Active Pause

Suzanne Noel talks about what sustains her: swimming, riding a motorbike, and connecting with others.

Suzanne Noel is a Certifying Coordinator for the International Focusing Institute.in New York. She developed Recovery Focusing (the crossing of the 12 Steps for addictive process with Felt Sensing), out of which she developed her H.O.W. We Heal model for groups. She enjoys dabbling in poetry and different kinds of art. Her passion is riding her motorcycle in beautiful Costa Rica.

Published May 2021.

Bruce Gibbs talks about what his practices of meditation and Focusing have in common, what is different about them, and how they can enhance each other.

Bruce Gibbs, Ph.D., has explored consciousness, both academically and experientially, for many decades. He has practiced Yoga, Vipassana, and Zen meditation. He teaches Focusing and meditation, has developed a form of Felt Sense meditation, and is dedicated to experimenting with the crossing of the two.

Published April 2021.

Merete Holm Brantbjerg talks about the deeply satisfying bodily experience of finding what sustains her.

Merete Holm Brantbjerg developed Relational Trauma Therapy, a psychomotor and systems-oriented approach. She is an international trainer, group leader, and therapist based in Denmark. See her website.

See another conversation with Merete Holm Brantbjerg.

Published March 2021.

In this conversation, Gregory Kramer compares the perspectives that psychotherapy and Buddhism have on dealing with human suffering.

Gregory Kramer teaches, writes, and is the founding teacher of the Insight Dialogue Community. His primary focuses are sharing a relational understanding of the Dhamma and teaching Insight Dialogue, an interpersonal form of Buddhist insight meditation. He has been teaching worldwide since 1980.

In his new book A Whole-Life Path, Gregory invites us to see the noise, complexity, and challenges of today’s world as doorways to fully embodied Dhamma wisdom. Drawing on decades of meditation, study, and teaching, he explores the essence of each factor of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. He looks at modern life and offers to put all the Buddha’s teachings into practice—individually, relationally, and socially. More than 50 experiential practices allow us to test his guidance—right here, right now. See website.

Published March 1, 2021

Susan Rudnick talks about mindfulness within the broader context of Buddhism and the Zen tradition.

Susan Rudnick LCSW is a Focusing-oriented therapist in private practice in Westchester NY. She has a long-term practice in Zen Buddhism, and recently has been integrating this consciousness with her roots in Judaism. In her seventies, she wrote and published the memoir Edna’s Gift: How My Broken Sister Taught Me To Be Whole. It is the story of how her differently-abled sister was her life’s greatest teacher. As well she is a published haiku poet, one of which appears in the book New York City Haiku, from the Readers of the New York Times. See her website.

Published March 2021.

In this conversation with Merete Holm Brantbjerg, we explore experientially what happens in our body when we get stressed.

Merete Holm Brantbjerg developed Relational Trauma Therapy, a psychomotor and systems-oriented approach. She is an international trainer, group leader, and therapist based in Denmark. See her website.

See also:– PDF transcript of this conversation. – Merete Holm Brantbjerg about what sustains her. – For therapists: See this other conversation with Merete Holm Brantbjerg.

Published August 2020.

Evelyn Fendler-Lee and Serge Prengel have been exploring creative ways to think about thinking in such a way that it opens up new horizons. This process involves sharing some of what comes up as we proceed. We feel that the sharing broadens our exploration as it stimulates further thoughts in you. 

For a transcript, see my article in Medium: Thinking As Movement

Dr. Evelyn Fendler-Lee is an organizational psychologist and person-centered counselor. She developed the online course: “Playfully Engaging Uncertainty to Create Something Original.”  See website. 

Serge Prengel is the editor of Active Pause.

Published January 2021

Shelly Chauhan continues to reflect on her experience dealing with breast cancer. Our first conversation was after she had had her diagnosis. This second conversation takes place after the surgery and the first round of chemotherapy. Among other things, she talks about her experiences with pain.

Shelly Chauhan MSc CPsychol : As a London-based chartered psychologist and executive coach, Shelly has coached hundreds of clients on resilience, leadership, stress management, and emotional intelligence. Shelly works in an integrated way, combining deep, intuitive insight into human behavior with sound scientific knowledge. Drawing on years of research into the neuroscience of connection and wellbeing, along with practical, contemplative exercises such as mindfulness and compassion meditation, Shelly helps clients develop their capacity for emotional regulation, resilience, wisdom, wellbeing, and connection. This approach enables transformational changes across a range of areas including managing anger, anxiety, and stress levels, enhancing self-confidence, self-acceptance, decision-making, and perspective, and building meaningful relationships. Shelly’s approach has a positive impact on the parenting style of her clients, something that led her to write a book, Heartfelt Parenting, published by Robinson in 2020. Shelly’s breathing exercises, based on her four-stage method of emotional regulation, are available on SoundCloud. See website.

Published January 2021

Gregory Kramer talks about integrating Buddhist wisdom with our everyday life.

Gregory Kramer teaches, writes, and is the founding teacher of the Insight Dialogue Community. His primary focuses are sharing a relational understanding of the Dhamma and teaching Insight Dialogue, an interpersonal form of Buddhist insight meditation. He has been teaching worldwide since 1980.

In his new book A Whole-Life Path, Gregory invites us to see the noise, complexity, and challenges of today’s world as doorways to fully embodied Dhamma wisdom. Drawing on decades of meditation, study, and teaching, he explores the essence of each factor of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. He looks at modern life and offers to put all the Buddha’s teachings into practice—individually, relationally, and socially. More than 50 experiential practices allow us to test his guidance—right here, right now. See website.

Published December 2020.

In this conversation, Michael Changaris talks about how crucial touch is to our sense of self and our well-being. He refers to research as well as examples in clinical practice and in everyday life. The conversation concludes with an invitation to a simple way to experience this in your life.

Michael Changaris, PsyD. is the Chief Clinical Training Officer, health psychology groups program lead & psychopharmacology rotation lead for the Wright Institute, Integrated Health Psychology Training Program (IHPTP) an APA accredited internship in health psychology. He is an adjunct professor with John F. Kennedy University and The Wright Institute. Dr. Changaris is a clinical health psychologist with a specialty in multicultural psychology, stress physiology, and the neuroanatomy of PTSD. Michael Changaris is a 2018 UCSF, California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) Leadership Fellow.  He currently serves on the health disparities committee at Contra Costa County Health and along with the team, was recognized with the 2018 ‘Health Partnership’ award for work addressing implicit bias in health care.  See website.

Published  December 2020.