The multi-hyphenate is opening up about a health scare that left her 'feeling physically paralyzed' in her late 20s.
Jennifer Lopez has turned her life around.
The 52-year-old icon is opening up about the health scare that forced her to make some major life changes early in her career. Moral of the story: Get your sleep!
"There was a time in my life where I used to sleep [three] to [five] hours a night. I’d be on set all day and in the studio all night and doing junkets and filming videos on the weekends. I was in my late 20s and I thought I was invincible," Lopez writes in her "On the JLo" newsletter. "Until one day, I was sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me.
"I went from feeling totally normal, to thinking about what I needed to do that day and all of a sudden I felt as if I couldn’t move ... I was completely frozen," she recalls. "I had made my work such an all-consuming priority and let my own self-care needs go completely (even as simple as sleeping or taking ten minutes to just relax). I found myself feeling physically paralyzed, I couldn’t see clearly and then the physical symptoms I was having started to scare me and the fear compounded itself.
"Now I know it was a classic panic attack brought on by exhaustion, but I had never even heard the term at the time. My security guard on set came in and picked me up and drove me to the doctor," Lopez continues. "By the time I got there, I could at least speak again and I was so terrified I thought I was losing my mind. I asked the doctor if I was going crazy. He said, 'No, you’re not crazy. You need sleep ... get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, don’t drink caffeine, and make sure you get your workouts in if you're going to do this much work.' I realized how serious the consequences could be of ignoring what my body and mind needed to be healthy -- and that’s where my journey to wellness began."
Today, Lopez is sharing the tenets of her JLo Beauty brand and wellness line, which include 5S's: "Sunscreen, Serum, Supplements, (vivir) Sano and SLEEP!"
The Marry Me star is focused on "pro-living versus anti-aging," and swears that catching the right amount of Zzz's can be "like a little time machine."
"You lay down and you go into a space where you preserve yourself and then you come out a new, younger person than you were before," she says. "Sometimes I wake up and say, 'Wow! I just lost 10 years off my face!' That's what a good night's sleep can do for you, and it accumulates over time."
But if you're looking for a little extra boost, Lopez insists that her "That JLo Glow Serum" is the must-try item offered by JLo Beauty.
Lopez has been giving fans an inside look at her whirlwind life lately, highlighting various personal and professional milestones while pondering her future in the Netflix documentary Halftime. At the film's Tribeca Film Festival premiere last month, the superstar told ET she's just getting started.
"It's halftime!" she exclaimed. "I keep saying that. It's so funny, we were talking about this today, 'Champions are made in the third and fourth quarter. That’s when you win!' I feel like there’s a lot left for me. So, I'm very excited about it."
She also told ET that she's basking in the full-circle moment that is her rekindled relationship with Ben Affleck.
"It's a beautiful moment," she gushed.
While Lopez was tight-lipped on wedding planning, a source told ET that the pair, who got engaged in April, "want to get married soon."
"They are talking about having a destination or tropical wedding,” the source said. “They can't wait to spend the rest of their lives together forever, happily in love." The source also added that the couple is “excited to unify their families further.”
Halftime is streaming on Netflix.
RELATED CONTENT:
Jennifer Lopez Reflects on Beautiful Full-Circle Moment With Ben Affleck (Exclusive)
Jimmie Allen Shares How 'On My Way' Collaboration With Jennifer Lopez Happened (Exclusive)
Jennifer Lopez Shares the Stage With Emme for First Time Since Super Bowl
Jennifer Lopez's 'Halftime' Doc Reveals Secrets Behind Her Super Bowl Show