Podcast 4.

Most of the time in emergency situations we often tend to react rather than respond. This happens usually when we’re stressed out or we don’t like to slow down ourselves. While responding sounds like a slow choice. Obviously, in a crisis or emergency situation, it seems logical that we need to react in a second with a decisive mode. It can be challenging to be mindful when we are on autopilot-mode to react. 

However, the reality is that the best crisis managers, emergency management officials, firefighters, doctors and even sales professionals are specifically trained and practice various scenarios so they can respond rather than react. The difference is in preparation and thought. In other words, it does not mean you will be slow, just thoughtful and prepared. 

All you need to consider is a pause in between the event and your reaction. This should be right at the moment you recognize your stress in any situation. Immediately, take a deep breath and note any emotions coming up, or the story you’re creating in your head, and what behaviour you will now be engaging in with your response. The more that you pause, the more you will respond mindfully. 

There is a short practice you can do everyday day whenever anything goes wrong in order to step into that space between the event and response. This practice is called S. T. O. P. 

The way it works is whenever you feel anything small goes wrong in your daily routine, you need to first Stop, Think and take a breath then Observe all your emotions and feelings for a moment then Proceed with patience. In this S. T. O.P. practice, you will start to empower your brain to handle any difficult situation. There are a lot more ideas and practices we will be discussing in our next podcast. Please stay tuned. Thanks for listening.