Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has been going through a period self-reflection and honesty since splitting from her fiancé Joshua Sasse last year.
But now, the 49-year-old appears to have firmly emerged on the other side, with a new album – Golden, in tow.
She is now sharing with her fans her mental health struggles, and how she copes. Speaking to UK publication Attitude, she says there’s one trick she uses to help her anxiety that she learnt from her grandmother .
“My 98-year-old grandma said years ago: ‘What you need to is lie flat, and you put your arms up and you just lie like that for 10 minutes,'” she said.
Minogue says that on days when she’s filming videos she’ll take a 10 minute break at lunch.
“I’ll go, ‘Right, phone off, dim the lights,’ and try and just be still.”
She describes her anxiety as having a lot of “voices in [her] head.”
“There are a lot of voices in my head. I guess part of that is our brains, they’re problem solvers, tick tick tick tick tick…” she explains.
“There’s enough discussion in my head. I probably would benefit from [counsellling] but I don’t really like it… [When I’m feeling anxious] I put the kettle on and make a cup of tea…
“They say that the fast track to happiness is gratitude and it’s true, just think that thought.”
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This isn’t the first time the singer has spoken about her mental health.
In 2014, she also spoke of her long-standing anxiety struggles in an interview with Express.
“I still worry about a lot of things and my anxiety levels can go through the roof, especially on tour, although I don’t think they’re as bad as they used to be,” she said.
She spoke about the difficulties of transitioning back to her normal life after her global tours, calling it a “post-tour depression.”
“When you’ve been away on tour where your adrenaline is going every day it can happen.
“I have friends who say they look forward to doing nothing after a tour but I always tell them that’s the worst thing you can do.
“Your adrenal glands are screaming, ready to go, so you have to keep active,” she said.
However, having just come out of a life overhaul, she admits that she bounces “back pretty quickly.”
“I’m pragmatic about stuff,” she says and tries to approach her challenges rationally, but also with heart and humour.
“I’m just taking a really good look at where I think I am in my life.”
But from what we can see, for Kylie, the only way forward from here is up.
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