Mental Health and Wellness

Love Before Fear: Emily Aube remedies anxiety online & in print

A person who signs their professional emails with ‘love’ to a virtual stranger must have a lot of love to give. This is exactly what you can expect to receive from 19-year-old Emily Aube – student, author, and warm-hearted mental health coach. What kind of university student has their life so in order, you may ask yourself? Read on.

I came across Aube’s Instagram account earlier this year, and immediately knew I had stumbled upon something special. Aube has just published her first book, Love Before Fear. With a goal to inspire readers to change their outlook on various anxiety-inducing triggers, Aube relies on first-hand experiences tackling mental health issues in order to prompt others to live their lives with the least amount of suffering possible.

“I wrote Love Before Fear because there is nothing like it that exists yet,” she explains. “I would have benefited from hearing from a person like [myself] when I was metaphorically in the eye of the storm. I want to be the voice I needed to hear when I thought killing myself was the only way out for all the young people out there suffering.”

With such an understanding and transparent voice, Aube has something else that makes her unique in the world of mental health advocacy. Her book transcends its pages, reaching a wider audience online, at Anxiety Free Community. This site allows users to seek guidance from Aube by asking questions, or by sharing their personal mental health stories to be published online.

“I am starting to do weekend workshops around the GTA,” Aube said. “I am also doing a speaking tour in high schools, colleges, and universities to raise awareness about mental health issues and recovery.”

With so much on her plate, I wondered how she has found her voice as a mentor.

“It just comes to me naturally. It’s like I’ve been doing this for years. I think your purpose comes effortlessly to you, and that is how writing, speaking engagements, and coaching feels to me,” Aube responded. “I am very much at ease within these positions. It makes me feel happy when I know someone does not feel alone anymore.”

With midterms in full swing at the moment, Emily has some words of wisdom. Understanding the immense pressures often faced by students, she said, “A lot of it could have to do with social media, and the constant anxiety we feel because we have made ourselves believe we are not good enough as we are right now. It seems that so many people are living better lives than us, and that puts pressure on us to try to do everything at once.”

I asked what we might do to remedy feelings of helplessness and stress while at school. Emily suggested a “Bad Day List,” little ideas to turn to when friends and family ask what they can do to help.

“I also recommend a meditation routine to keep the overwhelming feelings at bay,” Aube offered. “If you don’t know where to start, Anxiety Free Community has a meditation tab!”

To the doubters of alternative healing, Aube explained: “I was that person, the one who ‘tried everything’. If you can stick to a non-negotiable list that ensures your wellbeing, you will not only spare yourself the anticipation and the nights in the library where you simultaneously cry writing an essay while making yourself believe that eating a café cookie is a proper dinner, but also the cortisol release. You’ve got to become a time management ninja in university to be able to survive it without many all-nighters, mental breakdowns, and the pizza guy knowing your name and order by heart.”

In the future, Aube said she sees herself on Ellen, so that her message can reach millions. She plans to pursue a Masters degree in psychology, reinventing therapy with a practice featuring Kundalini yoga meditation, “and group therapy is a bunch of us going for a bike ride to listen to music and meditate upon our wildest dreams.”

“I feel very lucky to be this passionate at 19-years-old,” Aube explained. “I am so in love with my dreams.”