A new book on desire.
Coming Summer 2027
Yael's next book is for women in midlife who have spent years trying to manage anxiety by wanting less — and found it still isn't working. The answer isn't less desire. It's more. A guide to using desire as the tool that finally quiets the anxiety and brings you back to yourself.
Publishing with Diversion Books, Summer 2027.
What Now? Meditation For Your Twenties & Beyond by Yael Shy
An award-winning guide to meditation. (Parallax, 2017)
Early adulthood is filled with intense emotions and insecurity. What if you never fall in love? What if you can't find work you're passionate about? You're lost in the noise of how you think you should be living — and worried about wasting what everyone says should be the best years of your life.
What Now? shares mindfulness practices to help twentysomethings learn to identify and accept their feelings, and to respond — not react — to painful and powerful stimuli without pushing them away or getting lost in them. This isn't about fixing yourself or being "better." You are already completely whole and completely worthy.
Yael Shy offers expert guidance on beginning a meditation practice, and explores how to bring that practice to love, social media, justice, and the ups and downs of everyday life.
Awards
Mind Body Spirit Award, Best Meditation Book of 2017
Nautilus Silver Award, 2017
Praise for What Now?
Chelsea Clinton
"Yael's ability to take meditation out of the ephemeral and make it real-life relevant."
"Part of what makes What Now? such a special read is Yael's ability to take meditation out of the ephemeral and make it real-life relevant. Yael does this through her unflinching honesty in sharing her own anxieties, challenges, heartbreaks and triumphs. Never arrogant, deeply humble and always purposeful, What Now? makes a strong case for why meditation can help anyone better understand a moment or a life. It's clear that meditation has helped Yael become whom she always was meant to be — and helped her write an absolutely beautiful book."
Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation; author of She Persisted
"I can't think of a better guide for young people in search of honest spirituality than Yael Shy."
"What Now? is a wonderful book — straightforward, personal, and engaging. Its grasp of basic Buddhist teachings and meditation techniques is impressive, and it extends them into areas of interest for young people, all the way up to activism, relationships, and even sex. I can't think of a better guide for young people in search of honest spirituality than Yael Shy."
Norman Fischer, former Co-Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center
"A way to choose your next steps in life, and meet strong emotions as a source of power."
"Yael Shy's book offers meditation as more than the self-help method du jour, but as a way to choose your next steps in life, meet strong emotions as a source of power, and navigate beyond harsh self-judgment to become who you long to be."
Susan Piver, author of Start Here Now
"Refreshing to read and a joyful offering to the world."
"The key question is: how do you have an integrated life? In this book, Yael brings us through her own struggles and joys of living a life of attention, compassion and awareness. It is refreshing to read and a joyful offering to the world."
Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Co-Founder, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care
"This easily digested, insightful book will be welcomed by her target audience."
"Shy draws from her own experiences to offer meditation advice to 20-somethings in this light, approachable guide. What sets Shy's offering apart is her candor in revealing her own vulnerability as a young person... This easily digested, insightful book will be welcomed by her target audience."
Publishers Weekly