Elephant Journal

The Elephant Journal is your guide to what we like to call ‘the mindful life’: yoga, organics, sustainability, genuine spirituality, conscious consumerism, fair fashion, the contemplative arts…

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Featured Writers

Maria Ermides

Amy Thornley

Amy Thornley is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her work has been published in Elephant Journal, Cincy Magazine, VOYA, and more.

My Portfolio

Hello! I'm Fiona, marketing/advertising enthusiast and fan of Hawaiian pizza. Originally from Minneapolis, I am now a six year East Coast resident. During those six years, I have gained experience …

Ruth Cuevas

John Tan

John is a Malaysian writer and content creator who makes a living out of his passion for music, movies, pop culture, personal stories and anything lifestyle.

Hande Oynar

Freelance writer and editor based in New York City. Expertise in wellness, art, design, travel and city guides. Columbia J-School alum.

Latest Articles

Elephant Journal

We're community-driven. We're dedicated to sharing "the mindful life" beyond the core or choir, to all those who don't yet know they give a care. We focus on anything that's good for you, good for others, and good for our planet.

By Alannah Travers
1st November 2025 • Elephant Journal

What Getting a Matching Tattoo with my Ex Taught me about Love. | elephant journal

Here is something I’m not proud to admit. I got a matching tattoo with a guy I was dating. I know, I know. Technically, I should have known better.

By Maria Ermides
27th January 2024 • Elephant Journal

Dating Apps & the Art of Knowing what you Bring to the Table. | elephant journal

I hate online dating. I know, therein lies the most unoriginal of thoughts, repeated time and time again. But there it is.

By Maria Ermides
2nd January 2024 • Elephant Journal

Bermuda Triangle of Manifestation

To devote our faith to the universe, we must first understand Chaos Theory. Chaos theory is defined as an interdisciplinary theory where random states of disorder and chaotic complex systems are actually governed by underlying patterns...

By SAMANTHA RAE
20th January 2023 • Elephant Journal

6 Game-Changing Ways to Have a Healthy Relationship with Social Media | elephant journal

Liz Hoffmann’s first novel “One Ruby Button” is available on Amazon and is a fun and up…

By Jacqueline Mayfield
23rd August 2022 • Elephant Journal

The Ayurvedic Device I never knew I Needed to Soothe my Anxious Mind. {Partner}

So my husband and I, anxious, aching, and exhausted as ever, have hit a (fire)wall.

By Kaitlin Morelli, Content Specialist
22nd October 2021 • Elephant Journal

5 types of toxic people who can ruin your professional life

Colleagues who can make your work life a terrible experience

By Nikhil TK
5th October 2021 • Elephant Journal

How Families Unintentionally Enable Alcoholism

Wanting to help a loved one struggling with substance addiction is an understandable and natural response. Many family members and friends feel that it is their job to help a person suffering from alcoholism and that if they manage the problems caused by the addiction, they can help reduce their …

By My Portfolio
27th January 2021 • Elephant Journal

Have you ever…

Have you ever felt that what you are doing daily isn’t where you are supposed to be? Do you feel that sense of anxiety that you want to break free but you are unsure of which direction you should be going in? Have you ever felt even though you are …

By Enlightened Life Education
24th January 2021 • Elephant Journal

A Personal Letter to Failure.

I don’t like you, and I never will. But I know we are going to make more memories together in the near future.

By John Tan
4th August 2020 • Elephant Journal

Seven Keys to Mindfulness During COVID-19

We are in a time where there is a lot of uncertainty and fear regarding the pandemic that is sweeping the planet. Life is not what we are used to. Many of the activities we are accustomed to are ‘on pause’ and most of us are spending a lot of …

By Persephone's Portfolio
7th May 2020 • Elephant Journal

If You Have The Slightest Urge To Write. Please Do! | elephant journal

Ashley Franklin: They say that the best stories come from experience, and when it comes…

By Rowan Abdelmeguid
22nd April 2020 • Elephant Journal

Maybe COVID-19 is here to Teach us all Something | elephant journal

Ashley Franklin: They say that the best stories come from experience, and when it comes…

By Rowan Abdelmeguid
18th March 2020 • Elephant Journal

Trust your Wild Heartbeat to Lead You where you Need to Go. | elephant journal

We have forgotten that we don’t have to sell or paint a masterpiece to be an artist. We put so much pressure on ourselves and what art really means. It isn’t something outside of us; it isn’t something solely meant for galleries where we are told to look but not …

By Savana Lee
16th January 2020 • Elephant Journal

How I Continued to Grow After the Worst Harassment of My Career.

GHOSTWRITTEN: This is a ghostwritten piece for a former client that was accepted and published into Elephant Journal in 2018. *NOTE: Though the byline on this piece is the client's, this is my work.

By Let's create inspiring work.
20th November 2019 • Elephant Journal

Five TV Shows to Watch on International Day of the Girl Child.

“Someday there will be girls and women whose name will no longer mean the mere opposite of the male, but something in itself, something that makes one think not of any complement and limit, but only life and reality: the female human being.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~ Rilke said …

By Kanwal Mukhtar
20th September 2019 • Elephant Journal

A Cry for Help from Pakistani Women.

This is a textbook prepared by the Provincial Curriculum and Textbook Board of the Government, for Home Economics taught solely to girls in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Unlike the title, the books do not teach them how to manage their finances successfully in life, but instead teach them how …

By Kanwal Mukhtar
20th September 2019 • Elephant Journal

December Reveries: Days of Roses & Wine.

We met in an unconventional way, you and I—on Twitter, to be precise. You had a clever wit combined with a careless, youthful manner that immediately attracted me. You see, while your manner had a youthful carelessness about it, it did not mask the fact you were more intelligent than …

By Kanwal Mukhtar
20th September 2019 • Elephant Journal

We Deserve to Heal: An Open Letter from Women around the World.

Sometimes when I close my eyes to sleep at night, I can hear the collective screaming, crying and sighing of generations upon generations of women: raped, forced to bear children, forced to give away their children, forced to provide nourishment to the man who would then use his strength to …

By Kanwal Mukhtar
20th September 2019 • Elephant Journal

Elephant Journal

We’re dedicated to sharing the good life beyond the choir, and to all those who didn’t yet know they give a care about living a good, fun life that’s good for others, and our planet. The mindful life is about yoga, organics, sustainability, conscious consumerism, enlightened education, the contemplative arts, …

By Carissa Daniel
9th December 2018 • Elephant Journal

What Laying on the Ground has to do with Healing the Planet & our need for More, More, More.

While consumerism lies about what can give us contentment, lying in Savasana can—with training—give us real contentment, for the rest of our lives.

By
11th October 2018 • Elephant Journal

My Paris for your L.A.: How to be a Writer.

Before it was popular in movies, and way before Airbnb, I swapped my apartment for a few months with a complete stranger practically halfway around the world. I was lucky enough to be living just a few steps away from the infamous Boardwalk in Venice Beach, California. It sounds magical—and …

By Ruth Cuevas
28th April 2018 • Elephant Journal

No Wonder Recycling in the United States is so far behind Europe.

Every time you read, share, comment or heart you help an article improve its Rating—which helps Readers see important issues & writers win $$$ from Elephant. Learn more. My friend spent much of her childhood between Amsterdam and the United States. When she was in graduate school, she moved back …

By Ruth Cuevas
21st April 2018 • Elephant Journal

What it’s like for a Mother without her Children

My ex-husband and I planned the trip for weeks: our two daughters, ages eight and ten, would board a plane and fly from Los Angeles to Florida. They would spend the entire summer with him, and a couple of weeks before school started, they’d return and our lives in California …

By Ruth Cuevas
9th March 2018 • Elephant Journal

Learning to Love our own Fate.

We live our lives narrating our version of this truth to everyone we encounter. We sometimes tweak the plot to our advantage or censor it to legitimize the choices we make.

By Leila Makke
3rd August 2017 • Elephant Journal

I Survived the Turkish Uprising—here’s why I still Vote.

It took less than five minutes. I didn’t feel excited, angry, nervous, hopeful, or hopeless. I did it with the same nonchalance I exude going...

By Hande Oynar
17th April 2017 • Elephant Journal

3 Tips for Teaching Abroad as a Westerner.

Before I left the U.S. for Thailand, the pictures I saw of students seemed familiar—little munchkins in uniforms, lined up with backpacks to salute the flag in the morning. Same same, right? But my first day in a Thai classroom clued me in to just how different this educational experience …

By Kathryn Dillman
16th April 2017 • Elephant Journal

How Love healed my Health.

*Editor’s Note: No website is designed to, and can not be construed to, provide actual medical advice, professional diagnosis or treatment to you or anyone. Elephant is not intended as...

By Melanie Swan
2nd March 2017 • Elephant Journal

Why Millennials Leave their countries & Seek volunteer work Abroad.

In fact, 84 percent of millennials said they would travel abroad to participate in volunteer activities. I thought I’d be teaching English after getting my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification. Instead, I found myself leading a lesson called, “The Pros and Cons of Keeping Wild Animals as …

By Kathryn Dillman
22nd November 2016 • Elephant Journal

The Gift No One Else Can Give: 4 Ways to Cultivate our Cause.

It was a tough concept to wrap my head around, but it was one my Thai co-worker, Sriprae, helped me understand. “It’s because Thai people don’t want to answer a question unless they’re sure they are right,” she finally explained. “It’s better to say nothing than speak up and be …

By Kathryn Dillman
30th September 2016 • Elephant Journal