Nachi Gordon & Dr. Akiva Perlman headlines the first ever Pause webinar. This webinar was live on zoom for all Pause subscribers. If you'd like to join the Pause community, Hit this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Dad8tAKjYQUJOAmEyhw6Xm

In this Season One finale for the Pause™ cast, the topic we focus on is hope. We always come back to the beginning and that beginning is hope- The beginning is always hope. How can we effectively address the current circumstances, both for ourselves and others, while also contributing to the betterment of our world?  And the answer I kept and keep coming back to is hope. Hope is the answer. Quote: "Apprentice yourself to the curve of your own disappearance”“Living in the Presence is a work of...

In this week's Pause™ cast, we focus on the concept of self-compassion and explore the reasons why nurturing it can be accompanied by various challenges. Embracing self-compassion as a daily practice is a precious gift we can give ourselves and our loved ones. My hope for you is to recognize its value and make it an integral part of your life. This, indeed, is a gift worth cherishing.  Quote: "the most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself."- Steve...

In this week’s Pause™ cast we bring our attention to the practice of mindful awareness of our emotions. Emotions are there to guide us – sometimes to point us in the right direction, and at other times to highlight which path we should not be taking. The problem is never with what we are feeling; the only problem is with how we relate to that feeling.    Quote: The problem is never with what we are feeling; the only problem is with how we relate to that feeling. Meditation: Mindfulness of our...

In this week’s Pause™ cast we continue with our intention to slow down, quiet the noise, and really listen. And here the focus is on where see this need from our own spiritual tradition.  Quote: If I were asked how to find God, I would say, Learn to listen. Listen to the song of the universe in the call of birds, the rustle of trees, the crash and heave of the waves. Listen to the poetry of prayer, the music of the Psalms. Listen deeply to those you love and who love you. Listen to the words...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the intention for this podcast is to slow down, to quiet the noise, and really listen. And the hope is that you might join us in Listening. Not just with your ears. But with your full body. Listening with an open mind. Listening with an open heart. In a spiritual way, it’s the deep listening to the very nature of who we are.  And who we aspire to be.  Quote: “To enter deep listening, one has to learn how to keep emptying and opening, how to keep beginning. One has...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we will be discussing is learning to say YES to life (in spite of everything).  We all have the capacity for resilience, finding meaning, and embracing life even in the face of unimaginable suffering. Pause Point: The Wisdom of No Escape.Meditation: The practice of saying “Yes”.    For further questions, comments, observations, and feedback please be in touch with Dr. Benjy @ drbenjy.com Pause with us with the WhatsApp status that’s there for your mental...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we will be focusing on is cultivating equanimity.   The Baal Shem Tov suggests that in spite of difficulties to achieve balance in a world that is constantly spinning out of control, through cultivating a mindset of Shiviti we are able to access a deeper calm akin to the placid waters that lie beneath the churning surface of the ocean whose crashing waves are powerless to affect the peaceful depths.  Pause Point: True equanimity arises when we can maintain...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we will be continuing with is cultivating a good eye. Through this practice, we can give others and ourselves the gift of recognizing our inherent loveliness and oneness with the fabric of life. This is the power of an ayin tovah to teach ourselves and the world around us this inherent loveliness.  Pause Point: The purely righteous do not complain of the dark, but increase the light; they do not complain of evil, but increase justice; they do not complain...

See the Good: The Practice of Ayin Tovah (Part I)In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we bring our attention to is cultivating a good eye, an "ayin tovah" which is the practice of focusing on the good in whatever situation we may find ourselves. Without cultivating the ability to see correctly-what the Mishna calls “Ayain Tovah” the ability to see the good- one will never learn how to live with ease, and joy, and live a life of presence. Pause Point: When we look below the surface--if we...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we bring our attention to this week is through the practice of Jewish mindfulness we can fully connect with the voice of God in the here and now. The upcoming holiday of Shavuos is the headquarters of Jewish mindfulness and provides us with the perfect opportunity to deepen our connection to Torah  to the divine. And to this moment.  Pause Point: The transformative power of the moment derives from the Divinity residing within it.     We are not merely...

Modeh Ani- A Mindful Path to Self-DisciplineIn this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is the need to cultivate a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of BE-ing. Pause Point: Life moves pretty fast Daniel Wirzberger teaches us - if you don’t pause to look around once in awhile, you could miss it. For further questions, comments, observations and feedback please be in touch with Dr. Benjy...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we continue  to work on together is mindfulness of our bodies.Pause Point: The more in our heads we are the less we are in our bodies.Meditation: We end with a Loving Kindness for your Body Meditation. The aim of this brief meditation is the cultivation of loving-kindness specifically directed towards the body. It is important to keep in mind that this practice may sometimes evoke difficult emotions, so a gentle reminder to bring a  compassionate attitude...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is an introduction to mindfulness of our bodies. Everything (or almost everything) that we value most when we really get down to it be it feeling love, gratitude, awe, or presence, in order to do that, we have to be in our bodies. Embodied. So this episode is an introduction to feeling at home in our bodies.We conclude with a brief body scan meditation.Gentle reminder if you lived in your heart, you’d be home right now. Pause...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is an introduction to our breath and breathing. Often what is most simple is most profound. That which we take for granted is the most essential; that which is right in front of us is the most important. And the breath is perhaps the most poignant example of this.When we inhale we enliven ourselves. On a deeper level, what we are doing when we inhale is inhaling the Cosmic, Supernal Exhale that is right this moment, enlivening,...

You Are Not Your Thoughts! In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is learning to recognize that You (We!) Are Not Our Thoughts! Together we explore the concepts that in fact we are not our thoughts. Not identifying with thoughts, when properly understood and internalized can help a person release months, years and even decades of conditioning and emotional exhaustion. And who isn’t down for that? You simply aren’t who you think you are. You just aren’t that person....

In this week’s special Pause™ cast we are sharing a practice/meditation to accompany us as we prepare for the upcoming holiday of Pesach.  Gentle reminder, our work at Pause™ is an active and collaborative process. So please listen. But also practice. Not just once or twice but throughout the chag in order for the ideas that are shared here become deeply embedded into our lives far far beyond the end of the holiday.   “and skip over: Heb. וּפָסַחְתִּי [is rendered] and I will have...

Learning to Surf In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is learning how to surf. If you are someone who sometimes gives into unskillful impulses and urges, thereby engaging in behaviors that aren’t in line with your higher values then this pause cast is for you! (Spoiler this one’s for everyone!) Pause Points: You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.  I’ll ride the wave…where it takes me.  The WhatsApp status that’s there for your mental health...

In this week’s Pause™ cast the theme we are working on together is letting go. We explore how the attitudinal quality of letting go is an additional doorway to emotional and psychological freedom. Letting go doesn’t mean we can’t behave in ways that will serve to improve our day to day lives, it just means that we aren’t also resisting what is happening in the here and now.  It’s here right now. Can we be with it? What often gets in the way of being able to let go is a clinging to the desire...

This week’s Pause™  cast is on the theme we are working together is pausing or more precisely learning to pause. We emphasize how we can attempt to start learning to engage in this practice when we are caught in stressful and reactive situations. (Which is when we need to Pause™ most!) We discuss how pausing is a necessary component to the healthy rhythm of our lives, but also a fundamental need in our Avodas Hashem. The presence we are seeking is always here and now. We just need to stop...

In this week’s Pause™ the theme we are working on together is Acceptance. What it is, what it isn’t and how we can get better at leaning into it. We discuss how acceptance is an active process. It’s not as people mistakenly think as some form of passive resignation. There's nothing passive about it. Instead acceptance is an act of recognition that things are actually the way they are (and on a deeper level as they are supposed to be.) Acceptance doesn't mean that we can't work to change the...

In this week’s Pause™ cast we discuss the quality of living with a Beginner’s Mind.  We rarely experience things as they are. Everything that we see and feel is colored by our thoughts, memories, beliefs and expectations. We are always expecting, when we could be accepting. The way to get past this barrier is to cultivate the kavanah (intention) of chiddush. The practice of chiddush is developing the ability to see things without preconceived interpretations: to know that one does not know...

The WhatsApp status that’s there for your mental health 😮‍💨  Pause with us. Subscribe here: https://wa.me/message/JTOPZMPC7PZWD1 In this week’s Pause, we discuss how to define “Mindfulness.”  The power of living with intent lies in its application and practice. Our lives unfold in moments, right here and right now. The current moment is the only moment we really have. Can you show up fully to this moment and this life? We discuss the spiritual imperative to connect to the moment and how...

You are listening to the Pause podcast with Dr. Benjy Epstein A podcast where we will be giving ourselves the permission to pause. This will be a practical guide to live a life with courage presence and authenticity. Reconnect with your most soulful and authentic self by pausing together. Sign up to the Pause WhatsApp status for more exclusive content: https://wa.me/message/JTOPZMPC7PZWD1