Yael Shy is the CEO and Founder of Sefira Wellness with over two decades of supporting others in uncovering their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy through mindfulness. She is the author of the award-winning book What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017) and teaches at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.
Share
April Delights
Published 2 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Friends,
Spring is right around the corner for us in colder climates, even though I'm writing this to you swaddled in a heavy coat on my back deck. Sooo close, but not quite here yet. To help you get excited, I put together a bunch of things that I'm enjoying right nowthat feel springy.
What I'm Reading
I usually read fiction and non-fiction together, and go back and forth, depending on my mood. For fiction, I'm currently reading The Second Chance Year, by Melissa Wiesner. It has the makings of all the things I like - plucky, feisty main character and witty, clever banter. I don't know if it will change my life, but it's fun.
For non-fiction, I just got the book "Selah: A Bayo Akomolafe reader", and I am IN LOVE with his words. They are poetic, powerful, paradigm shifting, mind-benders that will change your life and make you feel more in love with the world and its possibilities. I'll give you a quick sample (and it was hard to find one since they weave into these beautiful layers that are hard to snip apart):
"But doesn't loss have a hidden life? A secret fermenting in its body like a fungal parasitoid in the chest of an insect? At what point does grieving become the choreography of a strange joy? Maybe loss is also infected. Infected with becoming. Maybe we need to think of loss in more fruitful ways." Trust me. It is magical.
One last note - my dear friend Lodro Rinzler's book was released yesterday (already a #1 Audible Bestseller!): You are Good You are Enough. My copy hasn't arrived yet, but knowing what I know about Lodro, you will want to get your hands on this too.
What I'm Watching
I just stumbled on the show "Vladamir" on Netflix and gobbled it all up in two nights of very-late-night-shouldn't-be-doing-this-going-to-pay-tomorrow watching.
It tells the story of an unnamed female professor in mid-life (played by Rachel Weisz), who develops an infatuation with a younger colleague (played by Leo Woodhull) and how that infatuation affects her. It's the kind of show that is multi-faceted and layered, but the story that it tells about female desire, power, subjectivity vs objectivity, and the power that desire has to help us come alive (and also the damage it can cause, if not handled with care) is what really excited me.
Vladamir poster, featuring Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodhull
Have you seen it? Let me know if so, and what you thought.
Soom Dark Chocolate Tahini w/sea salt = perfection in a jar
Where I'm Practicing
I have the great honor of being in the AMAZING line-up of teachers for this program (starts this Sunday!): Unraveling and Becoming, a Seven-Week Journey through the period between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot. https://www.orhalev.net/unraveling-and-becoming. If you would like to join us, feel free to use my code YAEL15 for 15% off tuition. What is spring for, if not unraveling that which doesn't serve us and finding our way towards what we are meant to be?
So that's what I got. Tell me - what are you reading, watching, eating and practicing? I LOVE hearing from you.
With so much love,
Yael
PS: Planning your summer? Check out the opportunities below!
Retreats!
There is nothing quite like a meditation retreat to jump-start (or deepen) your practice, re-set your life, and reconnect you to what really matters. I am co-teaching on a bunch this summer - hope to see you there!
Jewish communal professionals, it's time to refill your cup! Join Adamah for ReTreat Yourself! Ramah Ojai Edition (California) from June 5-7, 2026. This song-filled R&R retreat is fully subsidized and will feature Scholars in Residence Rabbi Deborah Anstandig of Pardes Institute and myself. Together, we'll connect over the Shabbat table, learn Torah, enjoy nature, rest, move our bodies, and more. Learn more and sign up today!
Awakening the Divine: A Jewish Meditation Retreat by Or HaLev & The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies With Rav James Jacobson Maisels & Yael Shy June 30-July 5, 2026 // Garrison Institute, NY Registration open now (this retreat sells out every year): https://www.orhalev.net/awakening-the-divine#pay-now
Being with What Is: A Jewish Meditation Retreat for People in Their 20's and 30's by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. August 18-23, 2026// Trinity Conference Center, CT - Registration opens soon - save the date!
Yael Shy is the CEO and Founder of Sefira Wellness with over two decades of supporting others in uncovering their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy through mindfulness. She is the author of the award-winning book What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017) and teaches at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. You can find her on Instagram at @yaelshy1.
Yael Shy is the CEO and Founder of Sefira Wellness with over two decades of supporting others in uncovering their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy through mindfulness. She is the author of the award-winning book What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017) and teaches at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.
Dear Friends, I'm not very well-versed in the Taylor Swift universe, but I definitely understand her appeal. Especially when she says something that cuts right to the heart of what it means to make things. In this short clip, she nails the whole job of being an artist — and honestly, maybe the whole job of being anyone doing anything: Create something you love (or, to be more precise, get out of the way while creation happens through you), put it out to the world as an offering, and then let...
Dear Friends, I was on a flight last week and there was a TON of turbulence. Every time the plane swerved and dropped, I white knuckled the hand rests a little bit tighter, bracing every inch of my body against the movements of the plane. I was praying like a maniac (and probably cursing in equal measure), and my breath had become quick and shallow. Then I remembered the last time I breathed like that. It was when I delivered my first son. Having been a meditator — a professional breather —...
Dear Friends, I came across this short video reel on Instagram and it really moved me. It features a woman who is ordering off the menu at the restaurant of the Universe. She orders French Fries, because that is the only thing on the menu, but then she catches sight of another woman at the restaurant eating pasta. "How did you get that?" She asks the other woman. "That was not on the menu!" "You can order whatever you want," The second woman responds. "You don't have to just order what's on...
