November Round-Up!

Dear Ones,

I celebrated my birthday last Sunday! It was a quiet one - brunch with my family, a visit to a bookstore, and then an escape room, which was SO fun, even for a claustrophobe like me. We even actually escaped, which is how I am able to write to you today. ;)

Sometimes my birthdays have BIG messages for me -- like last year, when I heard the words loud and clear that guided my entire year: STOP making decisions based on what people think about you. That one had me grappling all year long. Other years, my birthdays have been moments where I decided to take on a new habit with vigor - like flossing, complex skin care, or drinking more water.

This year I wasn't exactly sure what my birthday was calling me to do. It feels related to the concept of emptiness - particularly around releasing a lot of grasping around ego. This means that every time I notice a clenching up about whether "I" am good, bad, liked, disliked, important, a failure, a winner, or ANYTHING solid and unchanging at all, I soften. I remember that I am process. That I am "God-ing" (to use my teacher, Rabbi David Cooper's z"l language). That I am love. That there really is no "I" outside of the dependent co-arising of all of life in every single moment. It is very relaxing. There becomes so much less to prove or defend.

Scenes from the rest of November:

I had a blast co-leading Goals with Soul with my friend and NYU co-teacher, Dr. Sheikh Faiyaz Jaffer and hundreds of NYU students, staff, faculty and friends. We talked about how to make goals that light you up instead of deplete you, and that actually bloom into transformation. We are thinking of taking this workshop on the road, so if it sounds like something you want to bring to your community, let's talk!

I had the chance to talk about desire and dharma for my Youtube Series with my dear friend, and AMAZING meditation teacher, Alison Cohen. She gave us so many gems in this conversation, including an exploration of how to find our deepest desires when they feel hidden or obscured. She says:

"We often end up, from such a young age, overriding our desires or pushing them to the side or telling ourselves ‘I don’t really have this desire.’ And then over time we become so disconnected from desire. But desire is deeply connected to a sense of aliveness and vitality. The confusion in our culture is around whether desires have to come to pass in order for them to be of benefit to us.”

*Please note:* we discuss the decision about whether or not to have children in this video.

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IS LEARNING TO GUIDE PEOPLE IN MEDITATION IN 2026 ON YOUR RESOLUTION LIST?

I'm so thrilled to be continuing my collaboration with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality next year, offering Flourish: A Jewish Meditation Immersion and Certification Program for those who would like to dive deeply into Jewish and Buddhist meditation practices in a warm community and to receive certification and training in how to guide others. Use the code YS_2026 for $100 off the tuition price.

Sending so much love your way,

Yael

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.

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