The Pause
with Rachel Byrd
Join Rachel Byrd in taking a few minutes to pause from our busy outward-focused lives to explore various ways of looking inward at what is happening in our mind and body, moment to moment. This exploration can give us a break from our usual habits of constant doing and thinking; and invite us to be more aware of and receptive to what is actually happening in our lives.
As Sebastian Vettel has suggested: ‘Sometimes you need to press pause to let everything sink in.’
October 2, 2025: Pay Attention
Exploring the practice of paying attention to present moment experience, as an alternative to our usual daily life habit of being distracted. Noticing the effect of paying attention to present experience on the mind and body. Can we benefit from taking this skill of paying closer attention into our daily life?
September 25, 2025: Compassionate Presence
Exploring the possibility of being with moment to moment experience with compassionate presence. Compassion=being present with whatever is happening, not needing to fix or change it.
September 18, 2025: Open Awareness Break
Exploring the effects on the mind and body of inviting the mind to be aware of moment to moment experience, instead of the usual habit of thinking about the past or future, or fantasizing.
September 11,2025: Exploring Aspects of Mind
The mind isn’t just about ‘thinking’. In this episode, we will explore ways of getting to know the different aspects/activities of the mind: thinking/directing, observing, and knowing.
September 4, 2025: Deep Listening
Practicing deep listening/receptivity to present moment experience.
August 28, 2025: Stay Curious
Exploring the possibility of staying curious about our moment to moment experience in the body and mind.
August 21, 2025: Relax the Grip
Exploring awareness of the effects of inviting tension/release in the body.
August 14, 2025: Inviting Ease
Exploring different breath awareness practices to invite ease in the mind and body.
August 7, 2025: The Body Knows How It Is Now
Exploring awareness of the body as a way to practice awareness of present moment direct experience.
July 31, 2025:What Else?
Exploring how inviting curiosity about ‘what else is going on?’ may help to get the mind unstuck, or to just broaden our awareness of experience.
July 24, 2025: Inviting Ease
Explore the possibility of noticing the presence of ease in the body and mind, as an alternative to our usual habits of holding tension/stress.
July 17, 2025: Exploring Affect
An exploration of Affect (the amount of energy or interest in what we are aware of, and how it feels in the mind and body) as a way of noticing the subtle beginnings of our reactivity.
July 10, 2025:Noticing Feeling
Exploring the possibility for the mind to be interested in what we are experiencing moment to moment in the mind and body, and how the experience (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral) feels in the mind/body.
July 3, 2025: Balance
An exploration of the perception of balance in the mind and body.
June 26, 2025: Rhythm
An exploration of the perception of rhythm in the mind and body.
June 19, 2025: Explore Ground and Space
Inviting the mind to explore the experience of groundedness and space in the body and mind.
June 12, 2025: Mind Is What Matters
Explore how the mood/attitude of the mind affects how we experience moment to moment experience.
Changing Focus
An exploration of the effect on the mind and body of changing the focus of attention.
How Are You?
An exploration of noticing ‘How are you?’ by noticing how the body/mind feel…not by thinking about how you are.
Noting Experience
Exploring the use of ‘noting’ or labeling moment to moment experience as a way to keep the mind more interested/engaged in what’s happening.
May 15, 2025- Open to Question
An exploration of being with questions that have no answer, opening to the space/silence of sensing without ‘knowing/thinking’.
May 8, 2025-Changing the Focus of Attention
An exploration of how our experience changes when we change the focus of our attention.
May 1, 2025:The Pause
An exploration of noticing how The Pause is always with you.
April 24, 2025: Noticing Endings
Exploring what happens when we make the intention to notice the endings of each moment to moment experience. We can notice constant change (if we don’t hold on) and we can notice the space/silence after each sensation before the next arises, just by staying interested.
April 17, 2025: Body Wisdom
Exploring what we can learn about where the body holds tension or ease, and how the sensations in the body change. The body knows ‘how it is right now’ and we can learn from it, if we pay attention.
April 10, 2025: Keep It Simple
Exploring the possibility of simply being aware of changing sensory experience, noticing if the thinking mind wants to add complexity, and noticing the effect. Can we stay interested in simply being aware?
April 3, 2025: What Is In the Way?
We invite the mind to be curious about what is happening in present moment experience, and then notice if anything gets in the way of that intention.
March 27, 2025:Breath Awareness
An invitation to invite interest in the direct experience of the body breathing, and how it feels in the body and mind.
March 20, 2025: Inviting Curiosity
An invitation to get to know our self/our habits of mind better by inviting curiosity about what the mind pays attention to, and how that affects how we feel.
March 13, 2025:Here. Now.
An invitation to let go of our usual habit of living in the past or future, and practice being curious about the direct experience of what is right here, right now.
Stop. Look. Listen — March 6, 2025
Practicing periodically pausing, noticing what is happening, and how it affects us.
Inviting calm — Feb 27, 2025
Exploring practices that can help to invite calming of the body and mind.
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There-Feb 20, 2025
Exploring the possibility of receiving experiences, without the need to react to or to do something in response.
Receiving and Letting Go-Feb 13, 2025
Exploring receiving moment to moment experiences and letting them move on, instead of our usual habits of doing/creating and holding onto experience.
February 6, 2025: Receive, Rehash, Rehearse
What happens if the mind just receives present moment experience, instead of the usual habits of rehashing the past or rehearsing for the future?
January 30, 2025: Ride The Waves
An invitation to stay present with the changing wave sounds. Can we stay interested in the arising, changing and ceasing experience of the sounds of the waves, including the pause between them? What is the effect on the mind and body?
January 23, 2025: Experiencing Feeling
An exploration of how what we experience is received/felt in the mind and body. Can we be with each experience and not caught in the beginning stages of reactivity?
January 16, 2025: Mind Like Sky
Exploring the possibility of the mind being open and clear, like the sky.
January 9, 2025:Inviting Words
Playing with inviting different words into the mind, and noticing the effect.
January 2, 2025: How do you know you’re here?
An exploration of present moment experience: How DO you know you’re here?
December 26, 2024 – Body Tension Release
An exploration of body awareness through tension and release.
December 19, 2024 Sound of Bells
An exploration of receptive listening.
Enough/Contentment
An exploration of the possibility for contentment, moment by moment.
Balance
An exploration of noticing balance in the mind/body.
November 28, 2024
Exploring the sensation of rhythm in the body and mind.
November 21st, 2024
Ground Space
November 14th, 2024
Noting.
November 7th, 2024
Meditation on Gratitude.
October 31st, 2024
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October 24th, 2024
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October 17th, 2024
Take a moment to check out episode two of The Pause.
October 10th, 2024
Join Rachel Byrd for the first episode of The Pause.