Samantha Ruth Prabhu became a voice for many when over two years ago she came out and spoke about her autoimmune disease, myositis. Since then, the actor has been working towards creating awareness about a healthy lifestyle. On World Health Day today, she speaks about what motivated her.
“I am not really coming from the position of being a star, but from the position of being someone who is going through a condition myself. I find the need to share my story because it can be a bit of a lonely and helpless position to be in when you’re going through a health condition. So, I do understand that people who are going through something can need that extra helping hand. I have no intention of being the spokesperson for help but just a little helping hand,” Samantha says.
The actor adds, “You really don’t have problems until you have a health issue, and that’s when you really have a problem. I’m a student myself, so I am keen to take back the control where you’re the captain of your own ship and not like a naive passenger listening to people without any control over your life.”
For Samantha, leading a healthy lifestyle has become a way of life, not something she has to put in any extra effort for. “I don’t have to have cheat meals or a cheat day. Even if I sit in a group and people assume that I’m making these sacrifices for my health, I really am not. It’s just become who I am, and I enjoy putting my health, body and mind first,” she says, adding, “My greatest flex right now are my health markers which are quite phenomenal and something that I’m extremely proud of.”
The actor insists that it is important to treat your body with respect: “Your body is going to love you back and respond to you in the way that you need it to, only if you respect it. We can’t keep beating ourselves up and not treating our bodies the right way yet expecting it to perform and hustle. It is important to have mad goals but at the same time, you need to listen to your body. Then, it will also go the extra mile for you.”
Samantha says it’s not just physical but also mental health that one needs to prioritise, and for that one needs a routine. “I can be having a bad day, but if I just finish my routine as I always do, I forget about any bad thought that might have crept up. You can underestimate how powerful certain routines can be. It might seem boring, but in the long run this is what has helped me,” she shares, adding that the biggest conception about taking care of your health is having to go to extremes. “This misconception about the need for extremities is not true. You can find something and customise it to what works for your body and mind, and it can become a part of your life seamlessly.”
Ask her what we, as a society, needs to do for better health and she says, “We are the leaders in diabetes and number three in obesity and that’s not a good thing. It’s important that we get moving or maybe pick up a sport, something to do with the entire family. The most important thing that we can do for ourselves right now is to just move.”