DJ-ing and inner child healing with BEHAVE’s Mayssa Chehata
Mayssa Chehata’s cravings for better-for-you sweets led her to found BEHAVE, a low-sugar candy company circa 2020.
Unlike their low-calorie counterparts, BEHAVE wholeheartedly promotes indulgence over restriction. Their logo is a powerful visual representation of this: the word “behave” in capital letters crossed out:
Image Credit: BEHAVE
If you think about it, this mentality is pretty groundbreaking. After all, just because you pick a 60-calorie pack of BEHAVE over a bag of Haribo gummy bears, doesn’t mean you then have to be extra conscious of how much you’re eating. Maybe you just like the way it tastes. Or, maybe you prefer the way your body feels after eating that specific product. Those things can co-exist at once.
We had the honor of chatting with Mayssa about what wellness means to her in a world contaminated by diet culture, and how she has learned to protect her well-being both during and outside of her work at BEHAVE. Without further ado, Mayssa Chehata everyone:
INNER CIRCUS: What does wellness mean to you?
Mayssa: As I’ve gotten older and done some reflecting, wellness and well-being to me are about feeling freedom and peace. Those are the two words that come to mind. I used to associate wellness with achieving a certain weight, working out a certain amount of time, burning a certain number of calories, restricting what foods I ate, or adhering to a certain diet. I’m learning to let go of those expectations and have stopped setting these metrics-driven goals that I used to think would help me achieve a healthier lifestyle. Now, I try to use my intuition and gut feelings to understand what I do on the days I feel good, and what I do on the days I feel bad and use these learnings to build a healthy lifestyle around the things that make me feel best.
INNER CIRCUS: As a founder, it can be easy for your business to become your entire identity. What has your experience been separating the two, if at all?
Mayssa: There is a draw and pressure to make your business your entire life, but I learned quickly that this mindset was making me burn out and not perform well either. I would sit in front of my computer for 12 hours on end which ended up being unproductive and uncreative versus when I would take care of myself and put time into my creative outlets, catch up with friends, and just put 8-9 hours of work into my days. Doing these things helped me feel more focused and in flow.
INNER CIRCUS: I’ve seen you post about your passion for DJ-ing online on Instagram. Can you speak more about this?
Mayssa: DJ-ing is one of my favorite creative outlets and one that I feel lucky to have discovered. I’ve had really cool, amazing opportunities to DJ and share my music tastes with people at events. I haven’t done much of it since the pandemic, but I’ve set an intention to do more of it a couple of weeks ago. It’s something I love that brings me a lot of inspiration and really gets my creative juices flowing.
INNER CIRCUS: As I’m sure you can relate to, candy is my go-to treat when I need an instant pick-me-up. Apart from sweets, what are some things you do during your day when you need a mental or emotional lift?
Mayssa: One thing that has become such a part of my everyday rituals and routine is getting out of the house and going for a walk. I work from home most of the week and have a dining room office space I work in during the day. It’s so easy to wake up, get dressed, and not pick up my head until the sun goes down so I’ve made a concerted effort to go on a walk. This is especially the case if I’ve had a bad phone call which leads to feeling that anxious spiral.
Instead of letting myself descend down this spiral, I’ve learned to grab my keys, sometimes leave my phone at home, and go for a walk, even if it’s just for 10-15 minutes.
Another thing I do is lean into audiobooks and podcasts to break up my day and tap into people that bring positivity and interesting information into my life. It’s another great way to break up what can become stagnant energy when you're sitting at your laptop for hours, dealing with stress after stress.
INNER CIRCUS: You frequently use your social platforms to talk about manifestation and other spiritual practices. Can you speak more to this?
Mayssa: Transparently, I’m not a huge meditator, but I want to build a practice for the long term. Right now, I mostly meditate through this manifestation and inner child healing workshops that incorporate hypnotic meditation which is what I’m currently working through. In terms of spirituality as a part of wellness, I’ve come into my own spiritual journey in tandem and alongside my wellness journey over the past 4-5 years.
INNER CIRCUS: What would you suggest to people getting started?
Mayssa: I think it’s most helpful to start with the resource that feels the most accessible to you. For me, this was books and TikTok honestly. Years before I started on this journey, I was consuming a lot of spirituality-based content. I wasn’t someone who was going to pick up my things and move to an ashram, or go to a 10-day silent meditation retreat. Now, I aspire to do those things, but I’m still entry-level. Engaging with content on TikTok, whether it’s commenting, following, or liking videos to keep them in your algorithm, can help you grasp spiritual concepts.
When it comes to books, I found authors whose work spoke to me and felt accessible. I felt like I could finally wrap my head around these concepts so I started reading, educating, and putting myself in digital and philosophical spaces where I could learn more about these concepts.
