It’s good advice for all kinds of situations. It’s a primary tool in the healing toolbox: stop. Just stop.
I remember years ago when I wanted to become shomeret Shabbat, a Sabbath observer. This meant finishing all my house cleaning and cooking before Shabbat started, refraining from all “work” as defined by the Mishnah and elaborated for the times by later rabbis. There are lots of things not to do on Shabbat — but the basis of all those things is that we are required to just . . . stop.
The origins of Shabbat are explained in the Torah: it is because God stopped on the seventh day:
וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹהִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃
On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done.
וַיְבָ֤רֶךְ אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י וַיְקַדֵּ֖שׁ אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י ב֤וֹ שָׁבַת֙ מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ (פ)
And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done.
Ceasing, stopping, is a conscious action. It involves a decision to take action, that is, to stop. And that becomes the commandment that is the basis of what we do and don’t do on Shabbat. As God did, we stop work on the seventh day. What an amazing practice.
Think about shutting down and disconnecting from anything that might bring you into contact with work, whether it’s involved in your personal needs, the needs of others including your family, your phone, your computer, driving a car. Twenty-six hours. It probably seems pretty impossible, right?
But also think about what might happen during that time. There is a tradition that our extra soul is restored on Shabbat. When you disconnect in this way, amazing things start to happen. You have time to be with family and friends, to share meals prepared in advance, to take a walk, to read and study just because. You have time to notice. Perhaps to feel gratitude because you had time to notice.
And that brings me back to blessings. Blessings are a small, minute-by-minute practice that reflect the same idea. Just . . . stop. And notice.