Nathalie Emmanuel turned to yoga when her mental health was “deteriorating”.
Nathalie Emmanuel
The ‘F9’ actress has been a big fan of the practice since she was 18 and found herself struggling and she loves it these days because there’s never any “pressure” that comes with it.
She said: "What I love about yoga is there's no pressure to be the best at it. Even if you just lie on your mat for the hour and breathe with intention, you're doing yoga.
“[When I was 18] My mental health was deteriorating, and I took my first class in reaction to it.”
The 32-year-old star struggled with her body image for years, until she had a major realisation one day when looking back at her memories on Facebook.
She explained to the new issue of Women’s Health magazine: "You know how on Facebook it shows you a memory of yourself from six years ago or four years ago? A picture came up on my phone, and I went, 'I look so great!'
“ But I also remember that at the time [of that photo], I thought I was overweight and needed to do all these unhealthy things.
“We just beat ourselves up constantly, and we're never perfect enough."
The former ‘Game of Thrones’ star knew she needed to shift her mindset to be more positive about herself.
She added: “I had to change how I interacted with exercise and decide what I wanted to get from it."
Nathalie follows a vegan diet after attempting it for a week and being pleased with the results.
And after a month of eliminating animal products, she returned to her family in England and a week of indulging in her childhood favourites made her realise she’d made the right decision.
She recalled: "She made all the delicious things I ate growing up, and I thought, I'm not feeling so good, actually. Then I said, ‘Oh, guys...I think I'm vegan.’ ”
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