Body Shaming Comes in All Sizes

A couple of days ago, a lady with an impressive following on Instagram posted a picture of herself in bodysuit. In a couple of minutes, comments - very few really friendly - started to flow: she was accused that she is too slim, she might be a counter-example for teenagers changing their mind about self-acceptance, she might be anorexic and sick etc. 

The decision to show your body publicly is indeed very personal and always involves the risk of being the target of various comments, more or less laudatory. After all, regardless of your size and measurements, there will always be people that will not be happy with the way you look because in fact they are unhappy with their own personality, bodies and ways of being. 

Apparently, there is hard to make everyone happy and you - as a human being or a people included in the category of 'influencers' - cannot change this very human unhappy condition. My point is that even people who are very slim and underweight can be as often targeted as those fighting with a weight problem. I know this from my own experience. 

Although I have my own history of eating disorders - that I will maybe talk more about one day - there is also a genetic structure that I inherited. All the women in my family were slim and I am slim too. I do work with a nutritionist that advices me on a regular basis about what are the best foods and ingredients I need to have regularly on my diet. I do sports of all kinds and I according to my MD, I am perfectly fine. This is the most important thing: to be healthy and in a good shape, regardless of your weight. As long as your medical condition is fine, you don't have to worry and it is no one's business to check on you. But apparently, people rarely find serious hobbies to get themselves busy with, unless it concerns other people.

Another story, also collected from Instagram, was about a very big fashion and lifestyle influencer who dared to go out on the street without makeup. A lady commented to her daughter that without makeup, the influencer was not worth to look at. Just because someone does not look the way it shows in the beautiful glamorous pictures does disqualify that person as a human deem to walk the streets without being bothered by such comments? 

Probably, only more education and self-awareness can finally help people to accept the others the way they are, because they ended up not asking themselves to be more than they are.

Understanding mindfulness: Monkey Mind and the Mountain

We all have experienced mode or less busy hectic days or even lives, even we are at the beginning of the school or about to retire. Homeworks, new video games we need to catch up with, performances of hedge funds managing our pensions or just the usual struggle of securing our job and providing what it is needed for our families. Hopefully, there are remedies aimed to help us not only to survive but to return to normality.

Monkey Mind and the Mountain is a book dedicated to a wide range of audiences, from 8 years up and is focused on introducing the reader to the basic practices of mindfulness. A spiritual technique known since the beginning of Buddhism, it has a great applicability today, regardless of religious membership and other personal orientation. It can be practised at home or during a lunch break or before starting the homeworks. "Mindfulness is all about learning to pay attention to the present moment, so that we can make the most of life". The alternation between theoretical introduction and practical exercises is one of the strongest point of the book, besides the simple language aimed to help the reader without creating additional intellectual challenges. 

"Mindfulness can be helpful because it involves taking a step back from your thoughts". All you need to do sometimes to reestablish the balance between your mind and your body is to look at the clouds and take a deep breath. In the language of the book, it means to separate from the Monkey Mind, defined as the temptation "to jump all and down, swinging from branch to branch and not sitting still for too long". We may like this adventure for a while, but sometimes it is too late when we realize how much such a lifestyle can be worning out our spirit and body. 

Some benefits of the mindfulness mentioned by the book are: less stress, more creativity, better concentration and less pain (including physical).

This book is a smart introductory guide to mindfulness practices and theories, a first step ahead in offering ourself a better and insightful life. 

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher via NetGalley.