Gisele Bündchen preaches ‘kindness’ amid ‘silent struggles’ one year after divorce

‘We don’t see the silent struggles, the fear, the obstacles, the heartbreaks, or their daily ups and downs…’ supermodel writes

Gisele Bündchen has opened up about “silent struggles” and the importance of “kindness”.

On Sunday 19 November, the model took to Instagram where she shared a photo of herself sitting on the beach in a bathing suit, staring at a sunset. The post’s caption stressed the importance of kindness in life, while nothing that we don’t always see the “daily ups and downs” or “heartbreaks”.

“Everyone we meet has faced or is facing challenges in life that we know nothing about,” the caption began. “We don’t see the silent struggles, the fear, the obstacles, the heartbreaks, or their daily ups and downs… As we go about our daily routine, we may miss seeing someone needing a simple, kind word or gesture.”

She concluded: “I believe an act of kindness sparks more kindness, and this is what we most need in the world today.”

Bündchen also went on to share a translation of the caption into Portuguese.

This isn’t the first time the Brazilian model has spoken out about “silent struggles”. Bündchen, 43, recently opened up to People about the many challenges she and her family have faced in the past year. “It’s been very tough on my family. It’s been a lot - in every area of my life,” she said in the interview published 18 September.

Within the last 12 months, Bündchen has navigated co-parenting her two children - son Benjamin, 13, and daughter Vivian, 10, - with ex-husband, retired football star Tom Brady. Before their divorce, which was finalised in October 2022, she relocated her family to Florida for Brady’s three-season stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the Victoria’s Secret model has now settled down in Miami, she was reportedly helping her two ailing parents at the same time. “I feel like whenever it rains, it pours,” Bündchen told the outlet. “With all the different twists and turns that life takes, all we can do is the best we can given what happens in our surroundings.”

Since moving on from her 13-year marriage with Brady, Bündchen explained that she’s relied on meditation and daily exercise to help her through difficult times. “I work out every single day,” she said, noting how her workout routine includes a mix of walking, yoga, and lifting weights.

“I think if I didn’t have all the different tools that I have to support me during these times, it would’ve been very hard,” she added. “And I think we all can relate to that, because I think we all have gone through our roller coasters of life.”

The Brazilian model also decided to stop drinking alcohol, and revealed how it’s positively affected her one year later. “Right after I turned 40, actually, I felt a huge difference between when I had the glass of wine and when I didn’t have the glass of wine,” Bündchen said. After cutting alcohol from her diet, she recalled seeing a difference “immediately”.

“I became more clear,” she explained. “I felt a bit more foggy before. Now I’m very sharp and very present and I notice things that I didn’t notice before. When I’m not drinking, I’m sleeping much better. You have to be loving to yourself. You ask a lot of your body, you’ve got to do a reset. You have got to take care of this only vehicle you got, right?”

Last year, Bündchen and Brady announced they were divorcing after 13 years of marriage. In a social media post shared on 28 October 2022, the former couple revealed they had finalised their divorce, just weeks after it was reported that they had each hired divorce lawyers.