The 24/7 demands of our daily lives often seem to take up every moment of our lives these days, and can often crowd out our connection with others, with the Divine, and even with ourselves.

But we are hearing from both neuroscientists and theologians alike that incorporating simple, short, intentional pauses throughout our day can actually enable us to live more aware, spacious and meaningful lives, even in the midst of our day to day challenges.

Caroline Oakes is a spiritual director and author and leads this compelling series that incorporates both the new science and the enlivening spirituality of centering practices — of “practicing the pause.”

This course is an exploration of how intentional pauses for prayer and meditation can “wake us up,” and even (quite literally) rewire neural circuits in our brains that can equip us to calm down our overreactive fight/flight stress responses, get in touch with our innermost selves, and follow our deepest yearnings to connect with the Holy in our daily lives and find meaningful ways to care for the world around us.

Replays from this previous course are available below.