Barbie's one job, since her first day, has always been one thing:

She is not a doctor. She is not an oceanographer. She is not a teacher. She is not an astronaut. As a model, Barbie’s job is to communicate the idea of those jobs via visual images. She models them. But she does not become them. She can’t.

What is a true experience? And then, what is the communication of that experience? The answers to these questions are becoming blurred. And a mindful inquiry can un-blur them.

If you’ve attended one of the meditation classrooms at Mindful Boston, you’ve seen that I always refrain from taking pictures of people while they are meditating. There are a number of reasons for that.

1. while you are meditating, it can hamper your practice if someone is photographing you.

This is a big topic to explore given current media trends. I will write more on it in a future blog. Please collaborate with me if you have thoughts about it.

It can hamper your practice if someone is photographing you.
Therefore we instead model the practice by creating photoshoots during our breaks.

2. People who are really meditating are rarely photogenic.

In order to get the idea of meditation across to the receiving end of a photo, you might have to create a stage with props. Real people meditating kind of look like they are not doing anything. Or maybe they look asleep!

I could list another ten reasons to model meditation for photos. Or more, if you would like.

Are you interested in learning more of the reasons why I respect a model for modeling properly? Please let me know what you would like to see in a future blog.

-Gena Bean
Lead Teacher at Mindful Boston

This email is the Sunday News blog from Mindful Boston.
The intention is to give you a boost for approaching your week with mindfulness.

This is week 4 of our monthly practice planner: check in.