Cosmina Manea: Romanian Blogger

Cosmina Manea is a  Romanian blogger with a focus on beauty, lifestyle, and healthy eating.

Cosmina Manea brings a unique Romanian perspective to the wellness world, with a background in geography, economy, and experience in urban consulting, teaching, CSR, PR, and project management. Though she lives in Romania, she collaborates with international beauty brands and has traveled to more than 15 countries (living for more than a month in three of them).

Cosmina is passionate about volunteering and finding purpose in all her actions. Through her blog, she hopes to inspire and motivate others to live their healthiest and happiest lives.

Four Columns is excited to have for the first time a Romanian blogger on board.

Cosmina talks to me about her life, purpose, bullying, and her blog.

Cosmina, a privilege to have a Romanian blogger on board. Talk to me about your blog and why we should visit it.

I like to think of my blog as my virtual living room. It is the place where I sit down and discuss with my readers the topics that I am most interested in. The blog is about wellness in general, with a particular focus on beauty, lifestyle, and healthy eating.

The lifestyle section is the most general, with articles about outdoor activities ideas, psychological issues such as dealing with traumas, environmental well-being,  and interior design.

Healthy eating is a section close to my heart and I am learning while writing, too. I recently gave up eating meat completely, and I try to find ways to add all those nutrients my body needs from plant-based ingredients. Also, I try to make delicious and healthy foods, while also fighting the extra weight caused by a very stressful previous period. As I learn new scientific information about healthy and nutritious diets or discover some delicious vegetarian recipes, I share them in this section.

Lastly, the beauty section is one that is close to my heart. I grew up being bullied because of my looks and I refused afterward to do anything about it. Two years ago, I decided to take care of my skin properly. I also took some classes on self-makeup. And I discovered how having a skincare and beauty routine can improve not only the physical aspect but also the emotional well-being.

Our soul is the essence of who we are. It is the part of us that connects to a deeper meaning and purpose in life and helps us to have hope,  and achieve our dreams. How is the soul linked to wellness and well-being?

I will start with a short story of a child that dreamed all the time of being an astronaut. She looked up to the stars every night and dreamed of seeing the Earth from up above. At age 17 she won a gold medal at the International Geography Olympiad.  And she saw the Earth from above for the first time while flying for 14 hours from Europe to Japan for this competition.

This child was me. And this part of my life proved to me that every dream we have can be achieved if we truly believe in it. And that power to believe comes from deep within our souls.

But this is not all about this story. The happiness I felt while being on the stage and receiving the gold medal was the purest and strong happiness I ever felt in my life. Accomplishing this was part of what my soul desired, so the level of happiness was like nothing I experienced before.

I believe we should look deep into our souls often. See what we want the most spiritually, allow ourselves to dream, and do our best to follow these dreams. Dreams are our way to look into the mirror image of our souls. And the happiness we feel by making them real is the best way of having great well-being.

You talk about taking care of our bodies as part of wellness and spirituality. I want to know more.

Taking care of our bodies is a great wellness method. First, it has a great impact on our physical wellness. And I think this is the starting point for making a change as it has an impact on all other aspects of our wellness. When we are overweight or when our skin is not properly taken care of, or when we are sick, our energy level is low, our self-confidence is absent, and our mood is grumpy. And this will only further decrease our well-being.

It is a vicious cycle, that can only be broken by changing the way we treat our bodies. Sports and meditation will improve our physical and emotional well-being. We will have more energy and increased self-confidence. And a decreased risk of diseases. I recommend yoga as it combines physical and mental exercises. Having a skincare and beauty routine, or any routine for that matter, will also directly benefit not only the physical aspect but the way we see ourselves. Any accomplishment, no matter how small, produces dopamine in our brains and this improves our well-being.

Eating healthy and nutritious food will improve physical well-being, while also having a positive effect on the environment around us. And when our environment is healthy, part of the positive benefits return to our physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being. We are part of nature, so we should not avoid it. Nature is teaching us all the time how to take care of ourselves to be happy and to have a fulfilled life. All we have to do is to take a break from time to time, look around, and observe. To still our minds is more difficult than to still our bodies, but our increased well-being is worth the effort.

How does a healthy mind help us deal with challenges in life?

When our mind is healthy, we have a different perspective on life. Self-confidence is high. We stop judging ourselves so much. Failures are no longer the end of the road, but opportunities to evolve and to try something new. Negative feelings like anger, fear, anxiety, impulsivity, as well as stress, are easier to be managed. We recognize toxic environments easier, and we refuse to stay in places that are not in accordance with our life values and principles. We believe in ourselves, we are more optimistic, and we are happier.

To achieve this healthy mind, we need to work a lot with ourselves. We need to understand our life goals and values, our decision-making process, our limits, and our dreams. Meditation is a great way to achieve this. As well as mindfulness exercises, that make us be increasingly aware of the present instead of always thinking about the past and the future.

I would also like to mention that a healthy mind is never alone. For a healthy mind, we also need a healthy environment, body, and social life. For me, mental wellness came once I began to practice sports and meditation, decluttered my environment, include more healthy foods in my diet, and replaced my toxic workplace environment. Working on a single aspect of our lives while keeping others at unhealthy levels is effective only in a small manner. We should find wellness in all our life aspects for long-term and efficient well-being.

We have so much in common. I like your view on finding the equilibrium in physical, emotional, social, environmental, spiritual, financial, and vocational. Help me understand this equilibrium.

All aspects of our lives are interconnected, and each one contributes to our overall quality of life. The key to finding an equilibrium between them is striving for balance and paying attention to each aspect. It is not a one-time task, but rather an ongoing process that needs constant effort.

For instance, physical wellness through exercise and healthy eating can improve emotional well-being and lead to greater financial stability by reducing healthcare and weekly food shopping costs. A job we love doing will lead to greater social and emotional wellness, as we will be happier, and we will also find many friends and opportunities to interact with our colleagues. A green environment can improve both our environmental and spiritual wellness, as being surrounded by nature is great for meditation while also improving the quality of the air we breathe.

In essence, finding equilibrium in these different aspects of life means creating a life that is in harmony with oneself and the world around them. Once we recognize the interconnectedness of all aspects of life, finding balance and harmony in each one will be an easier task, but still require constant effort and attention.

What does women’s empowerment mean to you?

Women empowerment for me is like a superhero power all women possess within themselves. It is the ability to control their lives, overcome obstacles, and make positive changes.

With empowerment, comes the strength to break free from self-doubt, fear, and limiting beliefs. We can finally tap into our full potential and unleash our creativity, skills, and talents. With women’s empowerment, we became agents of change, making a difference in our own lives and in the world around us. And to this, we have to thank first of all those women who had the courage to stand up and fight for their rights and beliefs in the times when they were not seen as equal to men.

I also believe empowerment is about finding purpose, meaning, and fulfillment in our lives. Recognizing our own worth and value as individuals and using that to inspire and lift others up is part of the empowerment process. And social movements like #metoo are great in remembering women all over the world that they have a power within them so strong and big that they can overcome any challenge that brings to their path.

So, for me, women’s empowerment is the power we have as women to transform our lives to the way we want them to be. Which unfortunately is something we couldn’t do not so long ago, but I am very grateful we can do it now.

Talk to me about the city you live in. I want to know the food scene and some favorite dishes.

I live in Bucharest, Romania. It is a vibrant city, in which you can always find something to do. Music is everywhere, theatre, opera, and other live plays are available every evening, shopping opportunities are at every corner, and parks are beautifully designed and maintained. However, we still have a lot to evolve. Despite its beauty, the city is congested with traffic, concrete still is dominant wherever you look, and people are always in a hurry and stressed.

The Romanian food is amazing, but unfortunately for me, most dishes are meat-based. Pork meat is part of almost all traditional meals and vegetarian dishes are scarce. If you are not a vegetarian, this city is a great mixture of Southern European, Middle East, and Eastern European food flavors and there is no way you will not fall in love with the traditional sarmale (pork meat rolled in sour cabbage and served with polenta and sour cream nearby).

However, there are also some amazingly tasty meatless dishes I love to both prepare at home and purchase in restaurants, such as green lettuce soup, eggplant and onion salad, cheese, and sour cherry dumplings. The options are limited in restaurants, but it is worth looking for them.

My daughter just turned 19. Give 5 beauty tips to her, to a woman who is 30, 40, and 50.

The beauty tips that I will give are great for anyone regardless of age.

First, always use SPF. Koreans use it starting with 6-month-old babies, so never worry about it being unnecessary. UV light can damage the skin by making it age prematurely and it can also increase the risk of skin cancer. When it comes to treating those conditions, the best treatment is prevention. So, no day should pass without SPF, even when you stay inside the house.

Always prioritize skincare over makeup. And never apply makeup without preparing your skin beforehand. All those cleanser, serums, moisturizers, and primers have their own purpose, and that is to nourish your skin and keep it healthy, while also preventing the makeup to soak into your pores. Skincare is for beauty like preparing the canvas for a painter. Before you start to paint, you must first prepare the surface on which you apply the colors.

Always cleanse your face. Even when you do not have any makeup on. Pollution and dust are always in the space around us, and they can clog our pores in time. Cleansing the face twice per day, in the morning and in the evening makes miracles for the skin. And I think this advice also covers the one about never sleeping with your makeup on.

Lifestyle is a great factor influencing our beauty, so besides skincare and makeup, you should also look at how your food influences your skin and body, or how your mental well-being and stress level reflects on your skin brightness. A healthy life will lead to a beautiful body.

And lastly, always smile. Smile is the best beauty accessory any person can wear anytime, and it never goes out of style. While we smile, we radiate positivity and happiness, and that energy is contagious. It can also brighten our complexion, reduces wrinkles, and fine lines, and make us look youthful and vibrant. And it makes our eyes sparkle. So, if you want to embrace your beauty, embrace the power of a genuine, warm smile, and watch as it transforms not only your physical appearance but also your mood and overall look on life.