The People We Fall in Love With
Free 5-Day Mindfulness Challenge – Interview with Mindful in May Founder Elise Bialylew
Every year, I share a little about Mindful in May, a month-long online meditation program that can dramatically improve your state of your mind and your life, while also transforming the lives of others living in poverty.
This year, I was grateful to connect with Mindful in May founder Elise Bialylew to learn more about the program; how mindfulness can help with depression, anxiety, and chronic stress; and how you can you can get a free taste of the already dramatically discounted program from April 8th through 12th.
Here’s what Elise had to say…
1. Can you tell us
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Before You Send That Message to Your Ex, Consider This
“If the hurt comes so will the happiness. Be patient.” ~Rupi Kaur
What if I said instead of messaging our ex, we had a different choice, a choice that will be even more fulfilling than acting on the urge to share whatever we’re feeling right now?
It’s been over a year since I last spoke with my ex. While I’ve thought about him and missed him, I’ve known that getting in contact wasn’t the right thing, and so I haven’t taken any action to reconnect.
For the past few weeks, however, my thoughts have been seeping in, focusing on …
Why Compliments Made Me Cringe and How I’ve Learned to Accept Praise
“Even when the sea is stirred up by the winds of self-doubt, we can find our way home.” ~Tara Brach
What is it about praise that’s so hard to hear sometimes?
You know the drill. You do something noteworthy, like cooking a meal for your friends or getting on stage to do a talk. Assuming things go okay, your friends or colleagues tell you a bunch of nice, encouraging things afterward:
“This meal is delicious!”
“You did great up there!”
And suddenly you feel uncomfortable.
Maybe you deflect those nice, encouraging words (“Oh, it was nothing, really”). Or …
How Embracing and Loving My “Negative” Emotions Helped Heal My Pain
“Do not fight against pain; do not fight against irritation or jealousy. Embrace them with great tenderness, as though you were embracing a little baby. Your anger is yourself, and you should not be violent toward it. The same thing goes for all your emotions.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
For a long time, heaviness and dark feelings were very familiar to me. In a strange way they were comforting; I felt safe in darkness. The light felt more painful to me, but I also wanted to change because I wanted to free myself from the limitations of staying in the dark.…
Why We Close Ourselves Off to Friendships and How to Open Up
“If you accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you.” ~Louise Hay
Picking the flimsy gold lock on my groovy denim-covered childhood diary, I’m instantly transported back to my ten-year-old life.
Each page duly describes what I what I ate for dinner that day as well as what my two best friends and I got up to. It was 1976 and we were obsessed with Charlie’s Angels, cruising around “undercover” on our bikes, solving fresh crimes around the neighborhood.
Every couple of weeks I’d report the latest drama amongst the three of us. Either my …
My Needs Matter Too: How I Started Speaking Up and Setting Boundaries
“Setting boundaries is a way of caring for myself. It doesn’t make me mean, selfish, or uncaring just because I don’t do things your way. I care about me, too.” ~Christine Morgan
In my early twenties, I could shout into a megaphone at a political rally of thousands, but I couldn’t decline drinks from strangers at the bar. I could perform original music for an attentive audience, but I couldn’t tell my friends when I felt hurt by something they’d said. I could start a business, advocate for new laws at City Hall, and share deeply personal poetry on Facebook, …
Slow, Imperfect Progress Is Better Than None at All
“When perfectionism is driving, shame is riding shotgun, and fear is that annoying backseat driver.” Brené Brown
Sometimes I feel like the girl who cried film.
I first wrote a blog post introducing Tiny Buddha Productions three years ago, and despite my earnestness, passion, and enthusiasm, I have only one short film to show for myself.
When I was working on this short, which we filmed partly in my apartment—in my bedroom, amid the worn clothes and shoes in my walk-in closet even—I felt more alive and aligned than I’d felt in years.
I was doing something I’d wanted to …
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