It’s the riddle that plagues every woman on the planet: what IS the key to happiness?
Like most, I have spent the better part of my life trying to answer that question. For every yoga mat collecting dust, or every juice diet that never gets finished, I grow more and more convinced that happiness is an unsolvable mystery, like split ends, or missing socks.
After meeting Melissa Ambrosini, however, I have realised that happiness is not actually a riddle. It’s not an unsolvable mystery. Heck, it’s not even that hard! It’s about ditching all the fads and learning to really, really listen to what makes you happy…no juice cleanse required.
Lifestyle guru, meditation master, and all-round goddess Melissa Ambrosini has recently released her latest book, ‘Mastering Your Mean Girl’, a dense 300 page guide to becoming “…wildly wealthy, fabulously healthy, and bursting with love.” Whether you are 16 or 60, this book has gathered together teachings that span health, spirituality, relationships, finance, and food, and packaged them up in bite-size pieces of advice that resonate with simplicity and practicality.
As with anyone who decides to commit to the road less travelled, Melissa had to first make a stopover in what she calls her ‘rock bottom.’
After years spent in the notoriously judgemental dancing, modelling, and acting industries, Melissa had developed an unhealthy relationship with most aspects of her life: food, booze, partying, men. It took an extended hospital stay for her to realise it was time to start over.
Like a magpie, Melissa started to collect tips from healers locally and abroad, rebuilding a safer, stronger nest that would carry her better than before. She stopped drinking, threw herself into meditation, yoga, and learning; and started a blog in which she shared her journey.
The rest, as they say, was history. The blog grew to carry thousands of committed followers who couldn’t get enough of Melissa’s bubbly personality and down-to-earth advice. She became for many a demystifying force, a conduit to higher awareness, a translator that showed the ‘how to’ of a holistic lifestyle. Simply put, she made spiritual enlightenment look, well, kinda easy.
The book – ‘Mastering Your Mean Girl’ – followed, a modern-girl’s bible of ditching your inner ego, and instead passing the microphone to your true voice, your heart. (And if you’re wondering – no, Melissa’s ‘Mean Girl’ has nothing to do with the movie. Although my Mean Girl DOES sort of fit the Regina George profile…) The overriding message of the book, and our interview, was really simple: live your life with love, not fear.