Mental Health Awareness Month – Featuring Artists and Passionate Buddhists Loan Chabanol and Sabah Cheraiet (Ep. 11)

EPISODE SUMMARY

Breaking Distance – Mental Health Awareness Episode – A Candid Discussion with Loan Chabanol and Sabah Cheraiet Our Breaking Distance team connected with Global Artists and Passionate Buddhists Loan Chabanol and Sabah Cheraiet for a candid discussion in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month and featuring topics such as Ego, Compassion for Self, Spirituality and Creating during the Pandemic. Topics all relevant to the human condition and connecting us all. Ego is who you tell yourself you are. … Buddhist scholars agree that the ego is a mental construct we need to navigate the world. While in the Buddhist context you may more often run into the phrase “the sense of separate self,” its core meaning is very similar to the Western concept of ego. Self-compassion is extending compassion to one’s self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. Kristin Neff has defined self-compassion as being composed of three main components – self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. (Sources Wikipedia and selfawareness.blog)

EPISODE NOTES

Breaking Distance – Mental Health Awareness Episode – A Candid Discussion with Loan Chabanol and Sabah Cheraiet

Our Breaking Distance team connected with Global Artists and Passionate Buddhists Loan Chabanol and Sabah Cheraiet for a candid discussion in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month and featuring topics such as Ego, Compassion for Self, Spirituality and Creating during the Pandemic. Topics all relevant to the human condition and connecting us all. Ego is who you tell yourself you are. … Buddhist scholars agree that the ego is a mental construct we need to navigate the world. While in the Buddhist context you may more often run into the phrase “the sense of separate self,” its core meaning is very similar to the Western concept of ego. Self-compassion is extending compassion to one’s self in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. Kristin Neff has defined self-compassion as being composed of three main components – self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. (Sources Wikipedia and selfawareness.blog)

More About Sabah:

Sabah Cheraiet was born in Paris, March 1965, in a family of six children.

At 22, she met one of the greatest Buddhist masters of our time and travelled the world with him for more than 10 years.

Her spiritual path is at the heart of her life and she is very committed to the Tibetan cause.

Her love for painting and writing took root during her adolescence.

At the age of 10, she marvelled at a jewellery box she was given, on which was painted “the blue-eyed woman”, from Modigliani. She started admiring the painter, and became certain she had met him in a past life.

Today she lives in Montmartre, a few steps away from where he once resided.

As an autodidact, she has been drawing and painting but never showed her work to anyone. But her secret garden slowly got uncovered: she  started to reveal her canvases to her friends, who encouraged her to show them more.

Her meeting with Stéphane Corréard (curator) was a turning point for her. Convinced that she has “a thread to pull”, he encouraged her to exhibit.

She painted more than 100 canvases in less than 2 years.

Very quickly she got an opportunity to hold an exhibition in a house Rainer Maria Rilke used to spend time in, near Munich. The show was a real success.

One of her paintings was selected and exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris, in November 2015.

https://www.instagram.com/sabah_drolkar/

More About Loan:

Loan Chabanol  — Actress, Author, Painter, Director and Activist

Loan was born in Paris, France, and is of Vietnamese, German, and Italian descent. She grew up in the south of France where she was discovered during the prestigious Elite modelling contest. She has graced the covers of fashion magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Jalouse, and Glamour. Her versatile and ambiguous look got her to become an ambassador for L OREAL professional and soon after she a career in TV commercials, Loan pursued acting at Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. 

Her first feature role was in John Turturro’s comedy, “Fading Gigolo”, in which she acted alongside Woody Allen and John Turturro. Soon after, Loan was cast in “Third Person”, a romantic drama written and directed by Paul Haggis. Then, she played “Buster Keaton” in a short artistic film by James Franco. Loan starred in her first lead in “The Transporter Refuelled”, produced by Luc Besson. 

Her early years were spent in intensive art classes with artist Bernard Bistes in Midi-Pyrenees, France. Inspired by old cartoons and children’s illustrations, Loan’s early work was focused on eccentric characters and their struggle and desire to communicate. 

After meeting with Monica Watkins, creator of the non-profit The Foundation for Art in Motion, Loan’s work was featured in the “Art Meets Fashion” exhibition in New York in September, 2013. Linked to the show, her first book “Real E.t” depicts the quest of a sensitive character and his difficulties to communicate with the world throughout the challenges of Life. 

In 2015, she created BORN IN BLUE, an art exhibit depicting the rise of sea creatures in a host of mediums. These creatures were shown alongside an animated film the artist illustrated and directed surround- ed by a virtual “ Ocean based “environment at The Lightbox in New York City. 

The film was voluntarily created in a 2 D format to give the impression of what Loan calls the “ handcrafted vision “. 

Her following body of work, NAMSIS & BLACK NAMSIS opened at SHOW Gallery in Los Angeles in 2018. Using a new medium of collages, Loan expressed the depths of meditation that transforms into a singular form that ultimately leads to: “The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” 

After visiting Haiti in 2016, Loan has been working closely with APJ ‘s ( Artists For Peace and

Justice) . She share a collaboration with Picsart to help rise awareness to the young generation by creat- ing an artistic connection between them and the charity’s work. 

Since her movie debut, Loan has been a close friend of CHANEL’s house and have attended many of their events and fashion shows. She is a part of their Beauty US Chanel community as well and keep collocating on creative project.  

In 2019, she then donated art work and participated to WERISE Art festival & Phase ONE silent auction to help support Mental health for youth and Cancer research in Los Angeles. 

Her passion for cartoons and children’s stories led her to finalise “ Blueboo”, a children’s book she has been working on for the last 8 years. The story depicts the journey of a blue monster living in the Brown Woods meeting with the last caterpillar left in the forest. 

The book is successfully selling and is available online at www.booksoup.com. After making it through he first round, Loan will be submitting “ Blueboo” to the “Through her lens” Tribeca Film Festival ( 2020 ) short film program. ( CHANEL FILM PROGRAM ).

http://www.loanchabanol.com/

BLUEBOO IS NOW AVAILABLE at Bookshop https://www.booksoup.com/product/blueboo-loan-chabanol