Today’s special guest is writer Amy Edelstein to give us some insight into herself and her travelogue memoir, Adventure in Zanskar.
Bio:
IPPY-award winner and #1 Amazon bestselling author Amy Edelstein has a unique perspective on the relationship between the inner journey and outer change. Having begun her own meditation practice in 1978, and spending the better part of four decades practicing, studying, researching, writing about, and ultimately teaching a variety of contemplative methodologies, Edelstein established the non-profit Inner Strength Education, which she founded in 2014. Inner Strength brings mindfulness, systems thinking, and social-emotional tools to under-resourced schools, training more than 17,000 Philadelphia teens in under-resourced public high schools. She has now expanded the program’s reach with her award-winning, trauma-informed free mindfulness app for teens Inner Strength VIBE. Edelstein was awarded a Philadelphia Social Innovation Award for her organization’s work in Violence Reduction. She is a Cornell University College scholar and the author of six books, including The Conscious Classroom.
Please tell us about your current release.
In 1983, twenty-one-year-old Amy Edelstein set out on a solitary 500-kilometer journey in the highest valley in the world. Zanskar, the westernmost corner of the Tibetan plateau had only recently opened to travelers. She would spend several months walking by foot, crossing passes above 16,000 feet, sleeping in caves, meeting high lamas and monastics, and exploring a culture that had remained virtually the same for thousands of years. It was a culture that would change dramatically and irrevocably in the few short decades since. What drew her was the eternal seeker’s quest for wisdom and insight, what shaped the rest of her life is what she found. This is her story. Readers in our stressed and troubled times can now share in the fruits of her adventure and learn from what she discovered about courage, perseverance, kindness, meditation, awakening, and the difference between Eastern and Western worldviews. You may grow happier, wiser, and lighter in the process.
What inspired you to write this book?
During the pandemic, my non-profit doubled our activities, supporting teens who were doing school virtually and suffering from additional mental and emotional challenges. Writing has always been an outlet for me and I finally decided to write this memoir that I’d been meaning to do for almost 40 years. I also wanted people to feel inspired in a world where it’s all too easy to drift into apathy or cynicism.
What exciting story are you working on next?
My next memoir will be set in Rishikesh, a sacred Hindu pilgrimage spot. I am also working on a student manual to go with my mindfulness curriculum Teaching Inner Strength
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve kept a journal ever since I was 8 years old, I’ve loved to write as long as I can remember!
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I write in little bits of time, whenever I can. I realized that waiting for a long open stretch of time would mean I never finished anything. I try to write a book a year or so.
My “day job” is my nonprofit InnerStrengthEducation.org
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I get a lot of steps in, since my office is on the 3rd floor and the kitchen is on the first floor. Regular snacks, coffees, more water, and other breaks keep me thinking and pacing and then writing again.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Someone who thought and read a lot. I wasn’t quite sure what that would be but I knew it had to do with exploring ideas (not with science or math).
Links:
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Thanks for being here today!