SZA Spent 30 Days at an Ashram While Recovering from 2 Herniated Discs: 'It Was Somehow the Best Birthday'
SZA Spent 30 Days at an Ashram While Recovering from 2 Herniated Discs: 'It Was Somehow the Best Birthday'
Cara Lynn ShultzFri, March 6, 2026 at 10:02 PM UTC
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SZA shared a picture of her neck in a brace after herniating two discs.Credit: SZA/Instagram -
SZA says she spent a month meditating and doing yoga at an ashram after herniating two discs in her neck before her 36th birthday
The singer told I-D that “it was somehow the best birthday”
She shared she used to “make fun of girls that were into the woo-woo and the crystals”
SZA is opening up about how she healed from a painful injury.
The “Kill Bill” singer — who refers to herself as a “happily clumsy person” in the cover story for I-D — looked back on how she ended up bedridden after herniating her C5 and C6 discs, located in her lower neck. The injury, she explained, made her unable to turn her head, or sit or stand comfortably, and happened last year, right before her 36th birthday on Nov. 8.
SZA (real name: Solána Imani Rowe), decided to recover at the Isha Foundation, an Indian ashram where she studied yoga and mediation. “I used to really make fun of girls that were into the woo-woo and the crystals—and here I am,” she told the outlet. “God is very funny.”
SZA at Paris Fashion Week in January 2026.Credit: Aurore Marechal/Getty
Following the injury, she spent 30 days at the ashram. “It was somehow the best birthday, because it was like, ‘Let’s get real and do something that can stop the running and the constant disappointment.’ ”
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The specific yoga she practices is Shambhavi Mahamudr. It involves controlled breathing and meditation, and the National Library of Medicine says it “may represent a natural treatment for stress reduction.” As the singer said, she realized she could be “pissed as f--k” before a session, and then feel calm afterwards.
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She told the outlet that between the the premiere of One of Them Days (her hit 2025 comedy costarring Keke Palmer) and the start of rehearsals for the 2025 Super Bowl (where she performed with Kendrick Lamar), she stayed at the ashram, taking a vow of silence. She returned there after the halftime show.
“It made me realise I’ve really got to get in control of myself, and be the fully-realised version of myself. I can’t hide forever off stupid insecurities,” she told I-D. “It’s crazy, because I find myself thinking that I’m free in different junctures, but it’ll be some new s--t that shows you you’re actually [still] very affected. I can tell it’s my task to get free.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
