New Release • Autumn An invitation to pause Living Lightly — Reflections on Living with Greater Ease This October, I am excited to share the arrival of my new book. As someone who has walked alongside you on the journey toward mindfulness and emotional wellness, I believe this collection of reflections will resonate deeply with our community. A small book with a simple invitation: to move through life with a little more ease. Illustrated throughout with quiet moments of natur

What’s weighing you down? Living lightly is about more than physical weight. Explore how emotional eating, stress, perfectionism, mindfulness, and self-compassion can shape your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.

SEPTEMBER 2026 • ESSAY THE MINDFUL EATING INSTITUTE OF SANTA BARBARA The Strawberry Notes on presence, uncertainty, and the sweetness of being here. In her profound work The Wisdom of No Escape, Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön recounts a timeless story that speaks directly to how we navigate life when groundlessness arrives. A woman walking across a field encounters tigers. She runs, with the tigers chasing closely behind. Arriving at the edge of a sheer cliff, she grabs hold o

Many people seek help because they want to lose weight and feel less stressed and anxious. Yet the struggle with weight often leads us somewhere deeper — toward emotional eating, self-criticism, regrets, boundaries, and the need for greater self-compassion. Sustainable change may begin with food, but ultimately it is about creating a healthier relationship with ourselves.

The power of a mindful pause lies in the space it creates between what happens to us and how we respond. Discover how pausing can support nervous system regulation, interrupt emotional eating patterns, reduce reactivity, and help us make more conscious choices - with greater awareness, clarity, and self-compassion.

Sustainable weight management is about more than food and willpower. Psychology-Informed Weight Management explores the emotional patterns, stress, habits, and coping strategies that influence eating—helping people create a healthier relationship with food and lasting change from the inside out.

So many of the women I speak with are tired - not simply because they have too much to do, but because they have forgotten what it feels like to truly pause. Our days become full. We move from one responsibility to the next. We care for others, solve problems, meet deadlines, and often leave very little room to care for ourselves. Yet healing doesn't usually happen in the midst of rushing. It happens in the spaces we create. When we slow down, even for a few moments, we begin

GLP-1 medications can reduce appetite and support weight loss—but they don't resolve the emotional and behavioral patterns that often drive overeating. Discover why combining medical treatment with Psychology-Informed Mindfulness creates a more sustainable path to healthy weight management and lasting freedom around food.

Behavior change is about more than breaking habits. Learn how psychology, mindfulness, and self-compassion can create lasting transformation.

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic®, Wegovy®, Zepbound®, and Mounjaro® can reduce hunger and quiet food noise, but lasting success requires more than medication alone. Learn how Petra Beumer's Psychology-Informed Mindfulness approach at the Mindful Eating Institute of Santa Barbara helps create sustainable behavior change.