Tamara, please tell us about your wonderful company Begin within Productions and how your latest project, the children’s book ~ Happiness Doesn’t come from Headstands~ has been born out of this creation?

My intention in creating Begin Within was to create a space in which to share the tools, techniques, and teachings that have assisted and continue to assist me on own personal path.

I have been writing, illustrating and producing books in which to support others to find the calm within the chaos – at times, a difficult feat. I’ve primarily been developing properties designed to nurture children’s growth, enhancing their emotional intelligence. Children today face daily challenges as they navigate a rapidly changing world. Begin Within offers the support and education to children and educators to inspire their inner transformation.

Happiness Doesn’t come from Headstands is a modern day story about the search for happiness, and one girl’s discovery that even in the face of failure, peace can be found. It’s the first book in a series called Lyle and Leela that was designed to help kids navigate the complex world of today.

Your business message is how to find the calm within the chaos. What does this mean to you and how might we achieve this day to day?

In my own life, I’ve worked hard to deepen my own self-awareness and equanimity as a woman.

To me, finding the calm within the chaos involves deepening awareness and cultivating equanimity. It’s about enhancing self-acceptance, self-compassion and honoring ones limitations and experiences. These are some of the ways to find peace in this roller coaster of a world that we live in and some of the themes of Happiness Doesn’t come from Headstands.

Please tell us a little about your background and what inspired you to create such a wonderful book for children?

My professional career has involved work as a writer, teacher, music composer and performer, actor, and producer. For the past 15 years, my dedication to my own personal development, through study, contemplation, meditation and integration has been paramount.

My interest in educating children didn’t come from children themselves. It came from my own challenges, struggling as a child and then an adult.

As a child, I struggled with what felt like challenge after challenge. Growing up in a controlling environment lead to cultivating perfectionistic tendencies, where there is little room for self-acceptance or self-compassion. These were qualities I had to learn as an adult and continue to practice as best as I can.

The beliefs we learn as children become our core beliefs as adults, so my intention through the work I create is to inspire healthy and empowering belief systems in children from the start to help children become high functioning, happy, adults.

My sense has always been that if I had known some of what I know now, at a younger age, life could have been easier. Perhaps I would have been a little less afraid to fail in life, and would have been a little more resilient when I did. My hope is the struggles I’ve faced and learned from in life, can help others.

To read more please visit the entire post on the Beautifully Organic website HERE!