New to meditation or The Pause Cause? Start here.
Our mission here at The Pause Cause is to provide a free and convenient way for people to learn meditation in-depth from start to finish. As such, beginners are advised to follow our recommended course regimen so that they can properly develop the foundation needed to eventually achieve mastery of the art of mindfulness.
Table of Contents
Meditation Method
At The Pause Cause, our goal is to bring back the traditional and historic way meditation was taught and practiced, using the convenience and ease of modern technology. Therefore, we prioritize depth over breadth and teach one main meditation method, rather than mixing techniques from various schools of meditation as tends to be the norm among modern mindfulness apps and studios in the West.
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times." – Bruce Lee
Learning the Basics
If you are not familiar with the Dhammakaya school of meditation, it is recommended you start with our Intro to Meditation series located in the beginner section of our Courses page, as most of our other beginner courses build on it. Dhammakaya meditation is also the main method of meditation we teach at The Pause Cause, so we highly recommend taking the intro series first if you are not familiar with the method.
Generally speaking, all of the other courses can be taken in any order, although we recommend taking at least three beginner courses, including the intro course, before moving on to the intermediate courses.
Practice Makes Perfect
Whether it's learning a sport, or mastering an instrument, developing any skill in life requires practice, and mindfulness is no different. At The Pause Cause, we don't just teach you how to meditate, we encourage you to make it a regular practice in your life so that you can eventually master it.
The Challenges page of our site offers structured fitness style meditation challenges to help make mindfulness a regular part of your lifestyle. For those who don't already meditate on a regular basis, we recommend first trying the Beginner's Challenge, and then slowly working your way up the longer meditation challenges until you reach your own personal goal.
The Mindful Living and Self Development sections of the Challenges page are more complex meditation challenges that also incorporate mindfulness lifestyle and habit changes to help strengthen your meditation practice. We generally recommend doing at least the 15x7 Meditation Challenge before trying out the more complex challenges, and trying out a Mindful Conduct Challenge before trying a Monk Life Challenge.
Getting Support
One of the most overlooked aspects of mindfulness development nowadays is the importance of having a supportive community behind you. A like-minded and supportive community to walk the path with you is one of the best assets you can have in developing any skill.
"The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be." - Reid Hoffman
The Pause Cause comes with Community features that we recommend people of all experience levels take advantage of. You may sign up as a private user, but this will limit your ability to interact with The Pause Cause Community.
Navigating The Site
For instructions on how to use and navigate the site, see our How to Guide.