Oi, I’m Jen Yih.
American-born Chinese-Italian-Brazilian writer, producer, educator, artist, nutritional therapist, & activist.
Personal Blog & Published Works
If you've ever spent time near the ocean you already know that she has a magnitude that can't be explained, only felt. Her vastness, melody, and purity is sacred. I spent most of my adult life in attempts to be closer to her. This is what she taught me.
Inspiration is an energy source. It’s a burning fiery spirit that lives deep inside of you. It fades away and grows like any flame the more air, space, fuel, and freedom you give it.
I looked back at the past two years of my life and realized I had been traveling like a mad-woman. I had to write it down this past New Year’s when I was reflecting on my life trying to set new affirmations & resolutions. A repeating piece of advice kept coming to mind, “slow down…”
It couldn’t be a more timely moment to talk about this. I’m talking about disconnecting. At the end of 2018, I went South to a faraway place. Little did I know that I’d be more disconnected from home, social media, internet, and communication with the world I’m usually connected with (digitally). I didn’t open my lap top for 3 weeks. My social media feed didn’t load and my e-mails were stalling in the Outbox. I gave up and put the phone away.
Home is not a place, it’s a mindset. It’s in your routine morning cup of coffee, it’s in a thought-provoking & soulful connection with another person, it’s in the ocean waves & the repetitive sound of it crashing to the shore, it’s in a window seat gazing over the airplane wing at the world below, it’s over a fire on the beach feeling its warmth on my shins, it’s in a favorite song that I fell asleep to on repeat…
A few years ago I took the most terrifying leap into the unknown to discover a side of myself & the world I never truly knew.
You are beautiful, just as you are, like when you wake up after a good nights sleep on a Sunday morning kind of beauty.
This little ranty article of mine is in reaction to a few fun current events in my life and ultimately, about you! I want to tell you how important you actually are. So, since coming back from this 6-month unsponsored, unendorsed world tour / travel rendezvous I’ve had some people reach out to me. There’s been a common theme, typically some sort of dissatisfaction with their job or life and seeking some big change or purpose. After seeing my Instagram or blog they think I may have found the answer to those deep questions from quitting my job and traveling the world. The other messages I’ve gotten is from people close to me who think I’m pretentious and…what was the word, a “humble bragger” - very offensive, yet understandable.
I was only 24-years-old when I landed what I thought was my dream job, and it was in many ways. But when I turned 25 and a few other “dream job” scenarios started to come into the picture and I questioned whether or not it was truly me dream or someone else’s, and there came the downward spiral kind of questions…
I recently returned from an 8 day trip to Iceland, where my sister-in-law and I rented a 2008 Jeep & decided to circumnavigate the entire country to stop and see everything we possibly could. We had no schedule, no real reservations, & the open road/open mind ahead of us.
I need to preface this article by noting that it’s not good practice to advertise your plant medicine experiences. I’ve hesitated to share my own, but with the many requests from my community & friends; I want you all to understand, from the best of my abilities, the seriousness of these ancient practices & medicines and life-long impact it has had on me.
After nearly a decade working as a producer, writer, and marketing strategist — why nutritional therapy? Random? Not at all. Here’s why.
Shortly after my 29th birthday I bought myself a Volvo XC90, I called it my “almost 30 car”. She was reliable, safe, black, leather-interior and seemingly more sophisticated. Many who knew me called it my mom car, opposed to my rusted Jeep with surf boards sticking out the back window, seats covered with Sex Wax and god knows what else. I camped, took road trips, had sex, and did a variety of illogical things in that 2004 Jeep for nearly 9 years. My new Volvo was sexy and sophisticated, I named her Vulva.
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“Home is not a place, it's a mindset. It's in your routine morning cup of coffee, it's in a thought-provoking & soulful connection with another person, it's in the ocean waves & the repetitive sound of crashing to the shore, it's in a window seat gazing over the airplane wing at the world below, it's over a fire on the beach feeling its warmth on your shins, it's in a favorite song you’ve heard for the thousandth time...”
“No matter what you do, where you go, or who you fall asleep next to, everyone comes into this world alone and leaves alone.”