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Eva Mendes is passing on the mental health advice she gives to her daughters — and the strategies she relies on for her own anxiety.
“The way I deal with their anxieties, a lot of the time, is similar to how I deal with my own anxieties, [which] is to get up and move,” Mendes said in an Instagram Story, per E! News. Mendes clarified that movement has a broad definition in this case: it “can be anything from an impromptu dance party in the kitchen… or if there’s a trampoline nearby, I love a trampoline for movement.”
For her daughters Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, 8, who Mendes shares with husband Ryan Gosling, “it takes seconds into dancing for them to just snap out of their head and into their body… and it works for me as well.” Mendes’ favorite music to dance to? Songs from the 90s, of course.
The actor said that when she can’t play music or get them to a trampoline, “I love to take a walk… just to rid them of these anxieties that they have. I tend to do something more physical when possible.”
She also asked fans to share their anxiety-busting tips, writing on the video, “I’ll share mine if you share yours. Let me know what works in your house. These aren’t always foolproof but they help sometimes.”
Mendes is right about movement being a great way to reduce anxiety. Per Mayo Clinic, exercise releases endorphins, aka hormones that relieve pain, decrease stress, and improve your mood. Plus, exercise forces you to think of something besides whatever is making you anxious, forcing you to focus (even if briefly) a physical activity instead of your mental chatter. Or, as Mendes describes it, getting you out of your head and into your body, breaking up any anxious mental cycle you might be in.
It’s not the first time Mendes has spoken about her history with anxiety. In a recent Instagram video, she said anxiety is almost “built into my culture,” explaining that “when we were mad, we yelled. When we were happy, we yelled.” While Mendes said she loves her family and Cuban heritage and “wouldn’t have it any other way,” the result was that she was “very, very anxious” as a child.
“That was all being received by my nervous system as like panic, panic. Things are not OK, things are not safe,” Mendes explained. “And it took me so long to realize that so much of that was or is cultural and how I grew up.” Mendes’ forthcoming book, Desi, Mami, and the Never-Ending Worries, is intended to “open a dialogue” between kids and caregivers around anxiety, the actor explained.
According to the book’s description, it’ll also offer different ways to approach and manage the “never-ending worries” that come with anxiety. Based off Mendes’ video, we’re betting exercise — whether walking, dancing, or jumping on a trampoline — will be part of it.
Before you go, check out our favorite mental health apps: