DUBAI: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and actress Jameela Jamil has something special in store for her fans to mark the occasion.
The “The Good Place” star has invited her 3.4 million followers to a 30-minute online “exercise class where we wear pajamas, eat snacks and listen to disco while doing very silly aerobics.”
The 34-year-old teamed up with her longtime friend and trainer for an Instagram Live “cringe fest” workout on Saturday in an effort to “take exercise back.”
“Watch me have the elegance of a walrus as I jump into happiness on Instagram Live,” wrote British-Pakistani-Indian Jameel ahead of the session.
All that’s needed to attend the virtual workout class was a delicious snack and a comfortable outfit. “Bring a delicious snack, baggy clothes and leave your eating disorder fears at the door because this can be a safe space away from the noise of toxic diet culture,” she wrote to her followers.
Jamil, who became a household name with her activism and role as Tahani Al-Jamil on NBC’s “The Good Place,” routinely takes to her social media platforms to encourage people to respect and love their bodies.
She often gets candid about her struggles with eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
“It’s taken me 20 years to get back into even light exercise because I’ve been so traumatized by my eating disorder history and how our society has weaponized exercise into being a tool of diet culture rather than something we do for our mental health,” wrote Jamil on Instagram.
“The bralette tops and tight leggings and rooms full of mirrors and focus on definition, shape and size is just too much for me. It triggers old thoughts and habits. So, I do it in baggy clothes with light snacks (as in nothing that would make me throw up when I’m jumping up and down) and none of the emphasis is on my body, ONLY my mind. Doing this has revolutionized my relationship with exercise, my body, and my mind (sic),” she wrote.
“It is disgusting that vanity has taken over exercise and that you’re made to feel like to even be able to exercise you have to show up thin and toned in revealing clothes. We need to TAKE EXERCISE BACK (sic),” she added.