part of the Alexander Technique.
Stopping is an essential "activity" to improving ourselves.
It is impossible to effect real, permanent, fundamental change in ourselves and the way we function without allowing ourselves to stop.

We need to learn how to stop, and then practice stopping often.
Stopping is a skill, and as such, requires dedication to make it easier.

In acquiring a new skill, or to improve a skill, we need to value that skill, and that means we need to understand its purpose.

The ability to stop is essential to an authentically-creative process.
The creation of new ideas (of any nature) flows from deep within us, from a place which cannot be fully accessed until we stop interfering with internal communication to and from that Place.

• Do you wish participate in a creative process?  Do you wish to have new ideas?  
• Do you wish to flow with change, or stagnate in the land of the stuck, muddling on habitually towards a kind of death?
• Are you reacting to these questions?  Are you unsure of the answers?
• I invite you to stop. I invite you to wonder. I invite you to listen. I invite you to wait for your response.

Here is a chance to notice what is happening in yourself, right now, right here.  Will you take this opportunity to notice and observe?  Will you take this opportunity to practice stopping for just a moment (even a split-second counts as practice!), in order to enliven the creativity, the life, the breath within you?

If not, why is it so difficult?  What is stopping you from stopping?

Why not stop to consider?