CBD 2026: In-person Interactive Workshop, The Power of the Pause in the Era of AI with Tia Rich, PhD at 8:30am

“The Power of the Pause” Illuminates the Light Within and Promotes Health and Well-being for Individuals, Communities, and the Planet

Experience how contemplative practices strengthen our capacity to effectively engage in the complex work of creating health and well-being for all individuals, communities, countries, and the planet. 

“iPause to Thrive, Create, and Serve” describes lives that integrate Contemplation by Design®.

This interactive workshop provides opportunities to:

• Cultivate your understanding of evidence-based contemplative lifestyle skills that develop wise compassionate competence and sustain moral courage to meet the needs of the moment. 
• Develop a lifestyle that includes contemplative practices (e.g., loving-kindness cultivation, moral engagement, breath-based movement, mindfulness meditation, compassionate communication, and transformative service). 
• Learn about the important role of contemplative practices in the era of AI.
• Create a Personal Action Plan for greater equanimity, insight, empathy, kindness, and wise action.  
• Become more fully equipped to address the societal challenges and meaningful causes to which you are dedicated.

Scholars have pointed to the role of American colleges and universities as embodied places of societal values and aspirations, reflecting both academic traditions and heritages alongside social and scientific change and innovation. Campus communities can engender positive outcomes including skills for inter- and intra-personal relationships, moral courage, and civic engagement. Collectively, these outcomes can contribute to individual, community and planetary health and well-being, and to thriving functional democracies.

This workshop is offered twice, first at 8:30am and again at 10:00am. Choose ONE of the workshop time options to particiapte in the workshop offered at the time most conveneint for you. 

Tia Rich, PhD also is leading an iPause Guided Meditation practice titled "Breathing for Mindfulness, Resilience, and Well-being" on Thurs. Oct. 15 at 7:30am. She is presenting a lecture titled "Introduction to the 2026 Contemplation by Design Summit" on Wed. Oct. 14 at noon. You are invited to join us for one or all of these Summit sesisons with Tia Rich, PhD.

Tia Rich, PhD, MA, MSW, is the founder and director of the Stanford School of Medicine’s Contemplation by Design® program. As the principal lecturer for the School of Medicine’s Applied Contemplative Science concentration in Community Health and Prevention Research, Rich teaches and mentors Stanford undergraduate and graduate students. Academic classes she teaches include: Contemplative Science, Applying Contemplative Practices, Contemplative Competence for Sustainability of Public and Planetary Health and Well-being, Contemplative Movement, and Translating Contemplative Science into Timely Community Programming. She also teaches co-curricular classes through the Stanford Healthy Living program, including the "The Power of the Pause" contemplative retreat for faculty, staff, students, and community members. She has been integrating contemplative science and practices into Stanford academic classes and professional development programs since her completion of graduate studies in Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, and in Education at Stanford, after earning her undergraduate degree in Human Biology at Stanford.

This session is part of the FREE Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 14-25, 2026.

The full summit schedule is posted at: https://med.stanford.edu/contemplation/summit.html.

Registration will open in September of 2026.