“It was simple: How I was raised was how I would live. I saw it all in a terrible, illuminating flash. Just as I had received a genetic inheritance, so did I receive an emotional one. The anger. The abuse. The isolation. The alcoholism. It didn’t take a genius to see that kids like me became a statistic,” Jewel writes as she describes moments after she paid her first month of rent to a home that was entirely her own at the age of 15. Having achieved independence from an abusive home, her pain was still palpable. How was she to break the path that was laid out before her? Her answer: practicing awareness

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“Here is something a lot of mental health advocates may not tell you: Meditation alone will not change your life. You have to find a way to put that conscious presence to work. You have to find practicable things to do if you really want to rewire your negative habits or make better decisions for your happiness. Putting mindfulness in motion is what my life has really been about.”

Despite room for more research, mindfulness has been shown in various studies to hold promising results in reducing stress, trauma-related symptoms, and emotional regulation in youth. As a practice, mindfulness has the potential to not only alleviate immediate effects of trauma, but also to promote healing and thriving. Studies have found, for example, that mindfulness can help develop a higher sense of spirituality, greater empathy, enhance forgiveness, and increase the sense that life is meaningful and manageable. 

Read more about Jewel’s journey in cultivating awareness to heal pain below:

https://www.vogue.com/article/jewel-mental-health