'Batwoman' star Javicia Leslie on her wellness practices: 'I can be my own healer when needed'
The Unwind is Yahoo Life’s well-being series in which experts, influencers and celebrities share their approaches to wellness and mental health, from self-care rituals to setting healthy boundaries to the mantras that keep them afloat.
In taking over the title role on the CW series Batwoman in 2020, Javicia Leslie became the first Black actor to play the character. It's a milestone she doesn't take lightly — and one that informs her other projects, including partnering with Puffs to cheer on the young superheroes at Cincinnati Children's Hospital; the brand is also donating 3,500 boxes of its Ultra Soft tissues to help get patients through cold and flu season.
“We’re reminding children of the warriors and superheroes that they are. It’s a lot of fun!” says Leslie, who also opened up to Yahoo Life about her approach to her own self-care.
“I have a daily routine where I tap into myself and see where I am,” she says. “I can be my own healer when needed. I wake up two hours early before work, and I start with free writing; I release anything that may be cluttering my brain.”
After journaling, Leslies typically gets her body moving with yoga and deep breathing exercises.
“I move into yoga which allows me to get breath throughout,” she says. “Then I move into breathwork; I do Wim Hof breathwork. It helps with my anxiety and it helps put me at ease. It’s a natural way to alkaline-ize your own body. After that, I move into sound bowls. I also do a buffalo drum. Sound waves — for me, specifically) — help calm my nerves. From there, I feel strong enough to go into the day.”
The actress credits these breathwork techniques as “reset buttons” when she’s feeling stressed out from L.A. traffic or a busy day of filming.
“On set, I'll do breath work. I’ll breathe in a few times, fill up my lungs and my chest, hold it for 15 seconds and release. That helps release the pressure my body builds up. I chant if I need to and I check in with my chakras to see what feels off balance. If my body is tight, it might be my root chakra,” she says, adding that she can often pinpoint the cause of the stress and work on fixing the ailments from there.
“If there’s anxiety in my throat — which I felt when I was starting Batwoman; my throat was tight. I worked on [loosening it up] for a week to release the trauma and anxiety I was holding," she explains.
Still, Leslie admits, there’s some stress that doesn't have a simple solution.
“This whole COVID situation stresses me out! I'm ready to make plans again!” she says, laughing. “[But] I remind myself that we’ll get through this; I remind myself I’m healthy, and that keeps me balanced.”
Another source of balance and happiness for Leslie is food — specifically, hacking restaurant recipes and making them meatless. (Her Instagram is filled with cooking videos and her culinary takes on some familiar-looking dishes.)
“It’s meditative for me to cook,” she says, “but I also love to go to restaurants and different places and steal the recipe and make it my own."
Batwoman’s go-to recipe?
“I make these really crispy, spicy cauliflower tacos,” Leslie says. “I’m (mostly) vegan and I like to take recipes where you’d use turkey or beef, and make the vegan version. My favorite thing is to bring diversity and fun to vegan dishes — so you don't feel like you're compromising anything. You don't want to feel like all you can eat are roasted vegetables if you don't eat meat!”
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