Camila Cabello wrote a long note to fans on her social media accounts about mental health and one “small way” she’s found of helping herself when she’s struggling: breathing exercises.
“I don’t go on social media that much cause it’s not good for me,” Cabello wrote in an Instagram caption on Friday.
“And I don’t know how to not be affected by what people say on here so I just don’t read it- but I am totally aware that I can use this platform to help people even in small ways! so to anyone on here who is struggling, which we all do sometimes cause we’re human!!! I super recommend taking five minutes out of your day to just breathe,” she said.
The “Senorita” singer said that she didn’t previously understand “meditation” or the “concept of just noticing your breath,” but she’s been doing it the past few months and “can feel the quality of my life improving.”
“I used to live so much in my head, constantly trapped in my overthinking and being in my head as opposed to the present moment- and lately just going back to my breath and focusing on it puts me back in my body and back in the present and helps me so much,” she said.
Cabello also implored fans to take five minutes out of their day to “just inhale for 5 seconds through your nose, and exhale for 5 seconds through your mouth - and super focus on your breath and how it feels coming in and out of your nostrils.” She explained that those who need it should do it three times a day and “whenever you feel yourself getting overwhelmed.”
“I think some tools are really life changing and help you know how to do that better, so I just thought i’d share something that’s really helped me,” said the pop star.
The 22-year-old has been candid about her mental health, particularly about her struggles with anxiety and OCD diagnosis.
In her June 2018 Cosmopolitan U.K. cover story, she said of the latter: “OCD is weird. I laugh about it now. Everybody has different ways of handling stress. And, for me, if I get really stressed thinking about something, I’ll start to have the same thought over and over again, and no matter how many times I get to the resolution, I feel like something bad is about to happen if I don’t keep thinking about it.”
Just last month, she opened up to her fans ― also on Instagram, across two posts ― about her anxiety. Cabello explained that she feels there are two versions of herself: “There’s little Camila that is terrified of the unknown, is aware of all the ways everything can go wrong, (actually can picture them vividly lol), and thinks it’s safer to stay home than to play ball. Then there’s the other Camila. And she knows what she wants out of life, is aware of how little time I have to let little Camila run the show while time passes by, and grabs young me by the hand and forces her out the door saying ‘Let’s go. You’ll survive, and I’m not gonna miss out on this. Let’s go.’”
In the second post, Cabello told her fans that if they “haven’t been very brave, or very social, or wild, or an adventure seeker, if you describe yourself as the opposite of those things… it doesn’t mean you can’t be.”
“Force yourself to do what you’re afraid of, always- and go after what you want and who you want to be, because you’re worth that,” she said. “You’re worth the fight. It’s the most worthwhile one there is.”