My friends!
Greetings from Bali where I am going to try to “chill.” Hasn’t happened yet but I’m optimistic.
Can I tell you a secret that makes me kinda shy? I’m hoping that one day I can be like Oprah (in all of the ways) but in one way in particular: I love how she sheds light on her own teachers. I am nothing if not a student: learning is my favorite mode of being.
So, using the tiny platform I have, I hope I can bring the people inspiring me to you. In the past few months that’s meant Gretchen Rubin, Kate Bowler, and just this week I hosted my meditation teacher, Rabbi James Jacobsen’s Maisels, founder of Or Halev on Instagram. It’s a multi-faith, welcoming, meditation center that teaches from a Jewish perspective. He broke down how easy and practical a “sitting” practice can be and dispelled the myth that your mind needs to be “clear” to meditate. Again, the only people with “blank” minds are dead! Instead, Rabbi James explained, it’s getting lost in thought, noticing that we are lost, and coming back to ourselves that is the gold.
If you missed him, you can click here to watch our discussion and to do a super short practice with him. One attendee said he cured her headache in the session and I believe it! I got so much good feedback on this talk - you’re not going to want to miss it! He also spoke about how he overcame debilitating anxiety. Which, I just think it’s worth knowing that it’s even possible to do that. If you want to learn more, you can join his weekly practice on zoom (it’s free), or dive right into a silent meditation retreat (like I did, with basically no practice, plan, or idea what the f*ck I was doing). I didn’t know they were going to do this but they offered a discount for you. Just type in the coupon sit_with_tara_and_james if you want to sign up for the silent meditation retreat. If you have any issues or want to find out more, you can email Galit - galit@orhalev.org
A Little News
I’ll be in Bali the next three weeks teaching a journaling class (apparently dreams do come true) and so I am going to take a tiny break from the newsletter (I’ll be back Friday May 3!). When I get back, expect some mystical, Bali-style, shi*. As well as recommendations on travel gear because I vowed on this trip to dial in my traveling ritual.
My paid journaling club, The Glow Getters, continues whilst I’m away and I’ll be sending out dig-deep-fun-non-obvious prompts on Sundays as usual. In The Glow Getters, our mission is to create a consistent, joyful, journaling ritual which helps bring out our inner, most authentic, aligned selves so that we GLOW, baby! When we glow, we light the way not only for ourselves, but for everyone around us.
SEE YOU SOON! TRY NOT TO HAVE TOO MUCH FUN WITHOUT ME!