In this episode of Pause Here, we explore the sigh - what it is, why we do it, and why this simple breath may be one of the body’s quietest reset tools. We look at how sighing supports the lungs, interrupts stress, and helps shift the nervous system as a natural part of how the body regulates itself. We also adapt Pausing Point’s Calm breathing pattern into a simple sigh-based practice: inhale for 4, take a soft extra inhale for 2, and exhale for 6.

Press play, take a breath, let it out, and discover what your body may have been trying to tell you with every sigh.

• Shaffer, F., & Ginsberg, J. P. (2017). An overview of heart rate variability metrics and norms. Frontiers in Public Health, 5, Article 258.
• Ramirez, J.-M. (2014). The integrative role of the sigh in psychology, physiology, pathology, and neurobiology. Progress in Brain Research, 209, 91–129.
• Li, P., Janczewski, W. A., Yackle, K., Kam, K., Pagliardini, S., Krasnow, M. A., & Feldman, J. L. (2016). The peptidergic control circuit for sighing. Nature, 530(7590), 293–297.
• Knudsen, L., & Ochs, M. (2018). The micromechanics of lung alveoli: Structure and function of surfactant and tissue components. Histochemistry and Cell Biology, 150(6), 661–676
• Hirsch, J. A., & Bishop, B. (1981). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia in humans: How breathing pattern modulates heart rate. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 241(4), H620–H629.
• Grossman, P., & Taylor, E. W. (2007). Toward understanding respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Relations to cardiac vagal tone, evolution and biobehavioral functions. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 263–285.
• Balban, M. Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M. M., Weed, L., Nouriani, B., Jo, B., Holl, G., Zeitzer, J. M., Spiegel, D., & Huberman, A. D. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), Article 100895.

In this episode of Pause Here, we explore temperature - hot, cold, and why your body cares so much. We look at how temperature shapes your stress levels, energy, recovery, and sleep, not just as background comfort, but as one of the body’s core signals for safety, readiness, and rest.

You’ll learn why cold exposure can feel sharp, intense, and strangely clarifying, why warmth can help the body soften into recovery, and why the natural drop in body temperature before sleep is one of the quiet ways your system prepares to rest. From cold showers to saunas to the science of cooling down at night, we unpack how temperature shifts can influence the nervous system in real, practical ways.

Press play, warm up, cool down, and listen to what your body’s been trying to tell you.

• Van Someren, E. J. W. (2000). More than a marker: Interaction between the circadian regulation of temperature and sleep, age-related changes, and treatment possibilities. Chronobiology International, 17(3), 313–354.
• Tai, Y., Obayashi, K., Yamagami, Y., & Saeki, K. (2023). Association between circadian skin temperature rhythms and actigraphic sleep measures in real-life settings. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 19(7), 1281–1292.
• Lee, E., Kolunsarka, I. A., Kostensalo, J., Ahtiainen, J. P., Haapala, E. A., Willeit, P., Kunutsor, S. K., & Laukkanen, J. A. (2022). The effects of regular sauna bathing in conjunction with exercise on cardiovascular function: A multi-arm randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 323(3), R289–R299.
• Laukkanen, J. A., Laukkanen, T., & Kunutsor, S. K. (2018). Cardiovascular and other health benefits of sauna bathing: A review of the evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 93(8), 1111–1121.
• Haghayegh, S., Khoshnevis, S., Smolensky, M. H., Diller, K. R., & Castriotta, R. J. (2019). Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 46, 124–135.
• Cain, T., Menzies, V., Fay, N., Gray, P., Norton, C., & Stevens, C. J. (2025). Effects of cold-water immersion on health and wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 20(1), e0317615.
• Buijze, G. A., Sierevelt, I. N., van der Heijden, B. C. J. M., Dijkgraaf, M. G., & Frings-Dresen, M. H. W. (2016). The effect of cold showering on health and work: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS ONE, 11(9), e0161749.

In this episode of Pause Here, we explore how different genres of music can shift your emotions and your nervous system in a real, embodied way, not just “music affects mood” level, but breath, activation, stress recovery, and the inner climate you live in.

You’ll learn why a slower track can create spaciousness, why repetition can feel like a container, and why “calming music” isn’t universal, because your history with sound matters just as much as the sound itself. We explore a few genre contrasts (classical vs metal, pop vs rock, and alternative vs emo) to show how regulation can look like softness… or containment… or catharsis, depending on what your system needs. Lean how to choose the song that meets you where you are, then guides you somewhere better.

Press play, check in, and let your body choose the next track.

• Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress response. PLOS ONE, 8(8), e70156.
• Stewart, J., Garrido, S., Hense, C., & McFerran, K. (2019). Music use for mood regulation: Self-awareness and conscious listening choices in young people with tendencies to depression. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 1199.
• Sharman, L., & Dingle, G. A. (2015). Extreme metal music and anger processing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, Article 272.
• Schäfer, T., Sedlmeier, P., Städtler, C., & Huron, D. (2013). The psychological functions of music listening. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article 511.
• Pelletier, C. L. (2004). The effect of music on decreasing arousal due to stress: A meta-analysis. Journal of Music Therapy, 41(3), 192–214.
• Koelsch, S. (2014). Brain correlates of music-evoked emotions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(3), 170–180.
• Juslin, P. N., & Västfjäll, D. (2008). Emotional responses to music: The need to consider underlying mechanisms. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 31(5), 559–575.
• Huron, D. (2006). Sweet anticipation: Music and the psychology of expectation. MIT Press.
• Cook, T., Roy, A. R. K., & Welker, K. M. (2019). Music as an emotion regulation strategy: An examination of genres of music and their roles in emotion regulation. Psychology of Music, 47(1), 144–154.
• Chanda, M. L., & Levitin, D. J. (2013). The neurochemistry of music. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17(4), 179–193.
• Bernardi, L., Porta, C., & Sleight, P. (2006). Cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory changes induced by different types of music in musicians and non-musicians: The importance of silence. Heart, 92(4), 445–452.