Meet Paula Jane Newman

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Paula Jane Newman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Paula Jane, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

General Anxiety Disorder
I was always an anxious chid. Getting to sleep was a struggle and school tests would run havoc on my immune system, cause rashes and keep me in a flight or flight state. Nowadays, we have a medical term for general anxiety but at the time I was subject to put downs, criticism and called a, “worry wort”. The blame was put on me, that I should fix it and not be so difficult. None of which helped. It made it worse.
I simply powered through because I felt trapped. This brought about a pattern of determination but a price was paid with my mental state, my health and often I avoided activities if I could sense it was brining too much stress. My answer, was to move to a less stressful environment and to me that was the United States of America. A country founded on immigrant dreams and individuals overcoming circumstance.
I moved as a teenager but now there were different causes of anxiety and it all came to a head when I got hurt with an office injury working on the computer/filing (called a repetitive stress injury) that I observed my anxiety skyrocket. Medication was assisting physical pain but also my mental state. Most heavy pain meds affect the brain and I began to build up a tolerance. Finally, I had a vision which showed that even if I had all the money in the world, was Queen Paula I had anxiety. This began my journey to find other non mind altering solutions for my pain and anxiety.
Meditation changed my life.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My passion is helping people using my talents. I love my small nonprofit Aware Meditation Inc. and our new outreach programs via Rise Up Comedy. It is an innovative program fusing arts and wellness to help with stress reduction.
We teach online for anyone around the world (no need to be a performer), and help people find their voice with a unique approach to comedy. Most comedy classes are only about finding the funny or the punchline, we bring wellness into the mix and help people find their truth. It culminates in a performance, which invites friends and family to bear witness to their expression. We include pro comedians as part of the event. It is a delightful experience and the results have been astonishing.
Our next class is in August with times for Australasia and the United States. If we gain more interest in the Europe we hope to expand further.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities that I find most impactful in my journey are; friendliness, reverence and not taking oneself so seriously. Honestly, I am working on many of these daily even now.

Friendliness, I learned this tool from the Vedic Studies. The siddhi – maitri often used in Buddhist teachings as well is the door opening for others. Being English, I can be quite blunt, so this reminds me to take a breath and perhaps retype that text.
Reverence. I do not have to like everything that happens in this world, but if I hold reverence for it then I begin to separate myself from any emotional or trauma reaction I may have to others. This allows me to not have to get into everyone’s business.
Not taking things so seriously. This piggybacks off of reverence. If I have respect for a person but do not appreciate an action then my best resolve is to not take them so seriously. In the grand scheme of things, neither of us are that important.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I love to collaborate and every nonprofit needs as much support as possible. This comes in the form of volunteers, online assistance and those supporting the nonprofit financially.
We are looking for people who would love to collaborate with a comedy show and help uplift their cause and ours at the same time.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Ashley Ware

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