New mobile meditation bus is a ‘food truck for the soul’

Pause, Jackie Corwin�s 27-foot blue bus, is the first �mobile meditation center� in California. Inside, you�ll find seven 3-foot-by-4-foot pods with cushioned seats, headphones and app-enabled tablets that lead you through 15-minute meditations accompanied by music or gentle instruction�.pause-now.com less Pause, Jackie Corwin�s 27-foot blue bus, is the first �mobile meditation center� in California. Inside, you�ll find seven 3-foot-by-4-foot pods with cushioned seats, headphones and app-enabled tablets ... more Photo: Tony Froude Photo: Tony Froude Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close New mobile meditation bus is a ‘food truck for the soul’ 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

When Jackie Corwin was a banker at Wells Fargo, she would slip away from her office at peak stress moments to meditate in a quiet alcove. She dreamed of leaving the mortgage industry to open a meditation center, but Bay Area rents seemed too prohibitive. One day, as she settled into her seat, she glanced out the window and saw a line of food trucks outside. “Gosh, what if I do a mobile meditation center?” she exclaimed to herself.

After years of planning and fundraising, Pause, Corwin’s 27-foot, bright blue bus, is now parking in “beta testing” mode outside companies and schools around the Bay Area, in preparation for its official launch Feb. 23. It is the first mobile meditation center in California, one of only a few in the entire country.

Step inside the bus and the sunlight and street sounds fade out. Curtains stretch across the openings to seven 3-by-4-foot meditation stalls. Most are outfitted with cushioned benches, several with cushions and blankets; one stall accommodates wheelchairs as well. Headphones and pads direct solace-seekers to 15-minute meditations — there are 11 to choose from — some guided, some with music or sounds.

“Most of the people who try the bus have never meditated before or have meditated less than five times,” she says. It may be surprising to non-meditators how big a mood shift a quarter-hour session can achieve.

Corwin has designed Pause to accept online reservations through its website. She hopes companies with wellness programs will rent the bus, but she may make pay-by-session appearances in public spaces as well. “There are so many corporations that have stressed-out employees,” Corwin says.

For more information on Pause and its calendar of appearances, go to www.pausenowbus.com .

Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @jonkauffman.