Jenna Dewan Tatum on Finding Confidence Through Dance (and That Epic ‘Lip Sync Battle’)

Jenna Dewan Tatum (Photo: Getty Images)

This interview is part of Yahoo Health’s Body-Peace Profiles series, in which we talk with our favorite celebrities about embracing body positivity and healthy habits.

A longtime dancer, Jenna Dewan Tatum is in tune with her body.

The 35-year-old Supergirl actress — and hands-down star of the recent Lip Sync Battle episode in which she dances to “Pony” (which you need to watch now if you haven’t already) — has always felt comfortable in her own skin, a feeling that was instilled in her at an early age by her supportive mother.

Yahoo Health was able to talk with Dewan Tatum about how dancing has shaped her perspective of her body and abilities, as well as how her role as mom of 2-year-old Everly has had an impact on the way she beats negative self-talk. (Oh, and we got the deets about that Lip Sync Battle dance, of course.)

YAHOO HEALTH: OK, your performance on Lip-Sync Battle was amazing. We have to ask — what was prep like for that?

JENNA DEWAN TATUM: Ha, it was so much fun. It was super rushed! That show is amazing, but they shoot all their shows all at once in a couple weeks. They called us, we had about five days to figure out songs, what we’re doing, find the wardrobe, do the entire thing.

Dewan-Tatum on an episode of Lip Sync Battle. (Photo: Lip Sync- Spike/YouTube)

So, it was like total, fun chaos for a couple days here in the house. It was lots of hard work, but we figured it out and we had a blast.

You’ve long been a dancer and are known for your amazing dance moves. Have you always felt comfortable in your skin, since dancing is so about being in tune with your body?

In general, for me, a big thing in my life has been just sort of learning what true self-esteem is and what true positive self-image is. And being a dancer, and growing up in that world, you’re so focused on yourself, and you’re so focused on achieving goals, on finding perfection, and working on your craft. And I’ve realized as I got older that part of my power and influence is when I focus on asking the bigger questions, about why are we here, how am I impacting others around me, how am I serving others. When I really found myself focusing my perspective more on that and not myself, and what I’m doing for myself, that’s when true confidence came. It’s so much bigger than me.

One of the beautiful gifts of dance is that you’re so in tune with your body so early on. I was very comfortable in my skin at a very early age, performing onstage and wearing interesting costumes. And I give so much credit to my mom — she never made me feel that my costume was wrong, or bad, even when there was not a lot to them! There was never a feeling of, “Oh, I shouldn’t be wearing this.” I just always felt really confident, comfortable, and free as a kid — I understood what it was like to feel powerful and strong without having any negative connotation early on. And even to this day, I feel in tune with my body. I can sense when I get out of balance. I can feel when I’m not eating right and when I need to refocus and give my body certain things and do certain exercises. Dance really is the biggest gift.

What are some self-care measures when you feel like you need to get back into balance?

That’s so important, because you give so much — you’re giving your life to your children, your family, your work, and then it’s like, “Oh, what about me?” You’ve got to make time for self-care, because if you go down, everyone goes down around you! You have to make self-care a high priority.

I’m still not perfect at it, but I know more so now than before when I’m getting to that redlining moment when I’m really overstretched. At that point, I have to say, “OK, let me take two hours — let me take a walk.” I love to work out, it’s one of the ways I love to relieve stress. There’s a spin class in L.A. that I try to go to, and sometimes it’s just getting the girls together and going to the spa to get a massage or sit in the steam room. It sounds so simple, but it’s hard to make things like that a priority.

I also love meditating. I’m a much nicer person when I’m meditating! It’s getting yourself into a routine for a daily connection with yourself. It’s difficult to find time, but it’s great.

Related: Health Challenges Don’t Stop Brooke Burke-Charvet From Loving Her Body

Photo: Getty Images

Even the most positive and confident people have days they feel down on themselves. What is your best advice for beating negative self-talk when things just aren’t going right?

I was such a perfectionist, and I was so hard on myself as a dancer because I wanted to be better and keep growing. The little things, like not winning a competition or something not going the way I wanted it to go — I would beat myself up. It would be like a negative spiral, where I was so down on myself. And in one way, it keeps you at it and makes you strive to be better. But on the other hand, it holds you back because you’re putting all these limitations on yourself.

When that cycle begins, it’s really helpful for me to notice it immediately, to stop and say, “Oh, I know what I’m doing.” Awareness is the first key — to realize when you’re getting hard on yourself, and knowing it.

Then it’s about doing something to physically counteract it. Do something that makes you feel good about yourself. It could be getting your hair done or going for a walk — anything that actually counteracts being hard on yourself and instead making yourself feel good in the moment.

And, of course, your perspective changes. For me, having [daughter] Everly changed everything for me. She’s my everything. That’s my first thought now: “How would I want Everly to see me react to this?” That’s truly been the easiest thing to get me out of ruts.

Yahoo Health is in the midst of a January initiative called “Body-Peace Resolution,” which is all about body positivity and embracing healthy resolutions —not vanity-driven ones. So, we’d like to ask you: What does having “body peace” mean to you?

Balance. To feel balanced and to feel like you are being kind to yourself and making time for yourself. It’s about giving yourself the permission to have time for yourself.

Related: Model Iskra Lawrence’s Guide to Loving Your Body

Do you have any health-related resolutions or goals for 2016?

It’s not a resolution, but for this year, one of my goals is to take a little bit of time every day — even if it’s 10 minutes a day — to breathe or meditate or pray. So far, so good! We’ll see how I am midyear.

And also, just taking time to work out. I’m so busy with Super Girl, and I’ve got lots of things going on with acting and producing, and with Everly, and with Chan [husband Channing Tatum] and our busy lives. So really just making time and making it a priority to feed my body and have some good workouts.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Body-Peace Resolution is Yahoo Health’s January initiative to motivate you to pursue wellness goals that are not vanity-driven but that strive for more meaningful outcomes. We’re talking strength, mental fitness, self-acceptance — true and total body peace. Our big hope: This month of resolutions will inspire a body-peace revolution. Want to join us? Start by sharing your own body-positive moments on social media using the hashtag #bodypeaceresolution.

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