The Ryan Reynolds Mindfulness Project

Ok Medium community, I need your help getting to Ryan Reynolds. Before you think that I’m some fanatic stalker, let me tell you my story.

The Background

One day last November, a friend and I were talking about inappropriate movies to watch with children. I’m all like “Spaceballs” and she’s all “Deadpool.” Well she won.

I’d never seen the movie and didn’t even know any movies that Ryan Reynolds had been in. My friend, however, is a huge fan. She proceeds to show me a clip from Deadpool 2 where he’s been cut in half and is regrowing his legs. What the heck? Whatever.

On the plane ride back home, I decided to watch Deadpool and was surprised by how hilarious I found it. I got home and realized we actually owned both movies. When the hell did my husband buy these?

I decided to watch it again because inevitably on the plane I miss so much of the dialogue due to all the announcements and meal services. Yep still funny.

But also disturbing. I remember thinking I should not watch this stuff before bed. I do not want all this disturbing material marinating in my subconscious.

I’m supposed to be a mindful person and I thought “this is incongruent with mindfulness.” Sure enough, I had disturbing Deadpool dreams all night long.

I woke up at 3 am and thought “Ryan Reynolds is a pretty funny guy. I want to work with him. How can I make that happen? Ah ha! A Mindfulness Documentary.”

The Inspiration

I’m retired Army and my passion is bringing mindfulness, meditation, and yoga to military populations.

Specifically, I advocate for service members to have access to these skills in a preventative nature to build resilience before any work related trauma can occur.

I’d been struggling with how to inspire an 18 to 25 year old military male to want to try meditation and yoga. I knew this group wouldn’t want the military to force it upon them as yet another mandatory training requirement. They’d have to be inspired to try it on their own.

Insert Ryan Reynolds.

I think this age group identifies with him and his movies. I think they’d watch a documentary or you tube series of him undergoing his own mindfulness journey told in an authentic, light, and humorous way.

I think.

I imagine the story being real and raw and turning what can be a serious and boring subject into something fun, inspiring, and meaningful.

I imagine that after watching it, the 18 to 25 year old military male (and perhaps many others) may want to try meditation and yoga.

The Why

The military is in crisis mode with the amount of suicides happening each year, both veterans and active duty.

Military.com reported that suicides across all services are either staying the same or increasing. The Marines have especially been hit hard.

Marine Times reported that Marines that haven’t deployed and do not have a history of mental health problems are taking their own lives. Why?

One theory is that many people join the military to escape difficult situations and thus already may have experienced trauma and extreme stress in their lives.

Add to that new requirements of military life, leadership and job responsibilities, living in a different environment, and things can remain stressful.

If service members don’t have strong family bonds and haven’t been taught how to reach out for help, then they develop their own self coping mechanisms. Often, this includes excessive alcohol, drugs, and in extreme cases, suicide.

It’s time to give these young people a way to help themselves.

An Idea

Hence my Ryan Reynolds (or someone like him) Mindfulness Project. It’s an outside of the box, and outside of the military idea. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Someone with Ryan’s platform can reach and impact millions of people in a very short amount of time. And that is what this suicide crisis needs. An asteroid size punch to eradicate this problem.

The Ask

If you know Ryan, his agent, or someone that knows them, then pass this idea along. If you think this idea can work, then comment and clap heartily please.

If you have other outside the box ideas for how to help the military with this issue, then email me at benef.verell@gmail.com.

Benefsheh Verell is a retired Army officer and author of Military and Mindful: Eight Essential Elements to Manage Your Military Career and Motherhood.