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Dear friend עמ"ש, 

Gmar chassima tova! I hope you had a meaningful Yom Tov🌹

During one of the Rosh Hashana meals with my family, we went around the table, and everyone shared something they want to add or change in the year ahead.

I thought about something that has almost become my "annual resolution."  I thought about learning "chitas," which is a daily portion of Chumash, Tehillim and Tanya. This commitment has become annual, because each year, I start... and then somehow, I don't keep up.

Do you have a habit like that? Something you really want to change, yet somehow, you haven't done it yet?

This year, I finally realized something that I know will change everything. I realized this:

Am I person who prioritizes this every day? Or am I a person whose other responsibilities are always more important than this?

Without realizing it, I always thought of myself as someone who did not prioritize the extra learning. (I saw it as "extra.") No wonder I didn't do it!

Today, I'm working on changing what I believe about my learning. I know that with Hashem's help, this change will naturally flow into my daily schedule.

Think about the habit or behavior that you've been trying to change. What do you believe about yourself in relation to that action? Are you a person who does it? Or are you someone who talks about it, but doesn't do it?

In this week's podcast episode we explore one big lie that gets in our way of changing any habit.

The lie is... "I'm only human."

Now, of course we are human. That’s not the lie.

The lie is that we are ONLY human. Because we’re not.

There is a deeper Self inside of us, our Neshama. Our Neshama is an actual part of Hashem. That is our true identity.

This is not just about being picky with words. What we believe flows directly into how we live every day.

Teshuva means return.

Throughout the year, we get lost in our ordinary human experience. We relate to our human Self as if that's all we really are. We forget that we are Hashem's Daughters. We get distracted from our purpose.

Teshuva means returning to Hashem by returning to the truth of who we are.

We don't need to become a brand-new person.

We need to reconnect with the deeper self we already are, and start living from that place.

May we merit to actually do Teshuva and may Hashem grant us a גמר חתימה טובה, inscribing each of us with a year filled with revealed good!

Love, 🌷

Shterna 

PS: To gain more insight about Teshuva, listen to the classes on Teshuva & Yom Kippur! Scroll down for the links.

The podcast is ready for you to listen on our hotline, website, Spotify, and 24six.

On our hotline: 718-307-1100 - option 8

Do you live in Eretz Yisroel or Europe? 

Our hotline has a local phone number for you!

Eretz Yisroel: +972 797 040 094

Europe: UK: +44 330 350 3094

💛Put into practice..

Here are four things to help you welcome real change into your life:

1. Know who you are.

Whenever you want to make a change, and especially when you want to do Teshuva, start by asking yourself: Who am I?

Underneath my habits… Underneath my fears, insecurities and doubts… Underneath the labels I’ve collected over the years… Who am I?

Your deepest Self is your Neshama, an actual part of Hashem.

Take time to internalize this truth, because that's you can't change without recognizing your ability to change. And when it comes to teshuva, which means return, you can't return if you don't know that you belong.

So learn more about your Neshama. Think about it. Make it a part of your conversations with your friends -- share your insights and the work you're doing to connect.

2. Act on your identity.

Action strengthens our sense of connection. 

Ask yourself: If I really felt how deeply I am loved and empowered by Hashem... and if I felt completely free and responsible, what would I do differently?

What would I stop doing? What would I start doing?

Then go ahead and do that thing. Find another action, even something small, to express what your Neshama means to you.

For example, give tzedaka consistently, every day, with extra before Shabbos. Be more intentional about saying your brochos. Pause before you respond. Prepare a salad for yourself, and enjoy it instead of the junk food. Every action helps you internalize the fact that you are actually a Neshama -- fully respectable and capable of choosing what you think, say, and do. 

3. Notice when you think, “I’m only human.”

Listen for that sentence. And listen for variations of it: Sometimes we say the actual words. Other times the message sounds like: "This is just how I am." "I’ve always been this way." "I can’t help it."

When you notice these words in your mind, pause.

Remember that "Only human is only a lie!" Edit your thoughts :)

“I’m human, and I’m also empowered by Hashem.”

4. When something feels hard, get curious.

Living a better life involves effort. Sometimes change really is hard.

But the bumpy road is not a parking lot. If the goal matters to you, don’t stop at, “It’s hard.” Follow the trail. Look underneath the feeling and see what's there.

Ask  yourself:

What exactly is making this hard?

What am I bumping into inside of myself?

What am I afraid of? What do I want? What is pulling me toward the old behavior?

The more specific you become, the less helpless you are. Clarity gives you a way forward.

Yes, we’re human.

We’ll struggle. We’ll have resistance. We’ll make mistakes. But the reason we make mistakes or we fail is not because we're only human. It's because we forget that we are a Neshama.

Only human is only a lie. That's the truth that helps you change for good!

✨Something to look forward to...

🔥Tanya in Real Life! 

Tanya in Real Life is on pause until after Sukkos. The next class will b'ezras Hashem happen on Thursday, October 8th. 

If you’d like to receive the invitations, just click here to opt in :) or reply to this email with TANYA!

(If you already replied over the past few weeks, you're in!)

🌟Thank you for enabling so many women & children to hear the shofar this Yom Tov!

Last week, we shared the happy news -- that the shofar was coming to 6 local playgrounds in Boro Park, and to private homes where people are unable to get to shul.

HUNDREDS of women & children gathered in different locations to benefit from this meaningful experience. Thank you, Rabbi & Mrs. Freedman for making it happen! And thank YOU, dear readers, for your part -- you told your family, friends and neighbors, and that's how they knew to come!

May we merit to hear the great shofar heralding the arrival of Moshiach now!

📩 From our inbox...

Feeling Hugged
From Toby

I'm not sure how this newsletter landed in my inbox, but boy am I glad it did! Just today, during hisbodedus, I beseeched Hashem regarding a certain challenge hindering my personal growth. And in the evening, you came along. One email. A giant hug from Hashem. I'm feeling His nod. I know He is listening. He wants me. He wants us. Thank you for being the right shliach.

May you have a gut gebentched yur and a kesivah v'chasimah tovah

Note from Shterna:

Your feelings reflect on YOU! When we live with our eyes open to Hashem's love, we see it in the smallest moments. Thanks for sharing and inspiring all of us to open our eyes!

A Drop in the Ocean
From Mrs. K

I know the newsletter is just a holy smidgen of everything you offer, but even just that little drop in the ocean is uplifting and meaningful. The work you're doing is huge and life-transformational, I hope you double and triple the women you reach. By spreading your teachings, you're helping women live Geuladige now!! Kesiva vechasima toiva, a zeesa, lichtige yuhr!

Note from Shterna: 

Thank you Mrs. K! Your encouragement mean so much to me.

And yes, Amen to doubling the women we reach! It's happening because of women like you, every person who makes one phone calls, shares one email, one class.

Thank you for cheering me on and for leading all of us forward! ❤️

Turning on the Light
From Arbel 

Hi Shterna, thanks for your beautiful emails. Teshuva, a word that brings up different feelings now than a few years ago. Before it was stress to daven harder (what does that even mean?), desperation to do more mitzvos, fear that time is ticking. 

I certainly dreaded this time of year. I'm on my way moving out of there and still finding out how to, as you say in your classes, "turn on the light" by stopping to be so nervous and starting to concentrate on the fact that Hashem wants me to be closer, and realizing He's not out to punish me. 

I have to say I'm working on it!! But hopeful I will make the transition BH. Kesiva v'chasima tova.

Note from Shterna:

Wow, Arbel! What a meaningful message 💗 Thank you!
You are reminding me that real change is possible, even as it takes time and serious effort. 

May you see Hashem's revealed blessings this year and feel His LOVE every step of the way!

Curious to learn more about Teshuva? Keep exploring with these classes on Teshuva & Yom Kippur! You can listen on the Energized Living website by clicking the links below. ✨

Teshuva: Returning to Your Awesome Self. Part 1

Teshuva: Returning to Your Awesome Self. Part 2

The Power of Yom Kipur

Teshuva in a Nutshell

Yom Kippur in a Nutshel

Energized Living