wellness theories

Eva Longoria Chooses Meditation Over Instagram

Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Gabrielle Solis, Eva Longoria’s Desperate Housewives character, was vain, materialistic, and for the most part, unwilling to land a job. Eva Longoria is Gabrielle’s direct opposite. Since that show ended, Longoria has honed her producing chops, earned a master’s degree in Chicano studies, launched a new television show, and trumpeted the arrival of Elizabeth Taylor’s newest fragrance, White Diamonds Night. While celebrating the new scent and the 25th anniversary of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds, Longoria sat down with the Cut to discuss all things wellness, including swapping Instagram time for meditation, and her weakness for Chips Ahoy.

How I start my day: I’m a runner, so I usually get up at seven — it depends because I always get eight hours of sleep. I try to wake up and immediately work out. I get up, put on my sunblock and running hat, and I’m off. I like to work out in the morning because the day gets away from me and I will never do it in the afternoon — I get too tired. After I run I eat probably the same thing every morning, which is egg whites with spinach and turkey bacon.

What wellness means to me:Wellness” seems more comprehensive; it feels more mind, body and soul, as opposed to “fitness,” which to me reminds you of your body and how you take care of it. Wellness feels like making sure you don’t get sick, making sure you’re meditating, making sure you’re not stressed out, making sure you’re sleeping. I feel like wellness encompasses so much more.

How wellness has changed for me: My bachelor’s degree is in kinesiology, which is the study of the body, the study of how things affect you — like lack of sleep, stress, and so on, so I’ve been pretty cognizant of wellness my entire life.

My wellness shortcut is: Everything is about balance. I think people waste more time than they think. They think I don’t have time to meditate, or I don’t have time to work out, and yet they have time to be on Instagram for 30 minutes — like, that could have been their meditation session. You have to prioritize your time and efforts toward wellness.

My wellness struggle is: Meditating is hard. It’s not hard to do, but it’s hard finding the time. I try to run and meditate right after as a routine, but sometimes I’m running late so I go, I’ll skip meditating! It’s the first thing that gets cut if I run out of time, but it’s also one of the most important things. If I can do it three, four times a week then I feel successful. It’s also a form of prayer. I’m pretty spiritual and religious, so if you pray that’s also a form of meditation. It’s focusing your mind on a higher power. Some people think that meditating is chanting a mantra, but there are so many other things. You can meditate on a problem, you can meditate on love, there are so many different meanings. Sometimes people try to define meditation so strictly that it scares people away from it.

How I like to eat when I’m alone: Chips Ahoy. It’s not very healthy. Pepe [Longoria’s fiancé] will be like, “Who bought this?” and I’ll be like “Ehhhhhhh.”

To me diamonds smell like: I don’t know, carbon? There’s something glamorous about it. I will say if diamonds had a scent it would smell like White Diamonds.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Eva Longoria Chooses Meditation Over Instagram