From accio to acrobatics: Evanna lynch on struggling with body image and negative thoughts

You might know her as Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, but today Evanna Lynch isn’t here to chat about a movie character – instead she’s here to chat about herself, and how she manages when she’s finding things tough.

We’re catching up as part of ITV2 and CALM’s How We Move series – a new show that’s all about finding new ways to look after your mental wellbeing. Nowadays, Evanna takes Circus Classes to help her properly chill out, but it hasn’t always been that way. For a long time she struggled with her mental health – dealing with an eating disorder and negative thoughts that made her feel like she was alone.

“When I was younger I really struggled with negative thinking. I would just kind of give myself negative thoughts. And those negative thoughts turned into an eating disorder. I think for a few years, I just numbed myself. But it’s a very lonely way to live.”

Dealing with the pressure to succeed and the worry of what other people think can be overwhelming. Evanna found it hard to recognise and disengage with the negative spiral that her thoughts would lead her into.

“As a teenager, it’s tough. Just entering this adult world and having this sense of ‘where am I going to fit in?’. I’d get to all those dark places and would instantly believe that the meanest thought was always the truest. And it’s not true. You can choose a very different perspective. You have to. “

So what’s different now? Evanna still has bad days, like everyone. But she’s found some solid ways to help her when she’s feeling low.

“I still have those thoughts, but I know how to catch them and take distance from them. I’ve had to really, really discipline myself to think positive, it doesn’t come naturally to me.”

On top of stopping her negative thought cycle, Evanna is adamant that surrounding yourself with supportive and positive people can make a world of difference.

“A big step is finding people who you love and know love you and who make you feel great about yourself. I think that’s a very important step. If you’re around people who see the best in you, they’ll bring that out.”

While Evanna can talk openly about what she’s facing now, she didn’t always feel that way.

“There’s a lot of shame around mental health, and there shouldn’t be. We all talk about our physical health. That’s even a part of education. But it’s like, when I was young, definitely, if you wanted to talk about mental health, you were seen as ‘different’.

“When I was 10 or 11 I started seeing a therapist, but I was so embarrassed. I told my friends I was going to see a friend. But now it’s like, it’s kind of cool to talk about it. It’s more accepted. But there is still that shame. And that feeling that if you’re struggling then you’re doing something wrong.”

Evanna is open about the fact her life isn’t always magical. She struggles just like we all do. So what does she do to look after her mental wellbeing, especially when stuff is getting a bit much? Right now, it’s Circus School. Yup, you read that right, when she’s feeling stressed walking on tightropes and balancing at massive heights helps her feel less stressed. Something that perhaps feels apt for a former Harry Potter actor.

“The thing at the moment that helps my mental health and makes me happy is the circus community. It’s so separate from work. It’s still performance, but it’s not my profession. There’s no pressure on it. And it’s a very creative, eclectic community. It’s a lot of people who feel like they don’t fit in. And so I go to those classes, and I see all these people, and they’re all so strong, like physically and mentally overcoming stuff. And, yeah, that makes me really happy to be alive every day.

Evanna likens the focus she finds through activities like trapeze and headstands to that traditionally linked to meditation and mindfulness.

“I couldn’t get into doing meditation because my mind is too busy. I have to have something to focus on. And I find that when I’m doing something like hoop, it’s so difficult that you really have to be present. You have to think where each limb goes and where you turn, because if your mind is somewhere else, it’s dangerous. I think sitting down and meditating works for a lot of people, but for other people you need something different to focus on.”

Moving her body had benefits beyond helping Evanna destress. It’s also helped her rebuild her relationship with her body, something that had been difficult for years.

“For years I cut myself off from my relationship with my body. I didn’t like having a body really. I was so grossed out by it and really made it my enemy. Finding a thing like Circus that uses your body, it means you have to be mindful of it, you have to care for it. And if you do that, it can start to learn these amazing things. It made me really learn how to be friends with my body again.”

So what advice does Evanna have for anyone who’s finding the pressures of life, work, exams, how their body looks or.. well, anything else, tough?

“Life is inherently very challenging. And I think you’d actually be a bit weird if you weren’t struggling at times. It’s important to just keep openly talking, to increase your compassion for yourself and other people too. You need to understand that everyone has bad days. And that’s normal. And we’ll get through it, you’ll get through it.”

Catch the full How We Move series from ITV here.

And if you’re struggling, there’s loads of support over on our Get Help Guides