No matter what stage of life we’re at or what job we do, we all need a mental refresh or reset sometimes. In an effort to clean-up her own mental state and create a more balanced internal energy, entrepreneur Elaisha Jade founded Your Mindful, a meditation and mindfulness tool, and is now helping people around the world do the same. We sat down with Elaisha to talk about her path to Your Mindful, her thoughts on managing mental health, and her best advice for young people.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you became interested in meditation, self-care, and mindfulness?

I became interested in meditation through desperation. I was working on adjusting my mental hygiene but I did not have the resources available to understand how. I turned to meditation as an interim solution to understand my mind a bit more, which led to me eventually having the resources to start my therapy journey.

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur and start your meditation and mindfulness company, Your Mindful?

After experiencing the dire symptoms that a toxic workplace can create and perpetuate, I felt it was important for employees—and especially managers—to learn and understand how to be effective and healthy leaders in the workplace. I now teach workshops and meditations to companies around the globe on how to do so!

What have been the biggest obstacles that you’ve had to overcome in founding your own business?

The biggest obstacle was definitely overcoming fear. I was traditionally trained in Goa, India on how to guide meditations in person. However, when the pandemic hit, the only option was for me to teach online. I was a nervous wreck and I didn’t feel I had it in me to teach effectively through a screen. However, I jumped into the deep end and taught through 30 days of meditation recordings sent to my audience looking for reprieve during the first lockdown. I learned that I can teach from anywhere and really help people wherever they are.

You’re a well-versed world traveller, and your blog and social pages feature stories and pictures from a lot of your trips. How do you think travel benefits the mind, body, and soul?

I’d first like to say that travelling is an incredible privilege and I feel super lucky to have had the chance to explore the world when I did. I feel it gets me outside of my comfort zone and routine, and challenges me to learn more languages, meet new people and also respectfully immerse myself in a new culture. Growing up in Toronto, I was surrounded by kids of many other cultures, so I learned early on how to approach understanding different backgrounds. However, the magic of actually travelling to the home countries of my childhood besties or learning Mandarin for a month in Shanghai has been so fulfilling. Learning to let go of needing to be perfect or needing to have the perfect solution or results for everything has been a true test in mindfulness.

What advice would you give to young womxn who are trying to boost their self-confidence and practice self-care in the age of social media?

The most important recommendation I would give is to first look inward. Before anything, learn to neutrally understand who you are without judgement, without needing to change yourself. You don’t need fancy products, bubble baths and hashtags to practice self-care. If those things are available to you, great! But if they’re not, then really ask yourself what you need to accept about yourself and work to do so through books, mental health professionals and/or mindfulness practices. Then, you can begin to truly give yourself the love and understanding you need to care for yourself.

To learn more about Elaisha and Your Mindful, you can visit Elaisha’s website or find them on Instagram @ElaishaJade and @Your_Mindful.