Flourish:
A Jewish Mindfulness Immersion and Certification Program
Transform your meditation practice into a daily source of grounding and joy — and gain the skills and confidence to bring these practices to others.
A 12-week Jewish Mindfulness Immersion & Sit-Leader Certification that gives you stability, community, clarity, and practical tools.
Practice with Yael Shy
March 10 – May 26, 2026
Live Sessions Tuesdays, 5:00-6:30PM ET — with 1st & Last: 3:30-6:30PM ET
March 10, 17, 24, 31; April 7, 14, 21, 28; May 5, 12, 19 and 26
You’ve Meditated Before. But You Want More.
Maybe meditation on its own has helped you feel calmer in moments. Maybe retreat was powerful. Or maybe the app helped… for a week.
But your days still feel overwhelming. Your mind still spins. Your sense of meaning feels fragile. And when the world around you feels destabilizing, you want something deeper, steadier, and real.
You’re ready for:
- A daily practice you can actually sustain
- A warm community of people practicing with you
- Ancient Jewish and Buddhist wisdom and tools to show up grounded in life, not just on the cushion
- Support to bring these practices into your workplace, community, synagogue or home
- A clear path to confidence and leadership
This is what Flourish offers.
Information Session Recording
Not sure if this program is right for you? Check out Yael Shy’s recent info session for a deeper dive into this program.
Why Now Matters
These are unstable, unpredictable times — emotionally, socially, politically, personally.
Developing a regular meditation practice help you cultivate more inner strength, depth, and connection — not just inspiration.
You crave real community, wisdom, and guidance to accompany you as you move through the multi-crises of our time.
You are excited to bring the mindfulness that has supported you to help other people.
After completing Flourish, you will have greater capacity to:
🔥 Replace overwhelm with inner steadiness — Tools you can use the moment life gets challenging.
🤲 Deeply anchor yourself in Jewish and mindfulness practices that feel alive and embodied.
🎓 Gain the skills to hold, guide, and lead others in meditation with confidence.
🧠 Build clarity, resilience, and emotional balance in work, life, and relationships.
🤝 Join a warm, supportive community that sustains you.
Why This Program Works
- Structured support. Step-by-step practice.
You’ll be coached by Jewish meditation teachers with 20+ years of experience. We will be supporting you each step of the way.
- Real world tools + lived experience.
We teach you how to use these practices when life is at its most challenging.
- Pedagogy + practice + practical leadership tools.
So you can lead others without fear.
- Jewish and Buddhist rooting + ancient and modern sources.
Deep wisdom – not quick fixes.
“Thank you. Flourish ignited my love for Judaism on a new level. Before I felt that my Judaism and my diversely-influenced spirituality were two separate things. Thanks to this program…I now feel a beautiful renewal of my identity as a spiritual Jew..”
What’s Included
Live Zoom sessions:
- Opening Online Retreat: Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 3:30-6:30 pm ET
- 10 live weekly practice and discussion sessions: Tuesdays at 5:00-6:30 pm ET (All live sessions will be recorded.) These sessions will be held on:
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- March 17, 24, 31
- April 7, 14, 21, 28
- May 5, 12, 19
- Closing Online Retreat and Celebration: Tuesday, May 26, 3:30-6:30 pm ET
- A vibrant peer community
- Feedback as you practice leading others
- An opportunity to move through the material with a chevruta/learning and practice partner
Asynchronous Support:
- Short instructional videos to watch and re-watch at your own pace.
- Jewish source sheets to ground our learning and practice in Jewish wisdom
- Guided Jewish spiritual practices including prayer, ritual, chant, and embodied practice to integrate the teachings into our bodies
- Guided audio Meditations
- Journaling prompts to help you reflect, personalize, and integrate the material more deeply
- 1 Certificate in Jewish Mindfulness Practices from Sefira Wellness to use on a resume, as professional development, or as a precursor for teacher training programs
Regain the balance that enables you to lead, create, and flourish in work and life.
Curriculum
Flourish integrates Jewish wisdom and Buddhist mindfulness in a way that is accessible — and deeply transformative.
Judaism provides a sacred, embodied frame that connects everyday life to Divine presence and meaning.
Buddhism provides precise, practical tools to cultivate steady, non-judgmental awareness.
Together, they teach you how to practice with your body, heart, mind, and soul — every day.
“I greatly appreciated all the teaching, the wisdom, and the guidance you shared around meditation and meditation practices. The readings were always exceptional and the talks and support were always deeply honest and real.”
Week 1 – 4
Drop In
From overwhelmed to anchored in presence.
Learn how to settle into your experience and train attention with intention, awareness, and return. This is how meditation becomes a daily refuge you can access again and again.
Week 5 – 7
Move Closer
From autopilot to curiosity and clarity.
Explore your inner narratives with compassion. Learn to see what serves you, what doesn’t, and how to live more honestly and fully.
Week 8 – 10
Open Up
From contraction to connection.
Loosen your grip on small, reactive selfhood. Learn how spacious awareness and open heartedness anchor you in deeper joy and greater freedom.
Week 11 – 12
Leading Others in Meditation
From private practice to shared impact.
Craft and guide meditation practices for others, with supportive feedback and confidence-building guidance. Successful participants are eligible for Certification in Jewish Mindfulness Practices — a credential you can use to teach, support community, or deepen your spiritual leadership.
Real Voices, Real Experiences
Is Flourish Right For You?
Yes — if you:
✔ Already have a basic meditation foundation
✔ Want to turn occasional meditation into daily practice
✔ Are ready to deepen your life, not just your practice
✔ Crave community, accountability, and experienced guides
✔ Want to bring meditation into your community, workplace, or home
✔ You are ready to make a 12 week commitment (approximately 5-7 hours per week) in order to see real change in your life.
Yes — even if:
- You are not Jewish but are drawn to Jewish wisdom
- You don’t read Hebrew — we translate and explain everything
No — if you:
✘ You’ve never meditated before
✘ You are not able to commit to the program’s length or rigor.
✘ You want a purely academic program (this is lived, embodied work)
Register for Flourish
IJS is pleased to offer this course at three tuition levels.
We encourage you to pay at the highest level you can, which will enable more students to participate.
Executives and Senior Clergy
$1,799
Cover Your Costs
$1,399
Supported Level
$999
If you’re in need of additional financial assistance, please contact us at support@jewishspirituality.org
If you have any questions about Flourish and want to discuss if it is right for you, please contact Yael here.
Meet Your Instructors:
Yael Shy
Yael Shy has been using the transformative power of mindfulness, rooted in her 20+ years of study in Judaism and Zen Buddhism, to support herself and others through the pressures of life. It is her life’s purpose to support individuals and collectives uncover their inherent worth and capacity for deep joy.
Yael is the Founder and CEO of Sefira Wellness, where she teaches and consults on mindfulness for universities, corporations, and private clients around the world. She is the author of the award-winning book, What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (Parallax, 2017), and the founder of Mindful NYU, the largest campus-based mindfulness initiative in the US.
Yael is a graduate of the IJS Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training Certification. She is adjunct faculty at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Or HaLev, as well as at New York University. She has been featured on Good Morning America, CBS, Fox 5 News, and in Time Magazine and the Harvard Business Review. She lives in Stamford, Connecticut, and you can find her online at www.yaelshy.com and on instagram @yaelshy1
Rabbi Lauren Berkun
Rabbi Lauren Berkun (Guest Flourish Teacher and Flourish Alum) is Dean of Rabbanut North America and Senior Faculty at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, graduate of Princeton University with a BA in Religion and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Lauren was a Wexner Graduate Fellow, a CLAL Rabbinic Intern, and a Rabbinic Fellow in the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Rabbinic Leadership Initiative. She has also served as the JTS Midwest KOLLOT Rabbinic Scholar, Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Michigan, and frequent scholar-in-residence for leadership seminars at Jewish Federations across North America. At the Hartman Institute, Lauren has played multiple professional roles over the past twenty years, including serving as Vice President of Rabbinic Initiatives and founding director of Rabbanut North America.
Lauren is also a certified Sivananda yoga instructor with certification in mindfulness practices from Mindfulness Consulting, LLC. She lives in Aventura, Florida, with her husband, Rabbi Jonathan Berkun of Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, and their three children.
Jordan Sved
Jordan Sved (Assisting Teacher) is certified in Mindfulness Practices as a Flourish graduate, and is a RYT-200 certified yoga teacher. He has been meditating for 18 years, growing his practice through Jewish spirituality, silent retreats, yoga, and Buddhist Insight practice. Most importantly, he believes in every being’s inherent capacity for awakening and seeks to share his blend of experience in support of others’ journeys.
Jordan has started meditation groups in his living room, taught meditation to corporate colleagues and coworkers, and enjoys talking your ear off about the latest book he’s read on Buddhist psychology or philosophy. He has spent weeks of his life in noble silence.
About the Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Since 1999, IJS has been a leader in teaching traditional and contemporary Jewish spiritual practices that cultivate mindfulness so that each of us might act with enriched wisdom, clarity, and compassion. These practices, grounded in Jewish values and thought, enable participants to develop important skills while strengthening leadership capacities, deepening their inner lives, and connecting more meaningfully with others, Judaism, and the sacred.
About Sefira Wellness, LLC
Sefira Wellness offers transformative mindfulness coaching and consulting, rooted in thousands of years of ancient wisdom and the latest scientific research, for more ease, healing, and joy. Learn more at: sefirawellness.com