A Fellow Human, On this Journey Too
I'm Gaby. I'm a mindfulness practitioner and teacher, a seeker, and someone who knows what it's like to try to manage life's difficulties by managing yourself.
Over time, I've discovered that healing isn't about becoming a better version of yourself. It's about learning to meet yourself with compassion, making room for all of who you are, and allowing connection and joy to find you along the way.
How I Found Mindfulness:
As a child, I experienced significant loss. My mom died of breast cancer when I was eight. By thirteen, my dad had remarried and divorced, I’d left my childhood home, and I’d moved in with people who were loving but nearly strangers to me before heading off to boarding school.
I was deeply sad, with little space to process my grief. Instead, I learned to cope through control: restricting food, striving for perfection, and obsessing over sleep.
In my mid-twenties, while driving from New York City to Massachusetts to start a new chapter of my life, one word kept flashing through my mind: Healing.
I didn't yet know what healing meant or where it would lead. I just knew I needed to follow it.
A year later, I found myself sitting on the floor in a church basement with about ten other people. This was my first sangha (meditation community) experience. We closed our eyes and sat together in silence before enjoying a reading and sharing about our experience.
Almost immediately, I felt relief. Something in me knew: I don't have to pretend here. I can be sad, and my sadness won't scare anyone away. I belong here.
And then, unexpectedly, I smiled. What joy emerged from simply not having to pretend.
That experience began my journey with mindfulness, meditation, and the healing power of community.
I've come to believe that when we make room for our pain, we also make room for more of life's beauty. We don't have to eliminate our suffering to experience joy, connection, and belonging. We can learn to be with ourselves, just as we are.
This is what inspires me to keep practicing and to share these practices with others.
If this resonates with you, I'd love for you to join me.
With love,
Gaby