Brie Larson “struggled with feeling ugly and like an outcast” for “so much” of her life.
Brie Larson
The ‘Captain Marvel’ actress has revealed it took her while to accept herself for who she is and to be “totally comfortable” in her own skin, and she wants to encourage others to feel like they have the “freedom to express themselves” as who they truly are, because she doesn’t believe a “beauty standard” exists.
She said: "I don’t believe that there is a beauty standard. I struggled with feeling ugly and like an outcast for so much of my life. And so I really, really feel for that. It took me a long time to be able to be totally comfortable with myself. The thing that has brought me solace is knowing that I can be whoever I want to be with myself. What breaks my heart is to think of people in the world who don’t feel that they have safety within their own bodies. That, to me, is my ultimate goal in life: to do whatever it is that I can so people have the freedom to express themselves and be exactly who it is that they want to be—whatever that is—knowing that that can also change.”
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old movie star shared how she has learnt to maintain a healthy work/self-care balance.
Speaking about these “nerve-wracking” times amid the coronavirus pandemic, she said: "It is nerve-wracking. I’ve had to learn how to place more boundaries with work and my self-care. It just feels like everything can be so out of whack. As I mentioned, I have started winding down once the sun starts to set. It’s also my cue to start cooking dinner, go into the garden—that’s how it starts. I’ve been burning frankincense in the house too, because it not only smells great, but it’s great for cleansing the air in the house; it’s anti-microbial. I’ve also been trying to watch a movie every night. Sometimes I’ll do some breathing exercises, or I’ll meditate if I’ve had a particularly stressful day. For me, it’s about what can I do that is transitional out of work into decompressing time, because when you’re at home all day I feel it’s very easy to let everything stick and hang on to you. It’s about knowing what’s the routine and what’s the ritual to get out of that."
Brie insisted that sometimes all it takes is 10 minutes to reset the “mind and body”.
She added to W magazine: "Or even a couple of minutes can help! The thing that I’m learning is that even just washing my face, putting on moisturiser, and doing five minutes of breathing exercises can help. I mean, we’re talking about 10 minutes. Before I used to be like, 'I don’t have time for self-care.' It’s doesn’t take as long as we think it does. You can do longer forms—of course, I am a big fan of that—but even for people who feel they are too busy, you can take 10 minutes to do great things for the mind and body.”
Tagged in Brie Larson