personal growth | Vanessa Vella

My Long-Awaited Return to Vipassana

A day-by-day remembering of my third 10-Day Vipassana Meditation Course

Vanessa’s 2022 Book and Reading Review!

A review of some of the books I read in 2022 - and how (and why) I managed to read so many more books than usual

The Energy Cost of Being Less YOU

Hiding away the 'weird' parts of you takes up a lot of mental and emotional bandwidth you could use for bigger and better things!

We Need Others to Thrive

We need others to thrive. Maybe this isn’t news to you, but it was news to me, once upon a time when I prioritized my independence above...

Savouring: An Awesome (and Under Appreciated) Way to Practice Mindfulness

Something that really grinds my gears is the way people so consistently conflate mindfulness with meditation. Sure, meditation is a great...

Check Yourself: Using Ready, Willing and Able Scales for Goal Setting

You wouldn’t necessarily think of Ice Cube for life advice, but he’s got some gems. One of the most famous is: “Check yourself before you...

About Asking For (and Receiving) Help from Others

It’s hard to find a consensus about anything these days, but in my experience most people agree that it’s hard to ask someone to help...

The Importance of Having Faith in Yourself (a.k.a. “Why TF is This Not Working??”)

I often have clients who are going through the ‘Why the fuck is this not working?!’ phase of change and growth. This is a normal and...

Why I Failed At Books in 2019

A reflection on my reading goal and how it went this year, with some mini-reviews of my fave reads :)

My Sorta Secretive Return to Vipassana (a.k.a. Meditation Jail)

I’ve recently returned home from my second Vipassana course! Oh, you didn’t know? That’s because it was a sorta secretive return. I just...

New Habit Incubator: Getting Up Earlier

Getting up earlier is a new habit that many of my clients want to (or have decided to, for reasons of adultivity) tackle. People often...

Assorted Thoughts About My 10-Day Vipassana Meditation Course

Well, I’m back from my 10 Day Course, and so far my reintegration into ‘society’ has been great! I'm happy I went and I'm happy to be...

So... I'm Going to Jail!

In a couple days, I'll be checking myself into Mindfulness Jail. That’s the funny-because it's-also-kinda-true nickname I’ve given to the...

Self-Criticism and Self-Compassion: A Mindset Smackdown

Yesterday was a stellar day for me (yes, thank you, *curtsies gracefully*). Just joking! I managed to disappoint and embarrass myself, in...

Why Advice Is Not a Dirty Word

IN THE COACHING WORLD, ADVICE IS A DIRTY WORD. Life Coaches are taught to help people tease out their own answers from their smarty pants...

Read Things I Wrote