The Pause Journal
Everything about pausing. Where did mindfulness come from? Why have scientists studied it for forty years? Which popular beliefs are true, and which are misunderstandings? One episode a week — read slowly, practise slowly.
In 1979, a molecular biologist opened a strange course in the basement of a Massachusetts hospital — teaching chronic patients to "do nothing at all". Forty-odd years later, that course has redrawn the map of mental health worldwide. This is Jon Kabat-Zinn's story — and the starting point of the word "mindfulness".
Read episode oneA Harvard study found we spend nearly half our time "there but not present" — and that mind-wandering itself is a cause of unhappiness.
EP 3 · MYTHSNot a religion, not emptying your head, not mere relaxation — the five most common misconceptions, untangled in one go.
EP 4 · PRACTICEWorks from the Kwun Tong line to the Tsuen Wan line — a mini practice designed for the Hong Kong commute.
EP 5 · SCIENCEThe amygdala, the prefrontal cortex and the "default mode network" — the neuroscience of mindfulness, in plain words.
EP 6 · ORIGINSHow three psychologists brought mindfulness into depression relapse prevention — and why the UK's national guidelines adopted it.
EP 7 · PRACTICEThe classic first exercise of MBSR — it turns out even eating can happen while we're "there but not present".
EP 8 · MYTHSThe most common excuse — and the best starting point. It's precisely because you're busy that you need a pause.
EP 9 · PEOPLEHow mindfulness took root in Hong Kong — from universities to schools, a city learning to pause.
EP 10 · SCIENCELate at night the thoughts get loudest — rumination, insomnia, and how mindfulness helps you fall asleep.
EP 11 · PRACTICEThe first formal practice of the eight-week course — learning to hear the body's signals and release hidden tension.
EP 12 · MYTHSDoes "acceptance" make people passive? Why seeing things clearly is actually the first step towards change.
EP 13 · ORIGINSWhy is mindfulness called 靜觀 in Hong Kong and 正念 in Taiwan? A story that starts with the ancient word Sati.
EP 14 · SCIENCEHow chronic stress affects immunity, sleep and memory — and what research says about mindfulness and stress physiology.
EP 15 · PRACTICENo cushion required — walking the streets of Hong Kong, one step at a time, back into the present.
EP 16 · PEOPLEHow one of MBCT's three founders took mindfulness from therapy to everyday life at Oxford — the birth of MBCT-L.
EP 17 · PRACTICEAnger, fear, hurt rising in the moment — a four-step way to stand steady in the eye of the storm.
EP 18 · MYTHSApps are convenient, classes go deeper — the differences, who each suits, and how to combine them.
EP 19 · MYTHSMindfulness isn't only for days off — the busy office day is full of "touchpoints" where a few breaths fit.
EP 20 · PRACTICEHow many times did you touch your phone today? Slipping a gap back in between the impulse and the reach.
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