The Pause Method

The Science Behind the Pause

The Pause method combines several evidence-based interventions from cognitive behavioural therapy, dialectical behaviour therapy, and mindfulness research:

Rather than asking you to learn complex techniques, the Pause flow guides you through them automatically. You're practicing evidence-based interventions just by using the tool.

The Flow Explained

The Pause flow is designed as a decision tree-it adapts to your situation. Here's the core structure:

1. Check in - Are you hungry, not hungry, or unsure?
2. Name emotion - What are you actually feeling?
3. Urge surf - Observe the urge for 20 seconds
4. Quick relief - Try an alternative coping strategy
5. Re-check - How's the urge now? High or low?
6. Choose - Exit (urge passed) or eat intentionally

If the urge remains high after quick relief, you can either try another strategy or use the 10-minute rule-setting a timer and checking back. Let's look at each step in detail.

Step 1: Check In

The first step asks you to identify your current state:

• "I want to eat but I'm not hungry" - Proceeds to emotional awareness steps
• "I'm not sure what I'm feeling" - Proceeds to help you explore
• "I'm hungry, but I want to eat intentionally" - Skips to mindful eating guidance

Why This Matters

This step implements the physical vs. emotional hunger distinction. Just asking the question creates a moment of awareness-breaking the automatic cue-routine-reward loop by inserting a conscious decision point.

Many users report that simply opening the app and seeing this question is enough to interrupt the autopilot, even before completing the full flow.

Step 2: Name Your Emotion

You're presented with common emotional eating triggers and asked to identify what you're feeling:

The Science: Affect Labeling

This step implements affect labelling-putting feelings into words. Research by UCLA neuroscientist Matthew Lieberman found that:

• Naming an emotion reduces activity in the amygdala (emotional center)
• It increases activity in the prefrontal cortex (reasoning center)
• The effect occurs even when people don't consciously feel calmer
• Specific emotion words work better than vague ones

Step 3: Urge Surf

This is a 20-second guided pause where you observe the urge without acting on it:

"Pause. Notice the urge. Where do you feel it in your body? It will rise, peak, fade. Stay with it for 20 seconds."

The Science: Urge Surfing

Urge surfing was developed by psychologist Alan Marlatt for addiction treatment. The key insight: urges are temporary. They rise, peak, and subside-like waves. By observing rather than reacting, you learn that urges pass on their own.

20 seconds isn't long enough for a full urge to pass, but it's enough to:

• Practice the technique
• Experience that urges do change when observed
• Create space between stimulus and response
• Keep the flow short enough to actually complete

Step 4: Quick Relief

After urge surfing, you choose an alternative coping strategy:

The Science: Alternative Rewards

Remember the habit loop: cue → routine → reward. To change a habit, you need to keep the cue and reward but swap the routine. These quick reliefs provide:

• Physical relief: Deep breaths, stretching, cold water provide sensory input
• State change: Moving to another room changes your environment
• Social connection: Sending a message addresses loneliness
• Calm: Closing eyes reduces stimulation

We prompt: "Give your brain relief another way. These reduce the urgency so you can choose clearly." The goal is to satisfy the underlying need without eating.

Step 5: Re-Check

After the quick relief, you rate your urge on a scale from 1-4 (very low to high):

• If urge is low (1-2): Success! The flow celebrates and the session is saved.
• If urge is high (3-4): Two options-try another quick relief or use the 10-minute rule.

Why This Matters

This step builds awareness of how your urge changes. Over time, you'll notice that urges often decrease after the flow-even if they're still present. Tracking this builds confidence that you can tolerate urges without acting on them.

Step 6: Eat Intentionally (If You Choose To)

If you decide to eat-whether because you're actually hungry or the urge persists-the flow guides you through mindful eating:

1. Put it on a plate or in a bowl - Creates intentionality, not eating from the bag
2. Sit down - Designates eating as an activity, not multitasking
3. Take your first three bites slowly - Maximizes pleasure where it's highest
4. Notice the taste - Engages sensory awareness
5. Stop when the pleasure drops - Uses hedonic adaptation to guide portion

The Science: Mindful Eating

These steps implement key principles from Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT):

• Eating from a plate creates a visual cue for portion size
• Sitting focuses attention on eating
• The first three bites use hedonic adaptation research
• Noticing pleasure decline helps recognize natural stopping points

Tracking Your Progress

Each completed pause is saved to your device (not our servers-your data stays private). Over time, you build a picture of your patterns:

If you're working with a therapist, you can share this data to inform your treatment. Export your data anytime from the app settings.

Additional Resources

Research underlying the Pause method:

• Putting feelings into words: Affect labelling - UCLA
• Urge surfing and mindfulness-based relapse prevention - Behaviour Research and Therapy
• Delay discounting and self-control - Behavioural Processes
• Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) - Eating Disorders
• Hedonic adaptation and eating - Journal of Consumer Research
• The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
• Self-compassion and health behaviours - Health Psychology
• Mindful Eating - British Dietetic Association