Lenny Kravitz recently turned 60, but he doesn’t look like the typical 60-year-old. In fact, he doesn’t look like the typical celebrity, at any age. He credits his health, wellness and physical appearance to a unity between mind, body and spirit. He broke down his philosophy to The Guardian in an interview on how he has embraced a clean living lifestyle, and set the comment section on fire in his “TK421 video,” below, where he appears completely nude (watch at your own discretion).
When asked about turning 60, the rock icon says,
“I can barely believe it… But it’s beautiful… It’s a combination of genes, self-care, hard work and discipline.”
Lenny Kravitz
Easier said than done.
Lenny Kravitz’s Parents
Those genes refer to his mom, Actress Roxie Roker, who starred in The Jeffersons, the hugely successful classic sitcom on CBS, from 1975 – 1985. She was a groundbreaking Black actress who helped push the limits on how Black characters could be portrayed in the media. She and Kravitz were very close, and he often posts photos of them together on his social media, as seen in the images below. She passed away in 1995 from breast cancer, and was of Bahamian descent.
His father was Sy Kravitz, and was a news executive at NBC. He was Jewish, and he and his family grew up in Brooklyn. In addition to being an entertainment executive, Sy fought in the Korean War as an Army Green Beret, and continued to serve as part of the Army Reserve upon his return. His brother, Leonard, also fought in the Korean War, where he earned a congressional medal for his service. He died in the war, protecting his platoon at the age of 20. Lenny Kravitz was named after him.
Mind, Body & Spirit
The self-care has to do with Kravitz’s commitment to maximizing each element of himself – the mind, the body and the spirit, caring to give each one attention to ensure he is in complete alignment. His health and discipline come from Kravitz choosing to do the things that keep him totally aligned in each part of his being. It is what leads him to doing things that from the outside might seem odd, but from his perspective are absolutely necessary to be his optimal self.
To help explain this more, Kravitz shares more about the reason he will do a 90-minute workout at 2am or workout in leather pants. He says,
‘There’s a lot of hard work and discipline in being healthy for me. That means when I want to eat junk, I don’t do it.”
Lenny Kravitz
He thinks about how he is able to actually stay disciplined and offers an anecdotal story about the previous night.
“Take last night. I worked all day, interviews, rehearsing into the night, get home at 11pm. I need to eat something. Now it’s 1am. I didn’t get my workout. So I went to the gym and I did a 90-minute workout at 2am. I don’t want to be in the gym at 2am, but I know that I must… Because it’s part of my discipline – it’s about body, mind and spirit. I want all of those three elements aligned. If my body’s in shape and my spirit and mind are not, then it’s just something nice to look at or to boast about. Who cares? For me, all of it has to be aligned. And I have to do the work it takes to have all of those in alignment so my being can be at its maximum… It takes discipline. You have to change your thinking and do the work. I do it completely naturally. I’m on no hormones, no testosterone. I do this 100% by food and action.”
Lenny Kravitz
Discipline
His discipline goes as far as getting a workout in even when he doesn’t necessarily have the right attire. He posted a video on Instagram of him working out in leather pants, and the designer threads stood out among the gym focused gear all the other gym goers wore at the fitness center. In response, Kravitz says,
“If I’m coming from somewhere and my trainer says we can get it in now, then I’ll come as I am. A lot of the time I’m in street clothes, which people think is funny.”
Lenny Kravitz
Spirituality & Celibacy
The last element of Kravitz’s alignment yet to be explicitly referred to is his spirit. For him, all three, his mind, body and spirit, must be in sync. He shared one aspect of his spirituality, his connection to sex and relationships. When he started “becoming a player,” he “didn’t like it,” he didn’t “want to be that guy.” To this, his solution was to “tackle” it, taking him years to get to a point where he could confront it completely. He went on to say that he was able to face it “by taking responsibility,” and attacking it with “discipline,” a common thread in his life as of now. He stopped the cycle by preventing his “own desires” from taking over, and one way he was able to do that was through being celibate.
Now, he doesn’t explicitly say that he has been celibate for nine years, but he hasn’t been in a serious relationship for that length of time. He does say that some time ago, after sharing that he wanted to be celibate (until he found the right woman to settle down with), he was in fact being honest. He says that celibacy is a “spiritual thing,” but, if the right woman came around, he would be interested in a relationship. Since discipline is a huge part of his lifestyle and his alignment with body, mind and spirit, he says he may find it difficult to find that person. He shares,
“I have become very set in my ways, in the way I live.”
Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz In Concert: Blue Electric Light
Recently, Kravitz performed at the Pepsi Kick Off Show for the Champions League, at Wembley Stadium in London. He posted some videos from the show on his Instagram account. Fans can see Kravitz in concert, while he is on tour for his new album Blue Electric Light. Get tickets and tour information on Kravitz’s official website LennyKravitz.com.
All images in this article are credited to Instagram / lennykravitz
