Nile Wilson is one of the greatest British Gymnasts to have ever competed. His books before have been more about his life while this book shows more about his mental health and how he had coped with it and is now coping with it.
Mental health issues are such a huge part of sports. Especially in gymnastics which has a lot of abuse allegations. It is very difficult for men to talk about mental health since it’s not seen as manly. This book is a poignant discussion about mental health and how one can deal with it both good and bad ways.
Nile Wilson is a huge presence on the internet and he does some cool tricks and skills by himself, with his family and with his best friends. While one may seem happy at the same time that person can be going through a hugely dark time.
Love what for him FEAR can cause. It was great to see it in writing. The bad was is fuck everything and run and the food is face everything and rise.
Both of these are standards from those who have issues with mental health. Running is a standard for a lot of people it’s easier to run from the darkness than to face the trauma.
The talking of meditation as a way to assist with your mental health issues I can say from personal experience has helped me. It is also a good place to start and Nile Wilson has explained how it has impacted his life. He talks how you can’t really just do it once it’s the consistency of meditation that will always be the best.
The next part he talks about is that basically noone can do this alone. You must have someone you can trust and talk to.
Next is you can get some physical activity which can really assist with getting yourself into a better mental space.
This book was enlightening but not really a self help book. What I like is the candid talking that the author does about his own problems from eating disorder to gambling and alcohol addiction. The candid discussion shows that men while in the past were expected to hide their feelings it is changing but still not there yet.
I have been following Nile Wilson for quite some time on social media and he always seems to be having a lot of fun however reading about him he always talked about his issues which is refreshing. He doesn’t believe in the old Macho crap that has been pumped into boys minds for generations.
This book opened my eyes and I think that while coping mechanisms he did provide each individual must also search for themselves as to what is going to help them maintain a happy mental health.
I was impressed with the writing and love hearing the author talk or perform. He shows that it’s okay to not be okay and he pushes to get better understanding of men’s mental health struggles.
Crazy Canadian Writing 