Shira Taylor Gura is an expert at helping people get unstuck. She’s a well-being coach and author of ‘Getting unSTUCK  - Five Simple Steps to Emotional Well-Being’ and she believes fear and desire are huge factors causing people to feel stuck. Trained in Psychology and Occupational Therapy, Shira uses what she’s learned in those areas and through personal experiences to help others. She is a firm believer that it’s important to learn to give your brain a break and she helps others through her blog, keynote speaking and on-line course.   Shira lives with her husband and four children in a small community in Israel. Contact Info Website: TheStuckMethod.com Shira's Book: Getting unSTUCK: Five Simple Steps to Emotional Well-Being Most Influential Person My two Aunts who practice mindfulness. Effect on Emotions I don't think mindfulness has affected my emotions at all. I think my emotions are my emotions and they're going to always be my emotions. I'm going to always be completely full of emotions till I die. I think what mindfulness has done is learn how to react to my emotions; how to allow myself to feel my emotions instead of run away from them and trying to resist them and cover them up. This practice has helped me to say it's okay to be emotional. You have emotions, then feel your emotions, you're human. Now take responsibility and see how you're going to be in the world with those emotions. Thoughts on Breathing Breathing is the anchor to be present. When I'm teaching a yoga class, I encourage my students to make their breath audible. When they hear their breath, it's a reminder to come back. That's basically what the whole practice of mindfulness is. It's constantly coming back to this moment. If we're living in the past; if we're living in the future, we're not being mindful. The breath is an awesome tool that you carry around with you; it's directly under your nose. You can use it anywhere. Nobody knows that you're using it and it anchors you into this moment. Suggested Resources Book: Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl Book: Getting unSTUCK: Five Simple Steps to Emotional Well-Being App: Podcast Addict (To listen to podcasts) Bullying Story I would like to share a story of how I was actually bullying myself. This is something I find myself doing more often than I would expect. I was in a situation where I needed to be out of my home and my husband wasn't going to be around. I have four kids and my three older kids also weren't going to be around. I needed help with my six-year-old. We live in a very small community and oftentimes our kids are inside other people's homes and we're constantly kind of co-parenting. It's very common and it's very fun and it's easy. So I picked up the phone and I asked one of my friends if they could please watch my son whose six. Just for one hour .... (tune into the interview to hear the rest of the story).