They collectively got close to 20 million views, Ms. Huffington said.“It was clear to us, to our audience and to the world that Jay Shetty was something special,” she said. Almost immediately, she offered him a job as a host and producer in New York City.
“Overnight, my life changed,” Mr. Shetty said.
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
Fans of Mr. Shetty point to his ability to translate complex philosophical concepts into easily digestible tidbits. He knows how to make that content “applicable to people’s everyday lives,” Ms. Huffington said.
His YouTube channel is overflowing with titles optimized to catch the attention of millions of viewers, like “Husband leaves wife for another woman, THEN THIS HAPPENS” and “If Someone Broke Your Heart, WATCH THIS.” The videos skim over the surface of the human experience, often ending with pat takeaways. “Things are not always as they appear,” he says in a video on how to avoid making snap judgments of others. “When someone cheats on you, it reflects more of who they are and not who you are,” he says in another about heartbreak.
“He’s beautiful, he’s charming, he’s educated, he’s thoughtful when he speaks,” said Fariha Róisín, a poet, novelist and author of “Who Is Wellness For? An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind.” “All of those things are part of the mystique,” she said, that also makes him palatable.
Last year, he started “The Daily Jay,” an audio program with the meditation app Calm, in which he gives listeners a seven-minute breathing and meditation exercise to do each day. In one episode, he talks about neuroplasticity; in another, he explores a Hindu parable about shifting one’s perspective. It has become the app’s most popular program, according to the company.
Focusing on love now, Mr. Shetty said, is a natural evolution of his work. He is not trained as a couples therapist or a counselor, and while he sprinkles in stories about his relationship with his wife, who does not seem fazed by Mr. Shetty’s fame (she finished reading “Think Like a Monk” only this year and rarely listens to his podcast), his personal life was not the impetus to give advice about romance. Rather, he said, his advice was about helping people improve their relationships with themselves, and now he is simply teaching them to deepen their connections with others.
The new book explores the four Vedic stages of love — preparing for love, practicing love, protecting love and perfecting love — with simple exercises and takeaways. There is a list of first date questions like, “What is occupying your thoughts most at the moment?” And for readers in relationships, there is a “social calendar” worksheet — to help people make time for themselves that is separate from time with their significant other or with friends — “because the time and space we spend apart enhances the time we spend together,” he writes.
