Sanaa Lathan Explains Why She Stopped Drinking Alcohol
Sanaa Lathan has been sober for three years and she’s now opening up about what made her put the bottle down.
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While speaking with PEOPLE Magazine, the veteran Hollywood actress who is beloved for roles in The Best Man and Love & Basketball but was also strangely accused of biting Beyoncé in 2018, explained that she simply wanted to prioritize her mental and physical wellbeing.
“I stopped drinking about three years ago,” Lathan said. “Alcohol was not going well with me physically. Just, it was not working anymore. It affects everything, and that’s part of the reason why I stopped, because even if you’re going out a couple of times a week and you’re drinking, it was starting to affect me throughout the week. It wouldn’t be necessarily a hangover, but it definitely dimmed my energy. I didn’t feel as good. It was affecting anxiety.” She added, “You don’t realize how over time it gets your brain out of balance as well.”
Lathan went on to explain how she had to scrub the idea that a person could only have fun with alcohol: “I had to really reprogram that aspect, because it’s just all over in our culture. So, I haven’t missed it. My life has definitely become more of a morning life, but I can still go out and have fun.”
Further speaking on how she was able to guide herself on the right track, she went on to credit her mom for helping out:
“I grew up with a mother who taught me about meditation so, I did it on and off,” she said. “The reason why I came to this practice was several years ago, I went through a lot of trauma. I had a best friend who died suddenly. She was not sick. It was completely unexpected. I didn’t process it. I was in a shock type of situation.”
“I just feel really blessed to be on this journey, as challenging as it’s been, of being an artist in this business,” she explained. “I don’t take for granted the success that I’ve had.”
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