May’s edition of Happiful magazine features Megan Crabbe, Ruby Wax and Rose McGowan advocating self belief, the importance of mindfulness and finding a community dedicated to being better
Cover star, author and body positivity advocate Megan Crabbe, has amassed over one million followers on instagram and shares messages about acceptance and eating disorder recovery. Megan’s book, Body Positive Power: How To Stop Dieting, Make Peace with Your Body and Live was published in 2017 and speaks about the widespread nature of negative self-perception.
“When it comes to body image, absolutely everyone has some kind of issues that they are dealing with,” she offered. “To actually zoom out and look at all the forces that are teaching us to hate our bodies, and really recognise, that you’ve been consuming messages since you were around four years old - whether it’s adverts, magazines, television, Barbie - whatever the beauty ideal is at the time - that moulds how we think. We are not insular, our beliefs are impacted by what we are taking in, every single day.”
Megan encourages all readers to take the beliefs we have about our bodies, beauty and worth and look at them under a microscope, questioning where they came from and whether they are serving them. Megan notes that the process is never-ending, for her too; “All I can do is take a step back and think: ‘I don’t want to believe this anymore, I didn’t want to believe it in the first place, and I want to let it go.’”
The importance of an analytical and mindful approach to our body and our thoughts, is echoed further in the magazine by Ruby Wax, actress, broadcaster and comedian, who has lived with depression since her early teens. “I got depression because my thoughts were overwhelming,” she says. “And now I doubt those thoughts, because thoughts don’t define you.”
This revelation came after studying mindfulness at Oxford University and seeing first-hand how mindfulness works. Ruby is now keen to spread the message of its benefits: “Mindfulness changes the way you parent, how you are in a relationship, it changes everything. You can re-route at any age, and I think I’m a walking representative of that.”
From the subject of personal consciousness to the topic of collective consciousness, Rose McGowan also spoke to Happiful, about her book Brave, exploring her life to date, her time in Hollywood, her ongoing activism as part of the #MeToo movement and the forward looking #RoseArmy, a concept that came to Rose while walking around the city.
“I saw this bent flower, this bent rose, growing through the cracks in the sidewalk. I thought that’s like most of us - we’re bent not broken. A lot of times it feels like we’re going to snap but we come back up. That’s human nature, and the fight that comes with just being alive, and wanting to stay alive.”
“Rose Army is a hashtag with the ethos of: ‘Can we be better? Can we think differently and do you think differently? Let’s connect! It’s a hashtag used all over the world, like a handshake.”
In addition to interviews with Megan Crabbe, Ruby Wax and Rose McGowan, the mental health focussed magazine features a conversation with Dr Rupy Aujla, articles on emotional labour, body dysmorphic disorder, the impact of words on our psyche, fear of flying, how to manage night-time panic attacks and Toys Like Me - a campaign encouraging toymakers to improve the diversity of their products. The May print edition also includes a special creative booklet.
Happiful’s May issue will be on sale from Thursday 18 April. The magazine is also free in e-edition form by subscription at https://happiful.com.
For more information about Happiful Magazine or copies of the issue, please contact Amie Sparrow, PR Manager, on 01276 580030 or via email at amie.sparrow@happiful.com or Alice Greedus, PR & Communications Officer, on 01276 580047 or via email at Alice.Greedus@happiful.com.
Information For Editors
Happiful, the magazine devoted to mental health, celebrated its two-year birthday on Wednesday 20 March 2019 - also the International Day of Happiness.
Over the past two years, many people have shared their experiences of their mental health and illness with Happiful readers. Public figures including Munroe Bergdorf, Dame Kelly Holmes, Bryony Gordon, Callie Thorpe, Juno Dawson and mental health campaigners Jonny Benjamin and Neil Laybourn have appeared on its front covers.
The magazine is dedicated to helping people find the help and community they need - as is Counselling Directory, the first in the Happiful family of directories and resources.
Counselling Directory was established in 2005 by sisters Aimi and Emma, who were experiencing mental health challenges themselves. Aimi and Emma wanted to create a resource so others who needed support, like them, could directly access therapy and information about counselling, and take control of their own mental health support.
Happiful Magazine was subsequently launched in 2017 and is committed to continuing and de-stigmatising the mental health conversation, and sharing support and personal stories. The magazine is free in e-edition form, as the team believe there should be no cost to accessing the community and support it provides, as well as its inspirational content.
Earlier this year, Happiful launched its podcast I am. I have with guests including Estee Lalonde, Emily Dean, Psychotherapist Lee Valls, Martin Robinson and Lara Pradelska.
On 13 May, a series of five special podcasts will be launched to mark Mental Health Awareness Week and to further the mental health and illness conversation. These were recorded live at King’s Place, as part of Podfest For Mental Health, on Saturday 30 March.