An inaugural event “to literally slow down and simply be” is coming to Windward Oʻahu this month.
PauseFest, which was created by local mindfulness coach and clinical psychologist Gaby Toloza, will debut from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at YWCA Kokokahi in Kāneʻohe.
The family-friendly event aims to encourage participants to unplug and connect in-person through screen-free fun and activities, a collective 60-minute pause, and chance to shop local vendors focused on food, wellness and creativity, and more.
Toloza, who is also the founder of Mindful Connections and the Mindful Rebels Collective, says come as you are.
“I’m excited about the novelty of it," she told Aloha State Daily ahead of the event. "I’m also really excited about the beautiful space at YWCA, which is right there on the ocean."
When asked how PauseFest came to be, Toloza replied: “It came from just really wanting a more public, preventative space. I do a lot of mental therapy, often working in the reactive space … I wanted a place that allows for us to experience [things] in a healthy way without it having to be therapy. … This is not meant to be deep, therapeutic work.”
There will be messaging sent beforehand to those who sign-up on what to bring (a yoga mat or lawn chair) and expect, as well as a handful of wellness facilitators available on site, she notes. About 20 staff and volunteers will be present, and she is expecting at least 100 guests, who will be asked to turn in their phones to the "phone house." (Donʻt fret about capturing memories, there will be a photographer and photo station.)
For this experience, she adds, it will “likely be lighter and fun,” Toloza said, noting that during the collective pause in the middle of the day, participants can expect silence with some breath work and meditation built in.
“I suspect in that there will be some discomfort, and I kind of want that for people. I want them to learn to embrace their pleasant and unpleasant feelings that really are their power. … Mindfulness is a super power when we learn how to channel it as an individual and how it can work in a group.”
One of her goals is for the concept of mindfulness to become “a practical, usable skill [to] pause, notice and care.”
What that looks like internally, she explains, is noticing rather than evaluating or judging. She says that the emphasis for this approach to mindfulness is to “pay attention on purpose.”
“In a nutshell, mindfulness is witnessing ourselves, and we need to slow down in order to do that. Our minds in particular need to slow down and pay attention to other things like our environment or what’s around us.”
Toloza adds that PauseFest aims to be a safe and accepting space, where individuals will learn to practice patience and “the benefit of non-striving or non-doing,” or "conscious rest."
Attendees of all ages can also experience “the fun zone, bubble buffet, sticker and doodle mural, mindful rebel rest stop, slow lane, conversation cafe and take what you need station, along with the Mindful Marketplace, a curated collection of local, values-aligned businesses, makers, creatives and entrepreneurs,” a recent announcement from the half-day event reads.
Vendor applications and sponsorship opportunities for this event remain open. Interested? Contact info@mindfulconnections.care.
“The only moment we actually have is right now, the present,” said Toloza, who was born and raised in Kailua.
She shared with ASD about grief and healing after the loss of her dad and boyfriend in her late teens, early adulthood.
“What it taught me is fragility of life; tomorrow is not promised and the unexpected is sort of normative,” she said. “At the time, I got a lot of support from community and friends, and there was this almost accidental slowing down of life.”
After college, Toloza was an elementary school teacher for a decade and later worked to help integrate children with autism into the community. For nearly 20 years, she has practiced as a licensed psychologist in both Hawaiʻi and Oklahoma; her husband served in the military, which took her from the Islands to the Mainland, as well as Italy.
She launched Mindful Connections in January 2022 as her clinical practice and, more recently, Mindful Rebels Collective, “a gym membership for your heart and mind,” which includes community events. Toloza aims to grow both aspects of her business in the future.
As a healthcare professional, she says she continues to check herself and self-reflect, so that she knows “what it’s like to sit on the other side.”
Toloza adds that becoming a mother has made her a better teacher of mindfulness, among other life lessons.
“I wanted [my daughter] to have a toolbox that is going to be with her always, even when I’m not around. If she knows how to be mindful and how to practice that, then that’s a good resource for her.”
PauseFest tickets start at $29 per individual and $49 per family (2 adults and kids). Parking will be available at the venue. Details.
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
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