Yael Shy
Meditation Teacher
Yael Shy offers over 10 years of experience as a meditation teacher in addition to 20 years of experience as practitioner in a variety of traditions. She primarily works with parents, in addition to young adults to help navigate their twenties, or better cope with change.
New York
New York
United States
- Jewish Meditation
- Mindfulness
Testimonials
Rarely have I worked with a teacher who could listen to me so deeply and compassionately, and then offer such practical and accessible guidance... I am so grateful to Yael for introducing me to meditation practice, teaching me how to feel emotions in my body, and helping me navigate some difficult life passages.
Student
Yael Shy's teachings have transformed not just my approach to mindfulness meditation, but to my everyday life. She is a dynamic and compassionate teacher, both brilliant and incredibly wise, and I've found myself drawing on her insights years after first learning from her.
Student
Yael inspires me, how candidly she confesses to how it feels to be human: happiness juxtaposed with sadness, and a mix of emotions ranging from anxiety to jealousy and anger. She’s searching for answers, and prodding us to do the same. She shares fears about the complicated and stressful world we live in, collectively searching for coping mechanisms. She finds solace in contemplation, and invites all of us to take a special time for ourselves, focusing on our breath, allowing the thoughts that crowd our brains to rest for a little while.
Writer, Self-Employed
Featured Works
View All
Connect to Lost Parts of Yourself
Discover your highest self.
Journaling Your Loneliness
Write for release.
Let Go of Intense Longing
Uncover the source of what you want and let it go.
Love Yourself Through Loneliness
Connection can come from within.
Meditation to Feel Alive
Invite joy in.
Meditation to Move Beyond Loneliness
Look your loneliness in the eye.
Mindfully Soothe Your Loneliness
Look beyond the hurt.
Reframe Lonely Thoughts
Rewrite your own story.
Body Awareness to Heal Loneliness
Feel into it and let it go.
The Joys of Parenting
Three practices to support you in your toughest parenting moments.
Finding Forgiveness
Three healing practices to help you let go of hard feelings.
Mindful Productivity
Learn a more sustainable way to work, think, and be.
Learn From Loneliness
Get to know what's lurking under your feelings of loneliness and find genuine, heartfelt connection with three short practices for discovering and connecting with your true self.
Banish Burnout
Find the tools you need to stave off stress, and stimulate creativity, imagination, motivation, and focus.
Calm Down After a Fight
Three practices to help you find peaceful perspective after unpleasant interactions.
The Hidden Cost of Multitasking
When our minds are divided between tasks, we can lose out on something essential.
Finding Strength in Traumatic Times
Trauma specialist and ten-time author Vimalasara joins Prakriti Poddar and meditation teacher, author, and coach Yael Shy, to discuss how they transformed their lives from suffering to thriving, plus advice for letting go of our painful past stories.
Stay Calm in Chaos
Give yourself space to breathe in a stressful situation.
Find Freedom through Forgiveness
Why releasing blame means releasing yourself.
Religion Can Learn From Mindfulness
Religion could benefit from mindfulness practices — giving it a radical approach that will resonate with future generations.
Feeling Disconnected? (Encore Broadcast)
How is it possible to feel lonely when you're surrounded by people? Join Yael Shy for a guided meditation exploring what it means to be lonely and what it takes to form nourishing connections. This session was previously recorded on Aug 1, 2021.
Yes, You Should Meditate in Your 20s
Being twenty-something is prime-time to understand your mind and heart, and to undo any intergenerational trauma.
Feel Connected to Others
When you feel lonely, you can remember that you are not separate from others, never were, and never will be.
Stressed-Out Parenting Moment
Find a moment of pause in the midst of chaos, giving yourself love and care before returning to care for your kids.
Visualize Success
Visualize getting exactly what you want to unlock the joy and possibility of good things happening in your life.
Attention Awareness for Students
Sink into the experience of being fully alive, whether you are in a classroom, the library, or chatting with a friend.
Mental Rest for Students
Give your mind a short rest from the constant grappling, questioning, and analyzing — and learn to just be.
Find Focus When Facing a Deadline
This quick and effective meditation practice will help sharpen your focus when you feel pulled away by distractions.
What Lies Under Loneliness?
Open up to the longing and desire within your loneliness, seeing it as an energy source instead of something to push away.
Preparing for a Date
Get centered and remember your worth before a date, so you can show up in the strength of who you are.
Mastering Forgiveness
Forgiving others starts with forgiving ourselves — looking with compassion at our choices and validating the pain we feel.
Calm Down After a Disagreement
This meditation will help you find inner peace after a fight, so you can feel better and respond from a place of ease.
Embracing Longing in Loneliness
What if, buried within the pain of loneliness, there was excitement and the possibility of new things? Learn how loneliness is rooted in longing and how to sit within that feeling.
Feeling Disconnected?
How is it possible to feel lonely when you're surrounded by people? Join Yael Shy for a guided meditation exploring what it means to be lonely, what it takes to form nourishing connections, and how to make a mindful shift.
How I Made Deep Adult Friendships
Just the awareness of the way I was walling myself off from others, changed me. Something started to soften.
Feeling Lonely? Ask Yourself This
Like a stomach rumbling, the feeling of loneliness is an alarm bell. In this case, it’s telling us that we need connection.
3 Mindfulness Tips for New Parents
Instead of letting your mind make up a story about how it's going to be, embrace the unknown.
Understanding Your Fear of Failure
If we want grow in the way that I think we are meant to in our journeys — we have to look right at that fear and deal with it.
Ease Pregnancy Anxiety
Feel settled, open, and connected to your body and your baby through meditation.
Discover the Gifts in Loneliness
Find the magic in embracing yourself.
Cope with Burnout
This meditation will help you get in tune with your own needs so you can soothe chronic stress and live on purpose.
Release Your Fear of Failure
Open up to your fear of failure so that it can spur you to action instead of stopping you in your tracks.
Meditation for New Parents
Treat yourself with care, patience, and love in this strength-building meditation for meeting parenthood's challenges.
My Anxiety After I Found Meditation
I had PTSD from 9/11, and my anxiety was through the roof. I was desperate for a solution.
Training
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New York University
Mindfulness in Higher Education Jun 2019 - Present (5 years) -
Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Jewish Meditation Teacher May 2009 - May 2011 (2 years)
Education
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Northeastern University School of Law
JD 2004 - 2007 -
New York University
Bachelor's Degree in Sociology 1999 - 2003
Experience
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Adjunct Professor
New York University Feb 2017 - Present (8 years) -
Meditation Teacher
MNDFL Nov 2016 - Present (8 years) -
Senior Director
NYU Global Spiritual Life Jan 2012 - Aug 2020 (9 years) -
Founder
MindfulNYU Feb 2009 - Present (16 years) -
Director of Education and Development
NYU Center on Violence and Recovery Sep 2007 - Jan 2011 (3 years)