Stopping: How to Be Still When You Have to Keep Going

Modern life has so complex that our old methods gotten of coping -- cramming and excluding -- no longer work, according to Dr. David Kundtz. It's time for something totally new: Stopping. Stopping is a simple, straightforward contemplative system of "doing nothing, as much as possible, for a definite period of time, for the purpose of becoming more awake and remembering who you are" so you can get going again in a more purposeful and centered way.The three forms of stopping: -- Stillpoints -- brief moments in the midst of a hectic day-- Stopovers -- timeouts from an hour to a week-- Grinding Halts -- sustained periods away from it allStopping is written for hurried, harried people (and who isn't?) yearning for an uncomplicated method of relief, rest, and spiritual renewal. Dr. Kundtz, a former priest who defines himself as a failed meditator, does not unrealistically deny the difficult realities of contemporary life, but offers a profoundly simple tool for dealing with them. "The purpose of stopping is to be able to keep going, " he writes.Stopping is presented in a series of very short, reader-friendly chapters, complete with stories and suggestions written in Dr. Kundtz's easygoing and supportive style. With its emphasis on the "times-in-between" and the "pause between the notes, " Stopping shines the light of grace on those most soulful moments that have been too long hidden, unnoticed, undervalued, and even feared.