Practice the Pause: Jesus' Contemplative Practice, New Brain Science, and What It Means to Be Fully Human

by Caroline Oakes

Overview

These days, many of us live in a state of overreactive fight-or-flight response and chronic stress. The demands of modern life pull us in all directions and can often put the meaningful connections in our lives at risk—connections to our deepest selves, to others, and even to God.

But there is good news. New developments in brain science have recently proven that an intentional practice of pausing for a few minutes of meditation, prayer, or other contemplative practice actually rewires our brain in ways that make us calmer, less reactive, and better able to see the bigger picture.

In Practice the Pause, spiritual director and writer Caroline Oakes offers easy-to-understand explanations of how this new brain science is confirming what every spiritual tradition has been telling us for millennia: by practicing the pause, we become more self-aware and better able to understand others. We become more "God aware."

With a refreshing focus on the Eastern Christian understanding of Jesus as a master of wisdom, Oakes shines a spotlight on Jesus's own centering pause practice as a transformative path for personal and social change. We learn that even a seven-second pause practice can move us beyond the fight-or-flight responses of our ego in our daily lives and actually equip us to cultivate the common good in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506483078
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	01/24/2023
Pages:	310
Sales rank:	171,939
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Caroline Oakes is a writer and spiritual director whose essays have been published at On Being, The Huffington Post, and her bimonthly "Mind & Spirit" column in The Bucks County Herald, an award-winning regional newspaper. A student of everyday spirituality, wisdom teachings, and the human spirit, she has a master's degree in ascetical theology from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church and participated in Thomas Keating's Contemplative Ministry Project. She is trained in teaching contemplative practice and mindfulness meditation by Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and by Mindful Schools, Inc. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction xvii

Awakening the Heart 1

1 We Are Human, We Are Divine 3

2 It's Not "Repent," It's Metanoia 19

3 The Jesus Formula: The Centering Pause Practice 29

Awakening the Mind 41

4 Wired for Transformation: Our Brain and Our Mind 43

5 Flipping Your Lid: A Close-Up Look 53

6 Contemplative Neuroscience: Confessions of a Closet Meditator 73

7 The Spiritual and the Secular: It's about Connection 83

Awakening in the Wisdom Tradition 89

8 Jesus the Rabbi: First-Century Jewish Spirituality 91

9 The Call of the Natural World in Jesus' Time and Now 103

10 Time Alone with God: Jesus Practicing the Pause 113

11 Contemplation in Action: Jesus Practicing off the Mat 131

12 Between Fight and Flight: The Revolutionary Third Way of Jesus 147

13 Ancient/New Teachers: The Desert Mothers and Fathers 167

Awakening Our Innermost Self 183

14 Just Being with God 185

15 Reading with God: When Scripture Shimmers 201

16 The New Lectio: Noticing and the Seven-Second Pause 217

17 The Centering Pause: Nourishing the Roots of Our Essence 223

18 Centering Prayer: Divine Therapy for the Human Condition 251

Epilogue 273

Acknowledgments 277

Notes 281

Index 303

Editorial Reviews

"What if a seven-second pause could transform your life? Caroline Oakes' warm-hearted Practice the Pauseexplores this question as a radically inclusive path for us all. Bringing together the wisdom of Jesus' ancient contemplative practice with the exciting, concrete discoveries of neuroscience, plus the sagest voices from all traditions, she takes us on an interspiritual journey to awaken—and keep awake—the spark of the divine within." —Carmen Acevedo Butcher, PhD, translator of Brother Lawrence's Practice of the Presence and of Cloud of Unknowing

"I've been thinking that there needs to be a book that connects the dots between contemplative Christianity and neuroscience; I've also thought that we need a good book on Jesus's own spiritual practice. Caroline Oakes has written an excellent book that fills both of these needs. Practice the Pause is the type of book that you'll go back to again and again—and you'll recommend it to all your friends." —Carl McColman, author of Eternal Heart and The Big Book of Christian Mysticism

"Practice the Pause is a WAKE UP call to see how Jesus' own practice, science, and being human indeed do dance together, and it is a call to STAY AWAKE to the ongoing intentional unfolding of my spiritual journey." —Fr Carl J. Arico, founding member of Contemplative Outreach, author of Taste of Silence

"Caroline Oakes artfully weaves together the depth, breadth, and wholeness of the contemplative journey around the unifying theme of the transformative power of the pause. Her remarkable achievement is that this weaving is accomplished in a straightforward and accessible form in which she gently leads the reader into both a brain-centered and a heart-centered understanding of the connection between even the simplest spiritual practices and our ability to transform our lives and the lives of others through contemplation in action. As an added gift, Ms. Oakes links the reader to the vast array of literary and biblical resources from which she abundantly draws." —William Redfield, Episcopal priest and founder of Wisdom's Work

"Viewing Jesus as a practitioner of contemplative prayer, Caroline Oakes takes readers on journeys through the bible which reveal the depth of Jesus' prayer life and its intimate connection with activist ministry. This re-framing, along with practical helps and explorations of contemplative neuroscience which show the healing efficacy of prayer, make for a great read for spiritual seekers and Christians who long for a fresh take on their faith tradition." —The Rev. Jonathan Linman, Ph.D., Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Phoenix, AR, and former director of General Theological Seminary's Center for Christian Spirituality

"A rich and desperately-needed Wisdom primer Practice the Pause artfully bridges the gaps between neuroscience, contemplation, and contemporary Christianity to present anew the life, message, and prayer practice of our Master Teacher Jesus." —Jane Savage Woods, Women's Wisdom Guide, Circle Facilitator, and Spiritual Companion at Waking House

"In the tradition of wisdom teachers, Oakes leads us on a rich spiritual pilgrimage out of our Western paradigm and into the East, where Jesus spent time in contemplation and prayer. Oakes explores the practices at the heart of Jesus' mission of 'metanoia' - true transformation - to be fully alive and explores these practices' extraordinary positive neurological impact. For anyone who seeks the intersection of science and faith and a new way of being, Practice the Pause is for you." —Malika Cox, OnBeing Social Healing Fellow; Author or the Flourish OKC Restorative Justice Learning Curriculum; MA Practical Theology, MPhil Conflict Resolution & Reconciliation

From the Publisher