Gisele Bündchen Gave Up Alcohol 2 Years Ago, Says She Meditates and Works Out Every Day: 'My Body Is My Temple'

“I’m just so grateful I have this body," the supermodel said

Gisele Bündchen is sharing how she ditched smoking and drinking for fitness and natural remedies in order to turn her health around.

The supermodel recently opened up about her health journey as she teamed up with herbal supplement brand Gaia Herbs. During a panel celebrating the partnership, the 43-year-old detailed how “intense” she is when it comes to wellness, which is a big transformation from her younger years.

“I meditate everyday, I exercise every day,” she said. “I’m just so grateful I have this body, I truly am. Now I’ve learned — because I wasn’t so good in my 20s or my teens — I realized my body is my temple and I really want to enjoy it. So for me, moving my body is huge.”

“This is why I wake up at 5 a.m. This is why I’ve meditated for over 20 years. And when I don’t, I feel a huge difference,” she said, noting, “I haven’t drank alcohol in over two years and it’s amazing how much more clear [I feel].”

Related: Gisele Bündchen Is a Fan of 'Food Fix', a New Book about How Dietary Changes Can Help Fight Disease

Bündchen explained that she adopted her current lifestyle after struggling with anxiety and depression when she was younger. She said her mental health started to suffer because of her smoking, coffee and alcohol drinking, and more.

“In my early 20s I had severe panic attacks and depression,” she recalled. “When you’re a teenager or in your 20s you think nothing’s going to hurt you, you can do anything, you’re a superhero. Well, not so much. Your body lets you know.”

After seeing different specialists to help, the model credits her upbringing and her grandmother’s knowledge of natural remedies for allowing her to turn to “plants as my pharmacy” rather than medications for depression and anxiety.

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So throughout her 20s, Bündchen said she started using herbal supplements, she changed her diet, started meditation and breathwork, among other changes.

“My life changed completely. It was like a rebirth,” she explained. “It was a process though. We’re habitual beings. We want to do the same things because it just feels comfortable. So I had to replace all those habits that were killing me for habits that were giving me a new life. Instead of waking up with two cigarettes and a mocha frappuccino with whipped cream, I would wake up and go for a jog and come back and do an hour of breath work and yoga. Everything changed.”

Bündchen added that instead of viewing it as a long list of lifestyle changes, she views them as tools.

“I get to have all these incredible tools that I can use to support me feeling like my best self. And that’s how I see it,” she said. “You get addicted to it, in a good way.”

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