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Honor Mental Health Awareness Month With Camila Cabello’s Heartfelt Essay

by Bri Gagne posted on May 28, 2020
Andrew Lipovsky/NBC

COVID 19 has dominated Spring 2020; in the wake of this madness, Mental Health Awareness Month may have flown under your radar.

But it did not fly under the radar of American-Cuban singer Camila Cabello. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Cabello has published a powerful essay about her battle with OCD.

Cabello’s struggles may not be apparent to her average Instagram follower. Her feed, which is full of grins and glamor shots, feigns unfiltered fabulosity. But when it comes to mental health, it is important to remember that people’s lives aren’t as they ostensibly appear to be. Though society may value beauty and success, neither quality can dictate one’s inner peace.

The essay, which Cabello penned for WSJ Magazine, exemplifies this concept. Cabello details the “behind-the-scenes” reality of her social media feed, including her sleepless nights, racing thoughts, compulsive behaviors, and sense of shame. Describing her daily experiences, Cabello states, “My body went through what felt like multiple rollercoaster rides every day. I kept going and kept showing up, never letting people around me know how much I was really struggling.” Cabello’s psychological struggles were so debilitating that she began to experience physical ailments, such as chronic headaches.

To regain control over her life and health, Cabello underwent behavioral therapy and mindfulness meditation. Cabello speaks to the efficacy of these treatments in her essay, stating that she is now “the healthiest and most connected to myself I’ve ever been”.

 

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meditation has changed my life in the last few months. I didn’t share this with you guys at the time because honestly I was just trying to be okay, but I was experiencing severe anxiety. it was meditation- it was practicing every single day multiple times a day that has been healing me, and, more than just helping me manage strong emotions like anxiety and stress, it’s making me a better human. not only does it help in times like this with stress and anxiety, meditation is the practice of strengthening habits like empathy, love, and compassion- making you feel more connected to not only everybody around you , but living beings in general like animals, plants, and the earth, which is a living being, itself. In times like these, especially as young people, even if we are healthy, it’s important to practice compassion and help others that could be suffering. We are in this together, let’s not be indifferent to others risk. it’s our responsibility to do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. Empathy to others’ reality and solidarity could make the difference in hard moments like this. We can’t think that we will be unaffected because we feel young and healthy. we have parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors, and we don’t want to be a part of the problem when we could be part of the solution. So I’d like you to take 10 minutes of your day today to either look up loving kindness meditation on Calm or YouTube. Or just follow these instructions: close your eyes and sit with your spine upright and feel gravity grounding your body to the earth’s surface and supporting you. Take three deep breaths and then begin to just notice the natural flow of your breath. Being aware of breathing in, breathing out. Following every inhale and exhale with your attention. Once your mind has stilled. Picture every human in the world right now, elders, people that have respiratory problems and are vulnerable, picture the people that are vulnerable, picture their families, and say “May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you be free from illness. May you be well.” Repeat until you really feel it in your heart ❤️- love you guys, please stay safe !

A post shared by camila (@camila_cabello) on

We are glad to hear that Camila found her much-sought-after peace. We hope that her story will inspire others to do the same.

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