Author and speaker Gabrielle Bernstein has been called a guru by many
(though, for the record, she doesn’t like the term). When the New York
native was in Vancouver we met up to talk about meditation, Oprah’s
Super Soul Sunday and practicing what you preach.
New York is such a big part of who you are. How do you meld the big
city vibe with your inner calm?
New York was a big character in my life. I had to find the calm in the
midst of all that chaos so its not hard for me to teach that to others
because thats what Ive been doing for myself.
My intention is to give people the tools to navigate lifes experiences
with a more peaceful approach. So being in an environment thats the
opposite of what I teach gives me a ton of opportunities to create
mindful practices.
You talk a lot about following your intuition and showing up for your
assignments. How does someone begin?
I think the best thing is to begin from a place of willingness. If you
have the slightest willingness to change your life in any way then youll
be able to open a book like mine or youll be guided to a lecture online
or youll wind up in that yoga class thats life-changing.
From there its about discipline and commitment. For me it began when I
was 25 and was willing to get sober. Ive had to be willing every day
since.
The New York Times has dubbed you a new role model. Do you feel a lot
of pressure because of that?
Theres certainly a responsibility. When youre a teacher theres the
responsibility of being genuine, for me theres a responsibility to stay
sober, theres a responsibility to be respectful and practice what I
preach. If Im not living my practice I better shut up.
But I dont see that as something scary, I see that as an amazing reason
to stay committed to my path its not just for me its for anyone whos
following me. Its easy for life to get busy and for life to get big, but
you cant let that take you away. The only reason Ive had the successes
Ive had is because of my dedication to my practice.
So when Oprah called you up and says Hey, will you come on Super Soul
Sunday? what went through your head?
Well the only reason that happened was my practice. I was finally the
energetic match to receive that. There were years when I was like I want
to be on Oprah, I want to be on Oprah but that wasnt going to happen
because it wasn’t the right time.
So when I got the call with Hi, were the producers from Harpo. My first
thought was Ive been waiting for your call for ten years.
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