Jennifer Lopez is upset about the life-changing ‘wellness’ battle she endured — and survived.
The 52-year-old multiple hyphenated entertainer is candid about an exhaustion-induced panic attack that prompted her to change the way she lives her hectic life.
“There was a time in my life when I slept 3 to 5 hours a night. I’d be on set all day and in the studio all night and on weekends doing junkets and filming videos,” she revealed in the new issue of her On the JLo newsletter.
“I was in my late twenties and thought I was invincible.”
The “Hustlers” actress was sitting in her trailer on set one day when “all the work and stress that came with it, coupled with not getting enough sleep to recover mentally, caught up with me.”
The “I’m Real” crooner also described how she “went from feeling completely normal to thinking about what I had to do that day and suddenly I felt like I couldn’t move.”
†[Now I strive] to live a very healthy and balanced life’ which is more about ‘pro-living vs anti-aging’.
Lopez on how she changed her wellness routine
“I was completely frozen,” Lopez said, adding that she had vision problems and “couldn’t see clearly.” The symptoms of the panic attack started to frighten her and the “anxiety worsened itself.”
“Now I know it was a classic panic attack caused by exhaustion, but I had never heard of the term then,” Lopez said, adding that she thought she was going crazy and went to see her doctor to relieve her pain. .
“My guard on set came in, picked me up and took me to the doctor. At least by the time I got there I could talk again and I was so terrified I thought I was going crazy,” the On the Six singer recalls.
She continued: “I asked the doctor if I was going crazy. He said, ‘No, you’re not crazy. You need sleep.’
He then advised her to take seven to nine hours of Zzz’s a night, avoid caffeine, and exercise. The “Selena” actress explained that she did not put her need for self-care first and made the choice to focus more on herself in the future.
“I realized how serious the consequences could be if I ignored what my mind and body needed to be healthy — and that’s where my journey to wellness began,” she said.
Today, the pioneer aspires to “live a very healthy and balanced life,” noting that her wellness philosophy has become “about pro-living vs. anti-aging.”