Gwyneth Paltrow attends the 26th annual ELLE Women in Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
LOS ANGELES — Actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow has felt the intense glare of the Hollywood spotlight from a young age. And by her own admission, Paltrow tends to worry – a lot.
“I get stressed out quite easily, so I have to work a lot to stay calm,” she said in an interview.
“Being in the public eye is like an extra layer of stressor that luckily most people don’t have to experience because it can be very wearing, but I think I’ve had a lot of maturity and development around not really engaging with those projections.”
Paltrow’s latest collaboration with meditation app Moments of Space is part of that self-love journey, the 51-year-old said.
“At this point in my life I really know who I am. I’m friends with myself and I don’t spend any time thinking about what other people think about me because I don’t find it beneficial. So, anything I can do to kind of strengthen my relationship with myself is really valuable to me.”
The artificial intelligence-powered app focuses on an eyes-open approach to meditation, allowing users to engage with the world while meditating.
Paltrow, who runs the lifestyle and wellness company Goop, was drawn to the project because she felt it was missing from her brand.
“I suppose what I really liked about it was I never knew that there was such a thing as eyes-open meditation,” she said. “I knew that when I took a walk through the woods by myself, I felt I could go into a kind of meditative state but I didn’t know that there was an actual practice you could do along with it.”
“I’m doing it right now and I’m still able to formulate thoughts and talk to you but I’m able to sort of tap into this reservoir of calm,” she said, demonstrating the practice during the interview.
Paltrow has not acted in nearly four years. Is she on a hiatus or has she retired from Hollywood?
“I definitely could not pursue it right now, my day job is just way too all-encompassing,” she said.
“I couldn’t, not with my job here at the company, but I think I’ve learned at this point to never say never.”