Doing Well: Lauren London

Lauren London’s IMDB page is nothing short of inspiration for great television. The highlights: She got her start in the acting world circa 2006 with her breakout role in ATL, which led to a nomination for “Best Supporting Actress” at the Black Movie Awards. Once on the map, gigs in Entourage and 90210 quickly followed. She found a home in comedy films, starring in Madea’s Big Happy Family, and most recently, Netflix’s You People. 

Despite the constant hustle in her professional life, London’s off-screen focus is about finding balance, stability, and, most importantly clarity. In fact, she just launched a collaboration with Puma inspired by her commitment to protecting her peace. The self-proclaimed “student of the truth” places faith in her spiritual guides, turns to her two sons, Kameron and Kross, for peaceful resets, and dabbles in more than her fair share of “woo woo” wellness practices. From the comfort of her home in California, London details her holistic approach to life. 

You’re going to think this is crazy, but I haven’t tried cupping. Don’t judge me. Here's the thing: I want to do it so badly. I live in LA where it's probably something that everybody's doing. I feel like it’s time. I hold so much tension in my back. 

I love a sound bath—I’ll do one every chance I get. I also love a sweat lodge, which is where you go into this really small tent and it’s hot as hell. You sweat your life away, but it’s highly spiritual.

I think it’s acupuncture. I do believe in it, I think I’ve just had an interesting experience with it. I didn’t like what it brought up for me and I just felt funky afterwards.

If it were my ideal day, I would wake up, have some tea, do some journaling and some reading, and turn on my church’s live stream. Then I’d go to a spa and have a massage and a facial. I would have the best food—from a garden. I would pick my own fruit. I would be by water and just slow down. The whole day would be extremely intentional, quiet, and just focused on taking care of myself. 

Well, meditation is free. I especially like guided meditations or yoga stretching—you can just put it on YouTube. I feel like that is affordable, accessible, and can really shift your day or your moment. You can create your own inner, sacred sanctuary wherever you are. 

I love a wellness retreat. I love Miraval in Arizona. 

I’ll try anything once. If you tell me it’s going to make me feel better, I’m in. I like to say I’m a student of the truth. I’m a seeker of the truth and the truth always looks different. 

I go to my Reverend, Michael Beckwith and my friend Lalah Delia h who wrote a book called “Vibrate Higher.” I go to Reverend Michael with all my big spiritual questions. Lalah is so positive and sees the world so beautifully. 

I love the Calm app and Human Design—you have to get Human Design. It tells you all of your special gifts. 

If I need to reset, I light incense and some sage to cleanse out my energy. Then I’ll sit still and just write. Getting all of my emotions out has really been a game changer for me. It's my safe space to word vomit. Sometimes it’s insights or thoughts that popped up in dreams or meditation. I put it all in there.

I am trying to surrender more of this control mindset that I have. I'm trying to release and surrender to the bigger picture.

My wellness focus at the moment is less about my body and more about my mind and my thoughts. Meditation has been a really good practice for me because it mutes the random thoughts that pop up all the time. I also cannot stress how freeing  journaling is—it’s really like a therapy session.I also am a big therapy girl. 

I feel the happiest when I’m safe and at home with my kids, just chilling. Maybe it’s a Sunday morning and we’re watching the sun rise.

My acupuncture story is actually a really funny one. It was really busy outside and I was hearing all of these loud sounds. It was literally the episode of Sex in the City where Charlotte goes and gets acupuncture. I was expecting it to be all peaceful and quiet, but it was loud. Cars outside are honking like crazy while she’s putting needles in my ears and my head and my ankles. I was so stressed out. I just wanted to pull them all out and go home.

I don't really like the idea of faking it until you make it or this kind of toxic positivity. Sometimes it’s ok to feel your strong emotions and to honor your strong emotions, but the idea of “everything’s fine” — I don’t truly believe in that. I do think that you have to be really genuine in where you're at and it's okay to have really big emotions that make you uncomfortable. Sometimes they're great indicators of what’s really going on. They lead you to a deeper self awareness within yourself. We have a tendency to disown our humanness. 

I would tell my younger self to have a better relationship with nutritious foods. I wish I started embracing healthier, more nutritious foods earlier so that my palate would be inclined to eat healthier foods.