WELLBEING
Six films to help you beat the lockdown blues, by life coach, author and ‘movie mentor’ Dawud Gurevitch.
Six films to help you beat the winterlockdown blues.
Films can change our lives – they can make us laugh, cry, ponder their deeper meaning and inspire us to do new things or make changes in our life. I found this out after watching the mind-bending action-adventure thriller Inception (2010), which literally changed my life for the better. It led me to change my career to life coach and start mentoring clients about what films can teach us.
Winter is a hard time for many of us – the cold weather and the fewer hours of daylight can bring us down, and the lockdown has made life harder for most, so here are my six top films that can help you beat those blues.
Peaceful warrior 2006
To help you focus on the power of ‘here and now’ and perhaps inspire you to make a few small changes to your life.
Peaceful Warrior, a drama based on the semi-autobiographical novel Way Of The Peaceful Warrior, is a truly inspiring and empowering story in which Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz), a high-achieving university student and world-champion gymnast who lacks deep fulfilment, has an encounter with a mysterious man nicknamed “Socrates” (Nick Nolte) that leads him enlightenment.
Dan learns how to balance his mind and body and a peaceful soul through many different practices, including mental (studying Anguttara Nikaya aka Teachings of the Buddha, meditating/ practising mindfulness), physical (exercise, clean and mindful eating, reducing his alcohol intake), and spiritual/emotional.
Into The Wild 2007
Reveals nature’s way to good health.
Into The Wild is a story about the late Christopher McCandless, played by Emile Hirsch, and is based on the bestselling biography by Jon Krakauer. The film adaptation written, directed and co-produced by Sean Penn, tells the true story of a young man from an affluent family who one day gives up his possessions and life savings, and hitchhikes to Alaska to experience the beauty and freedom of the wilderness. Along his journey, he meets a series of people who shape his life, and whose lives are shaped by him in return.
Through Christopher’s eyes, we learn how experiencing the awe, wonder, mystery, freedom and simple beauties of nature is good for our whole being, especially when enjoyed with our nearest and dearest.
Eat Pray Love 2010
A holistic approach to health.
Eat Pray Love is the true story of successful writer Liz Gilbert, a woman unhappy with her spouse, house and job, and how she travels to Italy,
India and Bali in search of good food, spirituality and new love.
Given the success the real-life Liz has gone on to enjoy, I would argue that the book and film teach us that our holistic health is the first and foremost way to work on all the other areas of our lives and so it pays to invest some of our thought, time, energy, and even our money in developing our mind, body and soul. Liz, for example, does the following: for the mind, she learns Italian; for the body, she walks, cycles, swims and enjoys a fresh awareness of the sun, blue sky, green trees, and all the other sights, sounds and smells on offer to anyone who is truly present in the here and now; and for the soul, she practises being grateful for the people and things in her life, prayer and silent meditation.
Heal 2017
Demonstrating that your health is your wealth.
Heal is a feelgood documentary that takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover our thoughts, beliefs, values, emotions and mindfulness have a huge impact on our health and our ability to heal.
In particular, this journey may introduce you to an alternative side of healthcare that you never knew existed or never seriously considered. Personally, I like how Heal’s writer and director, Kelly Noonan, champions many alternative ways to feel mentally, physically and spiritually healthier, while acknowledging that mainstream methods such as prescription medication and surgery may be preferable in addition to, or sometimes instead of, alternative practices.
Tony Robbins:
I Am Not Your Guru 2016
Making life a masterpiece.
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, featuring life and business strategist Tony Robbins, is another feelgood documentary that reminds us that in addition to focusing on our professional lives, we must also focus on what makes us feel personally fulfilled, otherwise we may end up materially wealthy but mentally, physically and/or emotionally bankrupt.
Naturally, this requires us to reflect on things such as what our values and beliefs are; replace any limiting beliefs, e.g. “I’m not good enough” with empowering ones, e.g. “I am good enough”; work hard to become the versions of ourselves we want to be; connect with like-minded people; work with a mentor; be grateful for all that we have; and help others to move up along the way.
Untouchable 2011
Showing how gratitude breeds success.
Untouchable (aka The Intouchables) is a moving French dramedy about a very unusual friendship that develops when a streetwise immigrant Driss (Omar Sy) is hired to take care of a disabled French nobleman Philippe (François Cluzet). Seeing Driss and Philippe’s respective struggles makes us count our blessings, despite our individual and collective situations, and we may well feel more optimistic and hopeful.
Practising some of the life lessons contained within these six films can help alleviate the winter blues and help you to feel greater love, joy and peace. May the flicks be with you this winter and always. DG
DAWUD GUREVITCH’S BOOK, MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU: A FILMIC GUIDE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE, IS OUT NOW, AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON.