{"id":765,"date":"2009-08-24T13:32:18","date_gmt":"2009-08-24T13:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html"},"modified":"2009-08-24T13:32:18","modified_gmt":"2009-08-24T13:32:18","slug":"plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html","title":{"rendered":"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body"},"content":{"rendered":"

Glamour<\/a> magazine showed a plus-size model<\/a> with a belly! Stop the presses! <\/p>\n

Photo!
(Click on the link<\/a> to see it, because Glamour<\/i> owns the photo.)<\/p>\n

This seems like an incredibly lightweight (ahem) topic for a Buddhist blog post, but returning from almost a solid week on retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center, a good bit of it contemplating mindfulness of body, this news hit like a ton of bricks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\nI’d spent a lot of time on that cushion at Shambhala Mountain Center feeling like I sure
\ndidn’t want to be mindful of my body. Because the center is at an
\nelevation of 8,000 + feet, we attendees were told to drink 4 liters of
\nwater every day, to combat dehydration and altitude sickness. Four liters<\/i> of water a day<\/i>! <\/p>\n

I felt like a water balloon, sloshing my bloated self to the cushion
\nand back to my tent, back and forth to the restrooms. My midsection
\nexpanded every time I sat down. I found myself unable to enjoy being
\nfilled with dharma and clear mountain springs. And when they served us beans for two
\nmeals in a row I realized I was more like a blimp than a balloon. The
\nHindenberg, to be exact. As in don’t light a match, folks. Ahem again.<\/p>\n

Minor discomforts to be sure, but oddly painful to this modern woman,
\nwho’s been surrounded by images and exhortations to be smaller,
\nthinner, lighter, slimmer, less, and less of a body, since the day
\nshe’s born. Expansion of size was painful not only physically, but
\nmentally. Mindfulness of that discomfort, examining the layers of
\nthought and feelings it generated: one day it seemed the clear blue sky
\nof mind had almost as many metaphorical clouds as the crazy
\nthunderstorm skies above SMC that week.<\/p>\n

This passed; some other thoughts showed up. <\/p>\n

Then I got back and read the discussions on the plus-size chick in Glamour<\/i>, in Newsweek<\/a>, Huffington Post<\/a>, and Jezebel<\/a>.
\nIs there any shift in societal mindfulness of body? Is this just
\ncirculation-boosting self-congratulation in the media? Is this woman even plus-size? (She looks awfully fit and trim to me.) Maybe this media phenomenon is a little bit of
\nboth.  <\/p>\n

The first foundation of mindfulness that the Buddha taught was
\nmindfulness of body. (For a variety of discussions of the specific
\nsutra check out Nalandabodhi<\/a>, Dhagpo Kagyu<\/a>, and the Insight Meditation Society<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

For a variety of discussions on the plus-size chick in Glamour, I’d recommend the articles in Newsweek<\/a>, Huffington Post<\/a>, and Jezebel<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\nAnd I’d love to hear from readers on this one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glamour magazine showed a plus-size model with a belly! Stop the presses! Photo!(Click on the link to see it, because Glamour owns the photo.) This seems like an incredibly lightweight (ahem) topic for a Buddhist blog post, but returning from almost a solid week on retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center, a good bit of it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-media","category-meritdemerit-badge"],"yoast_head":"\nPlus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body - One City<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body - One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Glamour magazine showed a plus-size model with a belly! Stop the presses! Photo!(Click on the link to see it, because Glamour owns the photo.) This seems like an incredibly lightweight (ahem) topic for a Buddhist blog post, but returning from almost a solid week on retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center, a good bit of it…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"One City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-24T13:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellen Scordato\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body - One City","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body - One City","og_description":"Glamour magazine showed a plus-size model with a belly! Stop the presses! Photo!(Click on the link to see it, because Glamour owns the photo.) This seems like an incredibly lightweight (ahem) topic for a Buddhist blog post, but returning from almost a solid week on retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center, a good bit of it…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html","og_site_name":"One City","article_published_time":"2009-08-24T13:32:18+00:00","author":"Ellen Scordato","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html","name":"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body - One City","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-08-24T13:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2009-08-24T13:32:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/16a6c3d95425f08ee437c8d10bed860f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/plus-size-glamour-model-mindfulness-of-body.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Plus-size Glamour model & Mindfulness of Body"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/","name":"One City","description":"The Interdependence Project","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/16a6c3d95425f08ee437c8d10bed860f","name":"Ellen Scordato","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/99f\/99f34b7d288924ccb04e485c4c22e69dx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/99f\/99f34b7d288924ccb04e485c4c22e69dx96.jpg","caption":"Ellen Scordato"},"description":"Ellen Scordato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s multi functions include being 1) chairperson of the board of the Interdependence Project; 2) the co-owner of The Stonesong Press, LLC [www.stonesong.com], a book producer of high-quality nonfiction bestsellers for the popular market; 3) a part-time faculty member of the English Language Studies department at the New School; and 4) long ago, the published author of four young adult nonfiction biographies. A graduate of Wellesley College,where she studied Classics and art history, she lives in Manhattan with her husband and cats.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/author\/escordato"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}