Eva LaRue opens up about shaping up her inner and outer self.
The actress opens up about shaping up her inner and outer self (from the comforts of her cozy kitchen).
Eva LaRue goes over her to-do list today, which is handwritten on yellow lined paper. It’s still quiet in the actress’ Los Angeles kitchen where she’s sipping on her morning coffee “with vanilla creamer” at 6:45 a.m. But she knows a busy day is not far away. She has her to-do list to prove it. Luckily, she’s ready for anything the day may bring (since no two days have ever been alike in her entire career).
After decades in the public eye with starring roles as Dr. Maria Santos on All My Children and Det. Natalia Boa Vista on CSI: Miami, the now 52-year-old mom of daughter, Kaya, 17, thought she’d say farewell to acting during Kaya’s last year at home before going off to college. Yet the opportunity to host Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Animal Tales tugged at her heart strings, and the job didn’t require hours of travel or long hours away from home. She also is appearing on daytime’s The Young and The Restless as Celeste Rosales. On this page, the Emmy-nominated actress opens up about her strategies to stay centered and strong while appreciating family, friends and faith.
SPECIAL BONDS:
Eva admits the pending empty nest will be heart-breaking. “Hanging with Kaya brings me great joy because we have the same sense of humor. There’s something super bonding about humor and laughing.” Bonding over HBO’s Veep brings lots of laughter into their home. Eva also cherishes her group of good friends. “We all need that connectivity. Humans are wired for connectivity – not wired to be alone and deal with our stuff alone. Studies show that when people have other people to talk to, they live a longer, less stressful life.
Friends become our sounding board, our support system. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
BELIEF IN HIGHER BEINGS:
“I totally believe in guardian angels,” she says. “I feel, as humans living on this planet, that we are not without our connective guidance. I feel like it’s a little like plants. My
Hosting Chicken Soup for the Soul’s Animal Tales tugs at Eva’s heart strings. plants don’t know that I’m watering them and nurturing them, taking care of them … they don’t know I’m there, but I do.” Eva also says her daily rituals of prayer and meditation are essential to her inner self. “Meditation is about twice a week. I do guided meditations from my iPhone. That immediately combats stress for me. Prayer is daily. Sometimes I put my meditation and prayers together. Mornings when I wake up and evenings when I go to bed. Sometimes during the day when I’m in the car even. It’s my spiritual check-in.”
FINDING JOY AND SELF-CONFIDENCE:
Eva admits her life has had its share of peaks and valleys, but she has always landed on her feet. “I think that until we change the perception of what we’re lacking somehow and start to really appreciate where we are ... it has a lot to do with positive thinking and that’s a really hard thing to do.” She believes her own mantra of “I am enough, and I am really happy with this or that … Pick out the things that you’re really happy with, and focus on those, because the bottom line is our emotions are caused by our thoughts – not the other way around.” One thing that always brings Eva joy is dancing. The former trained dancer says “if I don’t take a dance class, then I go to the gym and take a class that has some sort of music such as a hip-hop class. Or if the gym is open and nobody in there, I’ll just go in, plug in my iPhone earbuds and dance by myself. Sheer fun.”
HEALTHY LIFESTYLE:
Eva says if I walked into her kitchen on any given day, I’d find a “zillion vitamin and herbs.” She goes on: “I have ones for kidney health, Vitamin C and D, Chinese herbs for hormone support, Omega 3, and my daily Core minerals and vitamins. I recently found out I was iron deficient, so I take an iron supplement and also an anti-oxidant. My favorite cold and flu supplement is a tincture of astragalus.” Paleo beef jerky is around for a protein snack. Pineapple slices, berries and fresh pears are go-tos for sugar cravings. “And I love cauliflower. I take a whole head of cauliflower, put in tin foil, drizzle truffle olive oil all over it, add herbs and sea salt, and roast it until it’s soft as butter. Everyone who comes over loves it.”
Along with her morning coffee are Morning Star breakfast sausages. “They’re always in my fridge. No meat in them … all soy which I usually don’t like, but these taste exactly like a sausage patty. About 100 calories in two. So two of them along with my coffee is just filling enough, and away I go.”
BALANCED LIVING:
Eva readily admits finding balance in everyday living is a struggle. “I don’t know if there’s actually such a thing now as balanced living. I think people strive for it and become frustrated because it’s not really attainable. All we can do is try to be our best in any moment so we don’t beat ourselves up about not being the best parent in a certain moment, best employee on a certain day. … I think you just give 100 percent to what you’re doing in the moment and let the guilt go.”
REVEALING GRATITUDE ON A REGULAR BASIS:
Eva checks-in readily on gratitude for life’s big and small things. “Gratitude today was waking up, opening my bedroom windows and having the light stream in. I just stood there with the morning warmth of the sun coming through the windows and went ‘ahhh.’ It just felt warm and glorious.” ■