Yoga, which gained global popularity after the United Nations in 2015 declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, continuous to fascinate and evoke interest among the common man as well as the aficionado.Grand Master Akshar became the latest spiritual guru to unveil his book 'Yoga Namaskar', in Bengaluru on Wednesday, to unravel the yogic secrets of the majestic Himalayas.Published by Dorling Kindersley-Penguin Random House, the 296-page book documents seven yoga namaskars -- a gesture with hands folded in the Indian tradition, with 290 asanas (postures).

The seven namaskars are: Surya Namaskar (sun salutation), Chandra Namaskar (moon salutation), Prithvi Namaskar (earth salutation), Vayu Namaskar (air salutation), Agni Namaskar (fire salutation), Akash Namaskar (universe/space salutation), and Jal Namaskar (water salutation).

"The book is the first part of a series, which will reveal the secrets of yoga the way to attain spirituality," said Akshar, adding he would spread the ancient science all over the world and share its fruits with everyone.

According to the book, the yogic process is more than a physical or mental practice and is a deep-rooted culture that nourishes the soul.

To connect with the five tattvas or elements, nature, physical and metaphysical is the endeavour of any spirit. Through the yogic postures, the flow of prana (life), the stillness of dhyan (meditation) and the focus of dharana, any individual can evolve to a higher spiritual plane.

"Yogis must grow and evolve in practice daily to become complete. The more they fill with teachings and practices of yoga, the closer they are to perfection," asserted Akshar.

The book also has wealth of information on beneficial yogic processes. Endowed with mystical arts, Akshar has capacity to convert negative energy into positive energy. Armed with meditation techniques, he is familiar with parallel life and transcendence.

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Book on yoga exercises unveiled in Bengaluru - Times of India

Yoga and mindfulness are not going to help Catholics get any closer to God, an Irish bishop said as he cautioned followers against including the practices in parishes.

Alphonsus Cullinan, the bishop of Waterford and Lismore, told schools in his diocese in an Oct. 10 letter than yoga and mindfulness are bad in part because they didnt originate with Christianity.

Bishop [Cullinan] pointed out that yoga was not of Christian origin and said it was not suitable for a parish school setting especially not during religious education time.

On mindfulness, he told schools it had been practised in the Christian tradition in a sense since the beginning.

But Christian mindfulness is not mindlessness but is meditation based on Christ, emptying the mind of everything unnecessary so that we become aware of the presence and love of Christ, he said.

Just because Jesus wasnt a yoga instructor and the practice is more closely associated with Hinduism doesnt mean its inappropriate for Catholics. It can and should be evaluated on its merits.

The same goes for mindfulness, which Cullinan tried to co-opt for his faith. Christian mindfulness is not mindfulness. Its just a form of prayer.

The Bishop referenced a homily from Pope Francis in 2015 in which he said practices like Yoga are not capable of opening our hearts up to God.

You can take a million courses in spirituality, a million courses in yoga, Zen and all these things but all of this will never be able to give you freedom, Pope Francis said.

The Bishop concluded by asking teachers and principals to encourage children to pray the Rosary and help them spend time with Jesus in adoration or in quiet meditation in the classroom.

Yoga wont open your heart up to God thats not a thing but neither will the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. Yoga, at least, has the benefit of keeping you relaxed and healthy, depending on how its practiced. Mindfulness, too, can be valuable if youre not emptying your mind in order to worship Jesus more forcefully. (We have enough people doing that. Its not helping.)

Of all the problems in Catholic schools, kids doing yoga isnt one of them. The only thing the bishops letter did is give people another reason to ignore Catholic leadership.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Leo for the link)

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Irish Bishop Warns Catholics Against Dangers of Mindfulness and Yoga - Friendly Atheist - Patheos

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Amidst all the rumours regarding her next film, Deepika Padukone recently revealed at the opening session of Jio MAMI Movie Mela that she has finally found a romantic film that she was lately waiting to do. I have found a film that I am likely to do early next year but its not light. Its still a messy romance, its quite dark but still in the romantic space, the actress said without divulging more details.

Now, Bollywood Bubble has exclusively learnt that Deepika is collaborating with Karan Johar for the dark but set in the romantic space film she talked about last week. Dharma Productions in-house director Shakun Batra who has directed films such as, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu of 2012 and the unpredictable family drama Kapoor & Sons of 2016 for the banner will be directing this yet-untitled movie featuring DP. Although the details of the project including the plot are yet unknown, we heard that the film will go on floors after Deepikas Meghna Gulzar directed Chhapaak releases in January 2020.

Deepika has been rumoured to be a part of many films as of late. The strongest rumour of them being Luv Ranjans romantic drama with Ranbir Kapoor. However, it seems she has instead picked Shakun Batras film that marks her second collaboration with Karan Johars production company after the huge success of Ayan Mukherjis film, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani .

Deepika is said to have greenlighted this film and the official announcement will be made as soon as the paperwork is done.

Deepikas this film comes as a respite for Shakun Batra after his ambitious film based on the life of the controversial Godman Rajneesh aka Osho was shelved earlier this year. The biographical drama was supposed to star Aamir Khan and Alia Bhatt in the leads, but the project, our sources say, has been indefinitely put on hold until everything doesnt fall in place as a film of this scale requires time and effort, the right kind of infrastructure and people to execute it as envisioned.

For more such exclusive Bollywood stories, stay hooked on to Bollywood Bubble.

Also Read: Deepika Padukone trolled for her fashion choices; netizens say fan looks better than her in viral pic

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Exclusive: Deepika Padukone to team up with Karan Johar for her next, directed by Shakun Batra - Bollywood Bubble

Posted October 24, 2019 05:17:18

Circling the athletics track at the end of her street, Sally Heppleston felt like a fraud.

She wasn't a runner. In fact, for someone who had never even stepped foot in a gym, a foray into fitness hadn't really been on the books.

But following the devastating stillbirth of her first child, Hope, and two more pregnancies in quick succession, Sally irrevocably found herself "spiralling out of life-changing grief into being a mum with two small children".

"[Running] was my escape from the kids," she said. "I needed something to do just for me."

"I'd been grieving, I'd been mothering, and I just had neglected myself for so long, so the running for me was something to do out on my own."

Though her story is unique, Sally's experience is far from an anomaly.

She is one of a growing number of women finding empowerment through exercise as they navigate the unpredictable path of motherhood and the demands that come with it.

"What we're seeing is an increasing rate of women wanting to start running," said Nicole French, an exercise physiologist and director of Exercise for Rehabilitation and Health.

"The biggest thing [they they're telling us] is that lack of control. Everything is changing for them. They want to feel empowered in some way and they want to be in control of something."

It should come as little surprise that the transition into parenthood often goes hand in hand with a decline in exercise.

In a trial examining physical activity trends across non-parents, first-time parents and second time parents, up to 50 per cent of adults who were regularly active dropped their physical activity behaviours when they had children.

This deficit was still present after five years.

Ms French said sleep deprivation and a change in routine or lack thereof were often to blame.

"What many mums report is that in addition to these things going on, they can actually feel quite guilty about investing any time into themselves," she said.

"They'll also talk about judgement from family and friends if they're not seen to be investing every single minute of the day into their newborn, and they're very fearful of being judged as bad parents."

It's hardly a phenomenon limited to Australia. A recent survey of 1,000 mothers in the United Kingdom found six in ten felt that they were neglecting their family by taking time out to exercise.

It's a sentiment Nicole Bunyon is attune to.

The mother of three and ultra-marathon runner founded Running Mums Australia, a grassroots community of parents with a passion for pounding the pavement, while juggling the demands of motherhood.

What started as a small following on Facebook has sparked a nationwide movement of mothers who identify with her message.

"When I was a younger mum with young children, I did feel guilty about taking time out to run or do my own thing, but over the years I see just how important it is for myself to have goals and work towards them," she said.

"I think I am a better mother by showing my kids that I can commit to something, work hard at it and achieve it, no matter how hard it seems.

"It also means time for me as a mum to connect with myself, my friends and nature."

While the physical benefits of exercise are widely acknowledged, according to Dr Justin Coulson, there's also a psychological basis behind the pursuit of fitness.

The parenting expert says the sense of volition and autonomy that exercise brings can be an important circuit breaker for parents.

"When you're exercising, it's something that you're freely choosing, it's a passion. It's just something you can do because it feels great," he said.

"Whereas when it comes to family life, many parents will say to me, 'I feel so trapped. And I get out on the bike, or I get out on my run... because I feel like I'm free, I feel like it's my release'."

With the support of her husband who was conscious of the fact that she "needed an outlet", particularly when her children were younger Sally made sure she set aside time to lace up her sneakers.

In between "breastfeeding and nappies and the naps they they weren't having", she said it was something "I could really do for me".

"And on my own, which was good because life is busy and noisy with little kids at home, so the running was a real outlet."

Though exercise can serve as an important reprieve for those experiencing major upheavals in their home lives, experts have warned it's not all liberation and lycra.

According to Ms French, the fruition of social media trendsetters "racing back to pre-birth bodies" is encouraging women to push themselves beyond their limits.

"I have heard and seen firsthand people jumping back into things like high intensity interval training classes two weeks after giving birth," she said.

"A lot of the instructors that lead these programs, they sort of embrace it and celebrate it and glorify it, which is quite scary. They have this 'good on you, I wish I had more people like you' mentality."

Ms French said the phenomenon was putting women at increased risk of bleeding and prolapse. Longer term, she said, those in the health sector were seeing "higher incidents of chronic lower back pain and incontinence".

But it's not just the potential physical consequences of overexercising that experts point to.

After becoming parents, Dr Coulson believes some couples begin to take their relationships for granted, and turn to exercise to meet their "needs satisfaction".

"So they're no longer looking to their partner and their kids to satisfy the relationship needs that they have," he said.

"They're saying, 'well they're always there and sometimes they're a bit of a burden, but my mates on the bike never ask anything of me, they're just fun and it feels good'."

Though this type of "obsessive passion" can create stress within a relationship, Dr Coulson believes it has much darker consequences.

"I've had conversations with people who openly said, 'I left the three-year-old watching Paw Patrol so I could sneak out for an hour [to exercise]'," he said.

"That's an obsessive passion and it's disturbing. It's concerning and it's child abuse."

According to Dr Coulson, like all things in life, reaping the rewards of exercise comes down to striking the right balance.

"The research shows if we can be consistent three or four times a week and get out there and have that time, we still get to experience a sense of competence," he said.

"We still get the 'me time', the volition, the autonomous 'I'm out here doing what I want'. But we come back, we're fresher, we're able to contribute more and we have greater mental acuity."

To develop realistic exercise expectations postpartum, Ms French adds, women should look at what their personal fitness and health levels were like prior to falling pregnant.

"The major thing is for mums to steer away from looking at a lot of that social media in and around trying to get back to this perfect body and everything so, so quickly," she said.

As far as Nicole Bunyon is concerned, the "perfect body" doesn't exist. She wants women of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds to come together to embrace the benefits of exercise.

"When women see beyond what society perceives as the 'perfect athlete body' they can achieve great things," she said.

A couple of marathons later including the London Marathon, where she raised almost $25,000 for the Stillbirth Foundation it's fair to say Sally doesn't feel like a fraud anymore.

But these days, the avid parkrun volunteer says she's pretty content with sticking to "five or ten kilometres".

"That's about all I can fit in around kids and work or whatever, but I'm happy to just stay fit, see my friends and have a coffee afterwards," she quipped.

Topics:exercise-and-fitness,health,community-and-society,family-and-children,parenting,australia

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More new mothers are finding empowerment in exercise, but there's one major barrier - ABC News

Eartha Terrell and Brittney Bradley have been hosting events for women and the community since March 2018

by: Jennifer Rodriguez

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Sunday, women of the community will be able to take part in the Graceful Grind conference.

Eartha Terrell and Brittney Bradley have been hosting events for women and the community since March 2018.

Their mission has been, To offer business and personal development opportunities to segmented youth and adult female groups in low-income communities.

This is their last event, and it is aimed toward women and success.

The conference will be held at the DoubleTree in downtown Youngstown. It begins at 11:30 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m.

There will be panelists who will talk to women and provide tips and advice.

Bradley and Terrell teamed up with Black Bold and Natural, a lifestyle company on a mission to shine light on the black culture.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit their website.

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Womens empowerment conference being held in downtown Youngstown - WKBN.com

Navigating pop culture with a pointed hat and a sharp cackle, the witch is an elusive figure of power and mystery. Portrayed as notorious child haters (see Roald Dahls The Witches) and for their love of evil (look no further than the Wayward Sisters in Shakespeares Macbeth), as much as for their knowledge and ability to create and heal (cue Harry Potter), witches have always reflected the zeitgeist. Whether that be societys feelings towards womenoften ill feeling, especially towards those with poweror the collectives relationship to ritual and magick. The modern witch, however, has emboldened herself with a fierce feminism that defies definition; she does not exist in the black or white spaces, but in the grey. Todays witch isnt good or bad, she just is.

Witchcraft exists in the liminal. Like the archetype of the witch, it is always shapeshifting, neither here nor there, never quite fitting in a box. Its best defined as an age-old spiritual path rooted in the cycles of the earth and the seasons, in the cycles of the cosmos and in the cycles of the self. Its entrenched in personal empowerment and impacted by the culture that each witch is surrounded by. The beauty of magick is that its most effective and potent when its deeply personal.

My journey with the craft indirectly began with my parents. My father, a reform rabbi, and my mother, from the Jewish community in Mexico City, both encouraged my obsession with the spiritual from a young age. My father has always fostered my curiosity of the unknown and religion, while my mother shared practices like yoga, crystal healing, mindfulness and meditation with me since I was a toddler. But, when I discovered witchcraft at the age of 11, they thought it was a phase; the stigma around what witchcraft meant was still heavy, many considered it evil, especially in the Bible Belt where I grew up. Thirteen years later and a lot has changed. Witchcraft and magick have once again entered the zeitgeist, with more and more people discovering the positives of the practice, based around ideas of connection, communion with nature and love.

My personal practice means being devoted to the Divine Feminine; working with sex magick by using orgasms to raise energy for a desired intention; working with the cycles of the moon and seasons; and using a daily meditation practice alongside tarot, breath-work, therapy, energy healing and ritual to find empowerment in the everyday. It also means seeing myselfand my power to healas part of the collective consciousness.

The nuances of witchcraft are different for every witch. So, for an insight into the craft the world over, three women from Mexico, Japan and Arizona share why its one of the most inclusive practices of our times.

Bere Parra is a freelance communication consultant helping clients with copywriting, social media and community management. Parras magick contains multitudes: her witchcraft is rooted in devotion to the self, in Satanism and in honouring the divine rebel. My personal brand of magick and witchcraft incorporates principles from LaVeyan Satanism, Luciferianism and some Wiccan traditions. I also often work with the powers of the moon and with the aid of [goddess] Lilith, depending on the matter at hand, explains Parra.

Parras magick stems from a matriarchal lineage of healers. Her great grandmother was a witch, a curandera (a traditional folk healer) from Oaxaca in southern Mexico, who people in the community would turn to when they needed healing in matters of the body and spirit. This passed down to Parra and her mother, who incorporate their own magical rituals and practices into their day-to-day lives. And while Mexico is steeped in Catholicism, magick is often a heavy part of the culture as well. Mexicans are open, unique and contradictory, Parra adds. We dont like to follow the rules too closely. Even if theyre Catholic, many follow astrology, or consult the tarot, or visit brujas [those who specialise in witchcraft] for limpias [cleansings].

Being a Satanist in Mexico, however, is still taboo, since many people around the world have misconceptions about what the practice entails. Satanism is about individuality, at its very core. Its about subversion and rebellion, about being bold and daring enough to be original and to walk to the beat of your own drum. We do not worship the devilits a lot more rich and complex than that, Parra explains. LaVeyan Satanists dont worship any deity, as they are atheists. Theistic Satanists, like myself, will engage in different rituals or practices that do involve worshipping, but not all of us adhere to a specific canon.

Madoka is a virtual and augmented-reality researcher, whose spiritual and personal artistic practice combine as she explores witchcraft, divination and shamanism. Based between Tokyo and Los Angeles, her work dissects the differences between the two cultures and the fusion of feminism and witchcraft in the US. Madokas experience with witchcraft began after a friend showed her Aleister Crowleys Thoth tarot cards. As an animator and artist, she became instantly hooked by the hallucinatory beauty and archetypes of the cards; a year later and she wears the title of witch with pride. Im very interested in the culture of the US west coast, and studied witchcraft with [California-based] feminist activist Starhawk in San Francisco in 2018, says Madoka. I practice a lot of ritual and spells, vision quests, invocations and I meditate every day. She also works with many kinds of eastern and western divination, including the I Ching (ancient Chinese text), tarot, feng shui and Four Pillars of Destiny (Chinese fortune telling).

While witchcraft is a predominant part of the culture of the US, and steeped into the energy of Mexico, it takes on a different tone in Japan where the majority of the population is polytheist. Witch culture in LA is very big compared to Japan, but the biggest difference is that witches are not counter-culture in Japan, since Christianity is not the majority [there]. Paganism and Buddhists are the majority, which is probably why its hard to find those who identify as a witch, Madoka explains. Japanese people believe that there are eight million deities in the world. Stone, wood, soil, seas, rivers everything is a deity. Its normal thinking for us.

Taylor Cordova spends her days immersed in magick. The artist and art historian moonlights as an art teacher for an elementary school, and runs an online shop called The Flowerchild Bruja. This is where she sells crystals and handmade herbal smoke sticks made with sacred plants such as rose, lavender and mugwort, used to energetically cleanse a space. My personal practice involves a lot of communion with the spirit of Gaia [the Mother Earth goddess]. Altar work and cultivation of sacred space is one way I love to connect with spirit and practice my devotion, Cordova explains. She also engages in other rituals rooted in the mysticism of the divine feminine. Sex magick and working with my menstrual blood are some of the more taboo practices I engage in, but honestly it all depends on what feels right at the time. Spirit communicates what kind of work is most beneficial in that moment, she adds.

Growing up in the desert has been an integral part of Cordovas journey with her craft. The mountains, specifically the South Mountain Park and Preserve, have initiated her deeper into this ancient wisdom. As an Afro-Latina witch, Cordovas culture intermingles with the wisdom of the desert in myriad ways. My culture dictates every step I take. Its in the way I use my hands, its in the way I cast spells with my hips, its in my voice and in the way I pray. Each of my cultures are present in the way I offer my devotion. The Sonoran Desert, the south Phoenix community I was born and raised in, and my African ancestry are super-relevant factors in my practice, but they happen to be very nuanced and so beautifully blended together, that its hard to dictate all the ways in which my practice is shaped by my culture.

Halloweenor Samhain for those who observe the Pagan Wheel of the Yearis the New Year for witches, and the perfect time to start exploring magick. However, one can walk this path whenever they feel ready, no matter where they are. Its always the season of the witch, and everyone is welcome.

Gabriela Herstik is a Los Angeles-based writer, witch and author of two books Craft: How to be a Modern Witch (2018) and the forthcoming Bewitching the Elements: Finding Empowerment through Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit (2020)

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What does it mean to be a modern witch? 3 real-life witches share their experiences - Vogue India

It is possible to sympathize with the players in the empowerment era and not love the ever-changing NBA landscape as a fan.

I have been wrestling with this notion for several years now, maybe ever sinceThe Decision, because people are passionate about the subject one way or another, and both sides have a point. I supported Kevin Durants right to leave Oklahoma City for the Bay Area despite the competitive imbalance it created, just as I support his right to join the Nets despite the sexier story arc across the Brooklyn Bridge. Who am I to dictate what makes him happy? But also: Who is he to dictate what makes me happy?

The relationship between players and fans is more complicated than ever, andDurant embodies that more than anyone, with the possible exception of LeBron James. Durant broke OKCs heart by enjoying a whirlwind affair with Golden State. He is bound by no fanbase, not in the way Stephen Curry and the Warriors faithful have embraced each other, and Durant may be at peace with that.

The recent retirements of Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce have left Curry as the exception rather than the rule. There is a reason Nowitzkis one championship means more to Dallas than the two Durant won in Golden State and LeBron won in Miami. Even LeBons return to Cleveland seems like a dalliance at the high school reunion. There is a love lost between player and fan for the next generation of Hall of Famers, and I have yet to find peace with that.

Kawhi Leonard navigated the new NBA normal better than anyone last season. Unlike Kyrie Irving in Boston, Leonard made no commitment to Toronto. The terms of engagement were clear. He gave a championship-starved Raptors fanbase everything he had while they were together and left everyone satisfied when he embarked on his next conquest. His signing with the Clippers has been billed as a homecoming, and he may well settle down there, but make no mistake: He can be a free agent in two years.

The clock is already ticking on the Kawhi Leonard and Paul George era on the Clippers. (Getty Images)

Everyone is a free agent, it seems. At least, the trade that sent Paul George by Kawhis side made it seem that way. He too can leave on his own accord in 2021. And if the Anthony Davis saga taught us anything last season, it is that a star is also not bound by a signature that says there are two years remaining on his contract. In the NBA, it is not even until free agency do us part.

I grew up a Celtics fan, and I would like nothing more than to see Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown become to this generation what Pierce was to mine and Larry Bird was before him. But I am under no such illusion, even after Brown signeda lucrative four-year extension. If there is any romanticism left to my fandom, the Celtics treatment of Isaiah Thomas all but extinguished it.

In two short years, Thomas forged a bond with Boston unlike anything I have seen since I started covering the NBA. It culminated in the emotional night when he played before an adoring playoff crowd on the day his sister died. He laid his body and a $100 million contract on the line for the city, playing through severe injury, only to be traded months later for Irving, no less, a paragon whose eyes were wandering almost as soon as he pledged his loyalty to a horde of season-ticket holders.

This works both ways, you see. We are reminded more and more by everyone involved that the NBA is a business. The delicate dance the league just performed around the Hong Kong protests is the latest example. Nobody wants to root for a business. We would at least prefer the perception that a symbiosis between player, team and city is still possible. Giannis Antetokounmpo may be our last hope, and I grow increasingly skeptical about his commitment to Milwaukee with every star who changes his stripes.

I am convinced the day will come soon when someone demands a trade on his rookie contract and maybe even as a rookie. True or not, rumblings about Zion Williamsons desire to play in New Orleans poured water on the start of their relationship, as if Pelicans fans would have approached it any other way after being dumped by Davis and Chris Paul for the bright lights of L.A.

Maybe the generation of fans who devote themselves to players rather than teams has it right. Players can let you down, too, but at least then you are not putting your faith in the hands of some other billionaire heir you have no investment in. But there is a love lost there, too. Part of the fun of being a fan is sharing the experience across generations with your family, your friends, your city. A title for the Knicks would pull harder at your heartstrings because fathers and sons spent their lives waiting for it.

If anything, the empowerment era has taught us to live in the moment, to treat each season as if it were the last, because it may be for your favorite player on your favorite team. Hold on tight to Ben Simmons, Philadelphia. Appreciate Bradley Beal while you can, D.C. Embrace Russell Westbrook as if he were always there, Houston. Maybe we can all learn to love the NBA again.

Ben Rohrbachis a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him atrohrbach_ben@yahoo.comor follow him on Twitter!Follow @brohrbach

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How to be an NBA fan in the player empowerment era - Yahoo Lifestyle

In the face of things you cant control, you can control your attitude about them.

In 2010, Eric LeGrands life changed forever, when a player for Rutgers, Eric went for a tackle on special teams, hit with the crown of his head and collapsed to the ground.

Eric did not know the immediate ramifications until his mother revealed them to him several weeks later; he was paralyzed from the neck down.

Through the whole ordeal, no one did more for his family than former Rutgers coach, Greg Schiano. When I asked Eric about it, comparing it to my conversations with former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, Eric agreed, the best college coaches want to make stand up men, not just football players.

Eric made the decision to continue to be the positive guy in-spite of the grim outlook. That outlook has made an incredible impact, hes regained movement in his shoulders and continues to drive for more every day, as referenced by his frequent social media postings from Kessler Rehabilitation Center.

Ive always been that happy-go-lucky, life of the Party want to be around guy. My entire life, Ive always been like that. And when I got hurt, I said I wasnt going to let this injury define me. I was 20 years old, Im like God willing, I have many, many more years to live. I dont want to be miserable. I hate that feeling of being upset being mad or being disappointed a something. I hate that feeling so I said to myself.

Im not going to let this get to me, I know Im going to need a lot of help. This was a long road ahead of me. But its possible and then, I was overwhelmed by the support it took off it went, not just nationally, it was Internationally. It was all over the place. because I was getting letters from people in China, Australia, reaching out to me, sending me stuff. So Im like, you know it kind of turned into a responsibility and I cant give up now. All these people have eyes on me. Eric LeGrand

Its not just about him, but the people he can impact. Eric has started a foundation, created a clothing line, writer a book and speaks fo people all over the world.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him to a contract as an undrafted free agent in May 2012. In 2017, LeGrand was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the third recipient of the Warrior Award.

He is the recipient of the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2012 ESPYs. Eric is also the creator of the Roll Model clothing line.

Eric Le Grand sits down with me, Jeremy Ryan Slate, to talk about impact, big goals and being a Roll Model on the latest episode of the Create Your Own Life Show.

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Former Rutgers Football Star Eric LeGrand on How He Turned Personal Tragedy into Empowerment for Others - Grit Daily

Meghan Daums The Problem With Everything. Simon and Schuster

Ive never been more afraid of writing a book, essayist Meghan Daum says in the self-aggrandizing introduction to The Problem With Everything. Ive never been more certain I had to. Subtitled My Journey Through the New Culture Wars, the best that can be said about Daums meandering tract is that its breezy, conversational tone goes down quick and easy. The worst that can be said is that it reads like a late-in-life coming-of-age story in which this straight, cis-gendered, able-bodied, (mostly) heterenormative white chick giggles whilst unloading politically incorrect knowledge-bombs on her New York peers.

Its not as if I didnt find myself nodding in agreement here or there; Daums book of essays isnt as willfully stupid as Bret Easton Ellis latest, even if their fed-up, cranky politics do dovetail at points. There should be room for uncomfortable conversations about whether the #MeToo movement has overstepped itself, or whether we need to tap the brakes on certain aspects of woke culture. But Daum, despite her own confidence, never steps up and proves why the world so needed this bookrather than a simple list of hyperlinks to the more robust Salon and New Yorker articles that informed it.

SEE ALSO: A Few Good Reasons Not to Read Bret Easton Ellis New Book, White

The Problem With Everything is at its weakest when it gets personal, when Daum weaves memoir into her retread of the recent sagas of Brett Kavanaugh, Aziz Ansari, Title IX debates, the outrage over whether women boarding a United Airlines flight were allowed to wear leggings, the overuse of the word badass in empowerment literature, etc. She positions herself as a proud representative of Gen X who has little or no patience for a younger cohort of feminists, especially the sort who are very online.

Conveniently, her targets are all straw(wo)men and caricaturesloony Social Justice Warriors who wear I DRINK MALE TEARS t-shirts while slaying on Twitter. Daum is the Amy Klobuchar of cultural critics: sane defender of the proud center. And certainly she is entitled to her opinions on sexism, racism and whatever else, it would just be nice if they were more enlightening; I swear Ive heard more eye-opening takes on some of these issues on an episode of Law & Order: SVU, or over the course of any five minutes of Dear White People.

Meghan Daum. Simon and Schuster

Often, the anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book are intended to convey a specific message: Men have always been pigs, but women havent always been so wilted and wounded over it. In 1995, our mandate was to laugh it out of the room, she says, of chauvinism. Todays young feminists, Daum wants us to believe, are all snowflakes masquerading as badasses. (Speaking of Ellis, its surprising that Daum doesnt borrow his lame coinageGeneration Wussto describe the fragile millennials shes so bored of.) By Daums account, previous decades knew how to handle it if some middle-aged clown decided to whip his cock out by the Xerox machinea scenario she borrows from the political novel Primary Colors. Daum measures the youngs and finds them lacking, insufficiently awed by toughness, a generation of oversized kids who refuse to be shamed by vulnerability.

Maybe its my natural temperament (and maybe this is proof that my temperament is fundamentally narcissistic) but theres no one Id rather blame for my misfortunes than myself, she writes, as if stumping for a keynote gig with Turning Point USA. Personal responsibility trumps victim culture, because it makes you strong: Its almost as if blaming myself strips the men of their power by rendering them too insignificant to even gripe about. This is how Daums friend reacted, circa the mid-90s, when she was working on Wall Street and a male colleague masturbated on her desk in the middle of the night (or, in the authors oddly delighted rendering, liquidated his holdings all over it.) This friend didnt call the police, or HR; she felt bad for the creep, spoke of him almost with an air of pity.

So to recap: Millennials are doomed in their brittleness; identity politics will destroy the left; Pussy Hats were lame; feminists say fuck too much; and Meghan DaumIm just guessing hereis the type of liberal who would have voted for Obama a third time but maybe wants to hear what the Charles Murray crowd has to say about evolutionary psychology on some edgy podcast. The breakdown of Daums marriage, and her relocation to New York, forms the background to a now-familiar narrative arc: Self-proclaimed NPR liberal has her eyes opened by the intellectual dark web; spends a lot of time online, alone, streaming YouTube videos. Theres something low-level sad about the Come to Jesus moment she has when these new friends enter her life, ready to battle against what Daum smugly dubs the wokescenti: John McWhorter, Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, the shining stars of her beloved Free Speech YouTube.

Is Daum correct in asserting that liberals and leftists can be mired in a sticky groupthink in the age of Trump? Sure. But even when Daum makes a sensible point, she never justifies the apparent necessity of The Problem With Everything, which merely collects and annotates conversations that are still ongoing. She wants to cast herself as a minor martyr, daring to speak truth to powertruths like the fact that well-meaning white people, behind closed doors, dont always love Ta-Nehisi Coates as much as they claim to. Stop the presses! Her emphasis on the personal journey here is the real problem. Daums not an insightful guide, and her conversion story is a clich that shes mistaken for something singular. She calls this book an extended rumination, which is perhaps a fancy word for a self-righteous, 221-page Twitter thread. In which case: Unfollow.

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The Problem With Meghan Daums The Problem With Everything - Observer

At age six, after countless hours spent waiting for her dad in the airport, Jessica Reinschmidt decided to become a pilot. She would watch them walk through the terminal, uniforms crisp and luggage in hand. I can count on one hand the number of women I saw, she says. Forty years later, as a captain for a major airline, shes among the six per cent of commercial pilots who are women. From Seattle, where shed just landed a flight, Reinschmidt recalls some of the most hostile moments in her 14-year career: a colleague calling her a diversity hire; a captain mistaking her for a flight attendant; passengers who refused to board after seeing two women in the cockpit. Youre constantly proving that you know how to fly, she says.

Reinschmidt was one of more than a thousand women who participated in a National Geographic/Ipsos poll which set out to explore the perspectives of women across socio-economic, age, racial and political demographics, about their lives, the challenges they face at work and home, and the state of equality in the United States. What did we learn? In 2019, at a moment of global demand for female empowerment, and approaching the 100th anniversary of American women getting the right to vote, women are still grappling with whether its possible to lean in and have it all in life and work.

As National Geographic begins a year-long series of stories about the state of women, the National Geographic/Ipsos poll, conducted using Ipsos KnowledgePanel, found that women think prestigious jobs in once male-dominated professions such as medicine, finance, and academics offer as much opportunity for them as men. And while the majority of women feel they havent been discriminated against due to their gender, they overwhelmingly believe that sexual discrimination and harassment is a national problemas big as racial discrimination, many said. Though 69 per cent of the women surveyed dont consider themselves feminists, their answers describe many gender-related challenges. And slightly more than half say its easier to be a man in America today.

Among those polled, a stockbroker was kept from the big-money clients, a member of law enforcement with excellent performance reviews was never promoted, and a businesswoman was never invited to the golf game. The stories spilled out: of workplace solicitations, being ignored by doctors, left out of networking events, and barred from the basketball team. In America, how can you NOT be treated differently because of gender? one woman wrote. I've had to change the way I talk, dress, write, approach people, etc., so as not to offend male sensibilities.

Only 38 per cent of white women polled think its important to elect a woman president compared with 55 per cent of black and Latina women. And, slightly less than a third of all women polled self-identified as feminists. That stacks up globally, says Elisabeth Jay Friedman, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco, citing a recent Ipsos poll that found a similar figure across 27 countries. Yet, digging into both polls shows that most respondents also supported the type of equality that the feminist movement has advocated for during the past half century: fair pay, equal opportunity, shared family duties. In their lived experience, personal and professional, people are saying they believe in gender equality, says Friedmaneven if they reject the label.

So, what are the problems in the U.S. today, according to the women polled? The cost of health care, sexual harassment, violent crime, gun violence, terrorism, racial discrimination, climate change and affordable child care were the top issues. When asked if theyd personally experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly due to their gender, 60 per cent of the women polled said no. Older generations reported less discrimination than younger ones. That could be due to a lack of awareness, says Friedman.

If you grew up with certain expectations around whats appropriate for your gender, you may have taken a lot of what we think of today as unfair treatment, but said, Thats OK. It was appropriate for that guy to get a raise because he was head of the household and I was getting married, says Friedman.

In the past few years, accusations against powerful men such as Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer have dominated headlines and awareness of sexual harassment has surged to the national stage. This top-level reckoning may be why more than 80 per cent of the women surveyed identified sexual harassment as a problem in the country.

Those numbers are high, Jane Junn, a professor of political science and gender studies at the University of Southern California, says of the poll results. Issues highlighted by the Me Too movement has shifted public perception of a topic that had gone unspoken for decades, she adds. Thirty years ago, no one would have asked this question because sexual harassment was an everyday part of the job. Though these issues are under a global spotlight, tackling them on the personal level is still difficult for the average person. It happens to you and what are you going to do? You cant afford to lose your job. So you don't say anything about it, Junn says. But you watch other women say something about it. And powerful people are taken down. That allows you to say, yes, its a problem.

How does the job market in 2019 look for women? We proposed a list of jobs and asked about womens opportunities to advance in those fields. While a fewthe military, professional sports, and politicswere thought to be harder for women, the majority of professions listed were perceived to provide equal opportunities. Only one, nursing, was considered to give women a better shot.

Workplace inequality, says Junn, is most severe at the highest levelsCongress, top universities, the most profitable banks, or the most competitive Silicon Valley companies. Though Congress is still overwhelmingly male, a historic number of women were elected in 2018. Local- and state-level politics are increasingly equal. The student body in colleges across the country tilts female and so does the median voter, which makes Junn optimistic. Education and politicsyou have to have women in those places to change young minds and make better policies, she says. If youre in a position to understand what it means to be on the receiving end of the patriarchy, then you will vote to change it.

The women we polled found inspiration in famous women including Michelle Obama, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Condoleezza Rice, and Melania Trump. Some mentioned their own mothers, women in the military, working women and, of course, Oprah. They offered words of advice to the younger generations in America. Breaking the rules is a form of resistance and its your best bet to get to where you want to be, one wrote. Many promoted getting an education and working hard. One advised to stop saying the word like. Others were more blunt: Stop bitching. Make your own way and never ever depend on a man.

Junn had her own piece of adviceto keep fighting. It was only a hundred years ago that women gained the right to vote in the U.S., Junn says. We still have a big, big disadvantage. You have to be cautiously optimistic. Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

For Jessica Reinschmidt, things are different since she first climbed into the cockpit for a lesson 26 years ago. As were starting to retire more and more of the pilots that grew up in that era of man and wife rather than husband and wife, it is changing, she says. Just as were hiring more women, were hiring more men who grew up in households where mom worked and mom and dad were partners.

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The Results Are In: What Women Think About Harassment, The Job Market, And Feminism In 2019 - National Geographic Australia