The Pausecast

In Ep. 142 of The Pausecast...

It's all about the 3 steps to 10x your downtime - whether it's this weekend, a summer trip, or time to think.

Have you ever found yourself anticipating joy and fun for an upcoming holiday trip, only to find yourself pre-occupied with thoughts or issues before jetting off? The entire trip seems like a blur and you realize you are no more rested or refreshed than before you left.

Despite our best efforts, it is all too easy to feel shortchanged after a holiday, usually because we spend more time planning what to do ("see this", "visit that", "spend time with x") versus little to no planning on the quality of how we want to experience and feel during our time away.

The good news is that with a few minor tweaks you can set yourself up for a blockbuster holiday by strategizing how and what you plan in three simple steps:

1.    Create your vision

2.    Set your intention

3.    Create your plan

We dive into this Episode 142 which will translate to...

- Feeling like time expands

- Feeling more rested, relaxed and refreshed

- Ready to re-engage and come out of whatever your next down time is ready for action and feeling like you actually did take a break, rest, or pause.

Research tells us that cultivating a sense of calm and presence through breathwork, you can make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and lead with authenticity and compassion.

Here's a few more research-backed benefits to know about the power of conscious breath:

• Stress Reduction: Significantly reduce stress levels by activating the body's relaxation response. This can lead to lower levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and promote feelings of calmness and relaxation.
• Improved Mental Clarity: Enhance cognitive function and mental clarity. Research suggests that deep breathing techniques can increase oxygen flow to the brain, improving focus, concentration, and decision-making abilities.
• Enhanced Emotional Regulation: Regulate emotions more effectively. Studies have indicated that mindful breathing practices can help decrease negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and anger while promoting feelings of positivity and emotional balance.
• Better Sleep Quality: Promotes relaxation and improve sleep quality by calming the nervous system and reducing bedtime stress.
• Increased Resilience: Research suggests that incorporating breathwork into daily routines can improve resilience and overall well-being.
• Enhanced Immune Function: There is evidence to suggest that meditative breathwork can positively impact the immune system. Increase the activity of immune cells, improve circulation, and support overall immune function, helping the body better defend against illness and disease. Yes, please! 🙌🏼
• Reduced Blood Pressure:

So, my leader friends, do take a moment today to pause, breathe with me, and connect with yourself on a deeper level.

Your body and mind will thank you for it. 🌟 #MeditativeBreathwork #HealingTrauma #CEOsuccess

In Ep. 141 of The Pausecast...

✅ Discover the power of intentional practice using meditative breathwork how it is 10x more powerful than m🙃ediation alone

✅ Learn the breath pattern: Halo active (2 part breath), blow breath shorter inhale/exhale snapping belly out, top. hold x2)

✅ Discover why it's important to align so that you can show up more in your own empowered leaders self

In Ep. 140 of The Pausecast...

- Join a Pause led by Jessica

- Jessica's story and her "crisis of purpose"

- How to take a long pause from work and feel even more purposeful

- How Jessica's book, Reimaging Workplace Well-Being works for culture and purpose

- The biggest 50th birthday gift Jessica gave herself in 2021

- The No. 1 Question to ask yourself if you're looking for feel more purposeful and better well-being, and how well-being usually doesn't address it

- How to address what can come off as spiritual at work regardless of what you believe or your background

- How to support purpose-driven practices from the company / leadership side

- How you can honor your spiritual path at work

- The 3 things needed to update your corporate wellbeing scorecard

In Ep. 138 of the Pausecast, I delve into the common struggle of not staying focused as a corporate leader. In other words, stop chasing all the things, aka shiny objects. Are you constantly jumping from one task to the next, feeling overwhelmed by the myriad of distractions at work?

In Ep. 136 of The Pausecast... - Learn why Yoga Nidra is such a great go-to Pause - Lisa's story in the book, "Go!" which is part memoir, part career toolkit, part ethics - How Lisa made her career move from corporate to 'accidental entrepreneur' and founding Minor Guard - an app to prevent humantrafficking. - How Lisa's 2016 plunge into AI as an Intrapreneur at Intel has served her - Digital Device Pauses and what works best and the tech Lisa uses to help her family create rules around digital device pauses. - Why corporate leaders need to know the business value of AI - How to access Lisa's ebook

Years ago, this topic scared the crap out of me because I couldn't imagine for the life of me how to show up at work and still show up as a very spiritually connected person at work. Today, I can look back and know that both of these qualities can co-exist and uplevel you as a leader - but we need to know we can show up this way - which is what this episode is all about! In this Ep. 135 of The Pausecast... - Know what a mystic is, and what it isn't - How to apply the same principles of a mystic as a corporate leader - How to step into your greatness and be an even better leader as a result of embracing your mystic side. - Benefits of embracing your inner mystic as a leader, and how it can serve you and your team (and they don't even have to know you think of yourself that way!).

Ever wonder what you're really telling yourself when you don't feel like learning something new, can't be bothered to develop yourself in some way? 🤔

Tune in to Episode 134 of The Pausecast, because we're diving deep into some juicy topics! 🎧💡

We'll uncover those sneaky limiting beliefs that are holding you back from growth and success. 🚫
But fear not! We've got the secret sauce to flip the script and transform your story. 📖✨

Get ready to boost your awareness, presence, and unleash the brilliant leader within you! 💪🌟
Listen up, because it's time to shine and show the world what you're truly made of! 🌈

Don't miss out on this transformative episode - your future self will thank you! 💥🙌

In Ep. 133 of the Pausecast...

This mantra will help you know that you are ready for the day, and feel invigorated and ready for whatever's on your agenda.

- Keep focused with this mantra "I am ready" as we breathe in our integrative breathwork session (< 7 minutes of actual breathing).

- Follow the breath pattern of the halo-active (long inhale/exhale) and then the blow breath (short exhales snapping the belly in as you focus on the exhale)

- Close out with a few top and bottom holds and reflect on the experience.

In Ep. 132 of The Pausecast...

Learn all about the Future of Work and how it rewards a cross-pollinating hive mind & how not to get left behind as a Corporate Leader.

- Join Priscilla McKinney on a guided pause visualization exercise

- Meet Priscilla, one of five girls and how the pandemic shaped her book and what's next

- What collaboration is, and what it isn't

- What a good example of a success story is

- The 3 essentials required for collaborators

- The 7 anchors of collaborations every leader needs to know

and so much more!

About Priscilla McKinney

Priscilla McKinney is a serial entrepreneur with a deep love of residual income and a penchant for jaywalking. Her expertise in strategic content marketing and social media influence for B2B professionals has taken her around the world. She created the SOAR System and gets so excited brainstorming new ways to increase revenue and collaborate that she often forgets to eat lunch. McKinney hosts the Digital Transformation Success and Ponderings from the Perch podcasts. She holds a Bachelors in Cultural Anthropology. Don’t give her caffeine. She doesn’t need it.

In Ep. 131 of The Pausecast

- Hear about a recent client who makes a great case study for how to navigate change.

- What to do when you feel stuck and how EQ can change that - what's your 'brick wall' ?

- How to change your narrative to be in your favor instead of against it.

- The 3 step recipe to navigate change and come out in front of it more resilient: vision, updated narrative, and support!

Have you navigated change? Let me know how it's going - leave me an audio message via Spotify (need to be logged in), or reach out to me on LinkedIn or Instagram.

In this Ep. of 129 of The Pausecast...

- Learn about the ten things you can focus on this year as a high EQ corporate leader - each one matters and can be a great thing to think about as you embark on this new year!

In this episode we get into each one for some thought provoking ideas.

In Ep. 127 of The Pausecast...

- Meet Rachael's leadership mentor, Dr. Bob Wright

- Join Dr. Bob in his personal mantra pause

- Why you need to know your "unfinished business" and what that means

- Why the 5 primary emotions are, why they matter and what you need to know about them to have more pleasure

- How projections and transferences appear on the job, and how pausing helps

- How we tell ourselves if we do or don't matter

- Why it's so important to incorporate pausing in work situations

- Learn and follow along with the Wright Developmental Model and the 6 levels you may find yourself at based on emotions, existential principles, and developmental stages.

About Dr. Bob Wright, MCC

A leading thinker in human development, Dr. Bob Wright co-founded the Wright Foundation for the Realization of Human Potential, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping people live their best lives to create a world that works for everyone. He also co-founded and was a Professor of Transformational Leadership at the Wright Graduate University.

An internationally recognized visionary, educator, program developer, author, speaker, and consultant, Dr. Bob Wright has been recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a top executive coach to leaders and entrepreneurs nationwide.

Dr. Wright’s revolutionary Integrative Model of Human Growth and Development provides a practical application of theory into everyday life, helping countless individuals understand themselves, strategize and take action to reach their potential. Called “the most powerful comprehensive model of its kind,” this model formed the core curriculum at the Wright Foundation and Graduate University.

In this Ep. 125 of The Pausecast...

- We need to be both ordinary and extraordinary and how to straddle the poles of both day to day.

- How your ordinary-iness serves you as a corporate leader

- Why it matters to show up as your ordinary human self

- 3 ways you can be ordinary every day to your benefit

- How to show up in extraordinary ways to shine your unique brilliance with others and be even more successful.

- How EQ is at both of these poles and why it's important to switch from one to the other!

with VIP Guest Andrew Duffy, Cultural Architect and Leadership Coach In Ep. 123 of the Pausecast - The not-so-surprising but surprising story of how Rachael met our guest and reconnected - How to define culture in any organization, and what makes a great culture at a company - What culture architects do and what the movement is - How to address cultural toxins / toxicity in the workplace - How to address a culture that isn't ideal - like micromanagement - Call to action: How to implement "contribution pauses" that build trust and develop culture and better relationships at work that can be motivating, inspiring and foster better teams and culture. - Retreat retention vs. smaller ongoing shifts to culture and which is more effective. About Andrew Duffy: Andrew is a vivacious spirit. For over fifteen years, his unique coaching has led people and groups to lives of love, vibrance, peace, play and power. As a culture architect for organizations, Andrew serves to bring more soul to people's work and workplace, catalyzing profound experiences, relationships, and results. Connect with Andrew at andrew@andrewkduffy.com or find him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkduffy/ References mentioned:

In this Ep. of 122 we sit by the fire with Dr. Leslie Carr and Rachael O'Meara host a discussion about the challenges of working and leading people while the world is so totally upside down.

In this Ep. 122 of the Pausecast we cover...

- The shifting paradigm of remote work vs. return to office (RTO)

- How toxic behavior influences how you show up at work

- Burnout in the digital age, and how to sustain yourself no matter what's on your agenda

- How prioritizing mental health helps the bottom line - from US healthcare costs to hiring and backfill costs.

This is THE Episode for leaders who are heading up people operations and supporting the organization to shift and show up in service to the leaders who are ready to feel more empowered and sustained while being great leaders at work.

In Ep. 121 of The Pausecast, we're shining a light on a hot topic for executive women right now: burnout at work.

Too often, we underestimate the impact it can have on our well-being and overall happiness.

Let's dive into the top six reasons for burnout, and remember that taking care of ourselves is never selfish.

In this Ep. 121 of The Pausecast, learn about the top six reasons for burnout at work 1. Unfair treatment at work 2. Unmanageable workload 3. Lack of role clarity 4. Lack of communication and support from their manager 5. Unreasonable time pressure 6. Toxic behaviors and attitudes

Take a moment today to reflect on your own well-being, and remember that you're not alone, and all high EQ leaders can ensure they don't feel isolated by reaching out for support or sharing more of what's going on with you - a courageous and vulnerable leadership move.

Remember, you are deserving of a fulfilling and joyful work experience.

In Ep. 120 we spend 40 minutes together using the power of meditative breathwork with the mantra, "I am all that I need."

Ways to feel empowered using this mantra: If you are worried about circumstances beyond your control like

- forced pauses (aka layoff)

- feeling stressed from [insert topic]

- health and well being of others outside yourself

This is a great meditation and breathwork practice to try. I recommend laying down if possible on a yoga mat or couch - no pillow needed to ensure your neck stays in alignment.

Known as "the mother of mindfulness", in Ep. 119 we join Ellen Langer, PhD who shares about her life-changing work that's in her latest bestselling book, The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health.

This book is a game changer and full of supported research on how the Mindful Body works, and what we can do to move from our current world of chronic illness and stress to chronic health. Here's a sneak peak into Dr. Langer's work and this incredibly insightful and helpful read.

In Ep. 119 of the Pausecast...

- Know the difference between mind-body unity vs. mind-body connection and why this matters so much for your decision making process.

- Understand the difference between work-life balance vs. work-life integration, and the predictability that goes along with it.

- Know the No. 1 question to ask anyone (or yourself) if you are feeling stressed.

- The difference between "trying" vs. "doing"

- Why "hope" is bad

- How cancer patients and all leaders benefit from The Mindful Body in ways that support remission and curing of cancer.

...and so much more!

We talk about IQ and now EQ is more and more common in the workplace - but how about SQ.

SQ stands for Spiritual Quotient and as leaders when we bring SQ to our leadership, we have more impact, feel more aligned, and more purposeful.

Here are the 3 questions to ask yourself to start to cultivate your SQ as a female corporate leader.

- On a scale of 1-5 how do you rate yourself on your SQ? (committed? consistent? integrated to daily leadership?)

- What are your current spiritual practices?

- Are you still in the spiritual closet or are you bringing these into your day to day leadership and workplace?

In Ep. 117 of The Pausecast...

- Understand the framework of how recovery works (athletics is a great example)

- Identify what season you are in (on or off? walk or run?)

- How to think about recovery as a corporate leader and what's ok or not ok

- How to incorporate daily pauses for peak performance

- How to create your plan to move forward to your recovery pause plan aka next steps.

In this Ep. 116 of The Pausecast...

- How to use chatgpt for business

- How I find ChatGPT helpful

- How to increase (or not) your EQ using ChatGPT

- can ChatGPT replace leadership coaching?

In this episode 115 of the Pausecast...

• Sometimes we're so busy thinking about what's next, or what we wish we'd done differently
• ...We are stuck in the future or past..and just not giving ourselves credit for where we are or the present moment.
• This breathwork is designed to re-calibrate you to honor the present and know that you are exactly where you are supposed to be - something we can easily forget when we're feeling stressed out or putting too much pressure on ourselves.
• Use this practice any time, any day, to get unstuck and to feel validated that you are right on time, and that is exactly where you are meant to be.

Breath pattern:

Halo Active

Triactive

Bottom hold

Halo Active

Top hold x 2

In this episode 114 of The Pausecast...

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In Ep. 113 of The Pausecast...

- Understand the link between over-achieving and being Stressed-and-Pressed

- Know the 5 signs you need a Pause and why we need to make it intentional

- Learn about the 5 stages of Stress and how stress can serve you, or deter you.

- How to move out of chronic stress or burnout to get back into good stress or lowered levels of cortisol

- Create your pause plan to move into a new state of being and not be in the stressed and pressed zone!

In this episode 19 of The Pausecast...

​

• Experience a distraction-rich, focused pause led by Chip

• Learn how to ramp up your "DQ" or digital IQ and how it's a predominant skill

• Know what makes up a modern elder at any company and how we need more age diversity and "Menterns"

• Greyglers, Modern Elders, and more wisdom at work

• Why talking "taboo" is key to being a Modern Elder

• How the magic of Burning Man lends itself to knowing oneself

• What Viktor Frankl, Pause, and the Modern Eldern Elder all have in common

• Learn what Chip does to stay on his growth edge

Chip Conley is founder of the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) and is a hospital entrepreneur and NYT best selling author. His book, Wisdom@Work, forms the core of MEA's curriculum and is inspired by his experience - as both a mentor and an intern ("mentern" - when he was will into his 50's, as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy.

I'm putting two topics that most people don't associate together - CORPORATE LEADERSHIP and SPIRITUALITY!

...and I'm here to share that you can have both...knowing stepping out of the spiritual closet at work will serve you - I share how to do this as you your next steps right here in Ep. 109.

I admit, I'm still terrified to come out of my spiritual closet myself y'all - but today I'm ripping the bandaid off, in the hopes that you too know your whole and complete self can have the courage to do the same and step on your Courageous Path to BE!

The Backstory

For months this podcast topic was luffing like clean linens left hanging out to dry. Just sitting there on my list of topics to record...hoping one day it would get recorded!

Well, the time has come, and here are 12 minutes of my story and why this is so important, especially as a corporate leader who is ready to rise to your next level of leadership thru EQ Mastery! Part of my story I share is on this spiritual topic that I don't dwell on often when I share a few minutes of my burnout story...but today you'll hear it in what I call my own "spiritual awakening."

And, it includes Burning Man and the meditation camp I stayed at (where I didn't meditate), which is a pivotal part of my awakening - which is happening this week so it's only fitting this episode debuts 12 years after my first of 4 Burning Man events.

In this Ep. 109 of The Pausecast...

- My story of how I burned out and how it led me to walk through some spiritual doors I couldn't "unwalk" through

- How to create your own version of spirituality at work and what that means

- Why it's so important to bring your whole self to work

...and so much more!

Are you in flow state at work? Or are you feeling too stressed, or bored? This episode shows you what to do differently to get into your flow, and it's based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's work related to flow.

In this Ep. 108 of the Pausecast...

- What flow state is and how what it consists of

- Why it matters to know when and when you aren't in flow as a corporate leader and exec

- Learn why knowing where you are in relation to flow is critical as a corporate leader and to avoid burnout and stress

- Know the two levers you have to shift into flow at anytime

- What peak brain performance is and why we aren't optimized when we multitask - in fact our IQ decreases as a result

- How to get into flow state whether you are bored, worried, anxious, or apathetic - it all relates to knowing where you are in relationship to flow!

References:

In this Ep. 107 of The Pausecast...

- We get into some great detail about the connection with your inner CEO and accessing your own personal power

- Name your judgements and beliefs about power

- How women are wired to access their inner CEO

- Create new empowering beliefs about your inner ceo and power that serve you

- The No. 1 thing you can do to activate your inner ceo

- What unconditional positive regard is and why it serves your inner ceo

- How to remove blocks to your inner CEO

In this Ep. 106 of The Pausecast...

• Join Rachael in an integrative breathwork session designed for women leaders who are feeling like despite how hard they try, we come up short for what we wanted to do or how we want to feel.
• Learn the breath pattern: tri-active breath (3 part breath) and halo-active (2 part breath) and bliss breath (shorter forced exhale breaths).
• Discover why it's so important to have an intention for something different.

In Ep. 104 of the Pausecast...

• Learn what the high octane fuel is for high performing teams (hint...it rhymes with GQ)
• The 4 Norms of High Performing teams, from Dr. Vanessa Druskat's research and the No. 1 trait in common (it's not what you think!)
• Rachael's experience of high performing teams (shout out to Google Authorized Buyers'!)
• What Wright's Team Empowerment training taught me about high performing teams.
• Next steps for how to build your high performing team.
• ...and so much more!

In this VIP episode of The Pausecast... we open the vault and bring back Michael Bungay Steiner(!), a world class coach to thousands of executives and best selling author of the book The Coaching Habit.

Brene Brown calls his book The Coaching Habit, "A Classic!"

He's also very ozzie and funny which I really enjoyed, and one of my favorite mentors I follow.

In Ep. 101 of The Pausecast...

• Experience a guided pause led by Michael
• Learn how to be more coach-like and notice your inner-advice monster
• Learn how to build in slower responses to advice, and stronger prompts to stay curiou
• The secret to working less hard but having more impact
• Why it pays to be lazy, be curious, and to be more coach like
• Michael’s story on how he found his coaching roots 
• Why saying NO is a game changer and leads to more yeses 

2 hard questions we should all be willing to answer. 

About Michael Bungay Stainer

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of six books which between them have sold more than a million copies. He’s best known for The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book of the century and already recognized as a classic. His most recent book The Advice Trap focuses on how to tame the Advice Monster.

He founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations move from advice-driven to curiosity-led. They’ve trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like and their clients range from Microsoft to Gucci.

In Ep. 100 of The Pausecast...

- Review the storyline of The Pausecast, and how it all started

- Some of Rachael's favorite moments and guests of The Pausecast

- Why it's important to celebrate wins, even if they're seemingly small or hard to think off

- What to expect going forward

Thank you for being part of the Pausecast journey!

In this Ep. 99, we get into how to make the best of a layoff as a laid off leader.

Whether it's your 1st job out of the gates, or you're a seasoned executive, this is a must-listen to episode.

Instead of feeling more stress and wondering how you're going to make it beyond this seemingly unfortunate event, what if you had the blueprint for how to structure your time, your job search, and to make the most out of your circumstances?

What you may not know if that you can actually thrive as a laidoff leader - not survive - but thrive. And I tell you how to do it in this episode.

And the door opens
Unto an empty chamber
Existent future

- Mark Wanless

***

In Ep. 98 of the Pausecast...we are doing a brief breathwork practice with the mantra, "New doors are always opening for me."

Do you notice the doors around you?

Do you walk through them?

Do you think they are the same old doors maybe, without even considering?

- Reflect on how you walk through (or don't walk through the doors in your life

- Hear what Brendan Bouchard, author of NYT Bestseller High Performance Habits, says whenever he walks through a door

- Reading: What it means to walk through doors using this mantra

- Breath pattern: Halo-active inhale/exhale, then pulse breath (inhale 2x, exhale 2x) which can be great with movement.

About this Ep. 97 of the Pausecast... - Experience a box breath pause led by Jake - Learn about Jake's story and how he almost became a sports agent and instead switched directions. - The 3 components of his Chief Encouragement Officer framework - Why competing with yourself will prevent burnout vs. competing with others. - The peak amount of time high performers do tasks vs. take a pause. - Jake's recommendations for simple and lasting consistent change - What journal prompts are excellent daily reflections and how to implement them. About Jake Thompson: Jake is an athlete, author, entrepreneur and speaker who teaches leaders how to compete every day with themselves. By winning the day, we win in business and in life. Through his CE³ Model, he helps teams, CEOs, athletes and students develop mental toughness, master consistency, and improve day after day.

About Rachael O'Meara

What are the 5 signs you need a pause as a corporate leader? If you have any of these signs, you qualify for an intentional shift in behavior to become more aligned - when this happens we are more in flow, authentic, and connected so we can lead and execute in ways that really serve ourselves and anyone else! In this Ep. 94 of The Pausecast... - How Rachael discovered the 5 signs by burning out of Google - Learn and Identify the 5 signs are to know you need a Pause, or intentional shift in behavior. 1) You used to love your job and now you loathe it 2) Your boss or a friend tells you you're not a fit (or something along those lines) 3) you need a technology intervention 4) a challenge 5) an opportunity is knocking Which ones are you experiencing right now?

How can you pause, or intentionally shift your behavior?