Patchwork Compass

Spirit Junkies Feeling Well + Good

The former editor-in-chief of SpaFinderLifestyle.com, Melisse Gelula, started Well + Good NYC with her friend and fellow editor Alexia Brue. The site is a digital wellspring of health related information for frenetic New Yorkers seeking trusted advice on wellness options in our grand city. 

For an article in their “Good Advice” section, editor Lisa Elaine Held interviewed me on how I met Spirit Junkie author Gabrielle Bernstein and how she has influenced my life.

This post is dedicated to all the inward travelers around the globe who are spreading love and light everyday. 

1. How did you meet Gabby?

Gabby and I met on a boat cruise around Manhattan that was hosted by a mutual friend of ours. I arrived alone and didn’t know anyone but the host. Gabby was seated close to the entrance talking to a friend. I introduced myself to them and asked if I could sit down. We have been friends ever since.

2. What drew you to her? 

Gabrielle is full of energy and passion and when we first met we immediately connected. I admired her for her entrepreneurial spirit and her facility to completely engage a crowd while speaking publicly. She still had her public relations company at the time but had begun coaching girls one-on-one and lecturing. It was a miracle watching her manifest the dream to become a full time coach, motivational speaker, and not too soon after, a bestselling author and radio show host.

Seeing her make that shift was a potent inspiration for me—she believed in her potential, her message and her purpose, and fearlessly followed that dream until it flowered into a reality petal by petal. Gabby is a tangible example of what it means to get out of your own way, follow your heart and expect miracles.

3. How has working with Gabby changed you as a person?

I was in one of Gabrielle’s first group coaching classes that took place in her apartment once a week. It was an intimate group of very talented women. Together we took stock of our greatest fears and obstacles, which were keeping us stuck in the heavy thickness of doubt and pain.

Drawing from A Course in Miracles and other spiritual teachers, Gabby helped us cultivate our own spiritual practice gently guiding us on how we could clear space for healing. She helped me realize that I put more faith in fear than faith in love, which was creating and attracting more of the same. Since then I have deepened my spiritual practice and still use many of the tools I learned sitting on Gabby’s living room floor, including daily affirmations and guided meditations. I am now more confident turning inward to shift from fear back to love. This has helped relieve much of the anxiety that used to eat away at me on a daily basis.

4. How has her message changed the way you live your life?

Gabby’s presence in my life, whether it’s in-person or through her lectures, books, meditations, video blogs etc., encourages me to stay committed to my goal of manifesting peace in every area of my life, to continue exploring my spirituality, and spreading as much light in the world as I possibly can.

On a macro level, Gabby serves as a gateway for a young generation of women interested in spirituality who want to begin exploring the many universal resources available to them as they embark on their own spiritual journeys. She also continues to create a collective space that supports others to connect more fully with themselves and with other like-minded women. I have witnessed the positive effects her work has had on many women’s lives, including my own, and know she is on a powerful mission.