For international pop star, actress, dancer and super-mom, Jennifer Lopez, finding time for wellness has not always been at the top of her to-do list. But, in her recent On the Jlo newsletter, the star opens up about how debilitating panic attacks in her 20s forced her to reevaluate and dedicate more time to self-care.
Lopez revealed to her readers that in her late twenties she began to experience exhaustion-induced panic attacks that would leave her "feeling physically paralyzed" and afraid. At the time, she was only getting between three and five hours of sleep per night. "I thought I was invincible," she says. Nevertheless, she pressed on until one day when the star remembers "sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me." Lopez's security guard had to carry her off set and rush her to the doctor.
"I was so terrified I thought I was losing my mind," she recounts. But upon arriving to the doctor, he assured her she was not losing her mind and rather just needed more sleep, less caffeine and better self-care habits. In the midst of establishing her own lifestyle empire, beginning her film career and starting her first marriage, JLo says she let her self-care needs fall by the wayside completely. The debilitating panic attacks she faced served as a wake up call for her. "I realized how serious the consequences could be of ignoring what my body and mind needed to be healthy—and that's where my journey to wellness began."
Though many of us look up to JLo as an icon for aging beautifully, the star herself had to change her wellness mindset to be "pro-living versus anti-aging." She emphasizes how prioritizing good sleep and taking care of herself has completely changed her life and is even a large contributor to her timeless beauty. "Sometimes I wake up and say, 'Wow! I just lost 10 years off my face!'"
When it comes to both looking good and feeling good, we can all take a lesson from JLo that sometimes all we need to do is sit back, relax and take a nap.
