Kerry Washington has explained how yoga helped her cope with the shocking discovery that her father is not her biological father.
The 46-year-old actress revealed in her new memoir, Thicker Than Water, that it wasn’t until 2018 that she learned that Earl Washington, the man she called “Dad,” was not her biological father when she was invited to participate in an episode of Finding Your Roots.
Kerry told me On purpose with Jay Shetty podcast that yoga allowed her to deal with the emotional turmoil caused by the unexpected revelation of her parentage, as she tried to come to terms with living with “two truths.”
“Yoga practice requires the combination of being steadfast and strong, but also flexible and yielding,” she explained. “That’s exactly the practice of yoga, it only works if you can harness the surrender of each pose, combined with the dedication and strength for each pose.”
Kerry Washington has claimed that yoga was an important tool that helped her cope with the shocking discovery that her father is not her biological father
In her new memoir, Thicker Than Water, the actress revealed that her parents admitted to her in 2018 that they had secretly used a sperm donor to conceive their beloved daughter.
She continued, “So that’s one of the places where I started learning what that feels like in my body and thinking about it.”
The actress then told the podcaster, “But as I sit here, it’s even my commitment to say — and help my father say — that it’s okay that I have two energies in my life that represent my father.
“That this donor, this stranger… I have no idea who this person is. There is a whole team of people looking, but I don’t know who this donor is.
“That because of the amount of genetic material they put into me, and therefore all kinds of coding, that person represents part of the father story and energy in my life.”
She continued, “But my dad is my dad. He represents the father energy in my life, he is the man who raised me and loved me like a father and who is also a father. There is no way for me to live my life without embracing these truths. It’s just the reality of my life.’
The truth about her origins came to light because Finding Your Roots uses genealogical data and DNA results to track family history.
Kerry’s parents hadn’t realized this when she first revealed she would be taking part in the show.
“When I said, ‘Spit in this tube,’ they started to panic,” Kerry said The New York Times about her parents’ reaction to the DNA test. ‘My mother said, ‘I didn’t know this would happen.’
Kerry explained that the discovery helped deepen her bond with her father, Earl, and her mother, Valerie, pictured here during her childhood
Kerry explained on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast that yoga was the surprising tool she could lean on as she tried to live with the “two truths.”
The Scandal star says practicing yoga has helped her come to terms with the fact that there are now two energies in her life that represent a father
The Prophecy star said her father began having panic attacks and suffering from insomnia, and decided to retire from the show.
After Gates was advised to make the information public while all parties were still alive, her parents scheduled a meeting with the Emmy winner.
During their 2018 meeting, Kerry’s parents revealed they had used an anonymous sperm donor after having trouble conceiving naturally.
Kerry said the secret of her origins inspired her memoir, Thicker Than Water
Reflecting on the aftermath of her conversation with Jay Shetty, Kerry explained: “This was shocking to me. And neither… It seemed so logical to me because there had been a feeling… I had the feeling that I didn’t know it myself.’
She continued, “I felt a disconnect with my parents and I felt a disconnect with myself. I never knew what to attribute that to, I never knew why. Suddenly all the pieces fell into place.
“It was like having a beautiful puzzle hanging on the wall of our house with the wrong piece in it, but so close that everyone pretended the painting was perfect.”
The actress admitted, “When my parents told me, it was like someone finally pulled out the wrong puzzle piece that was stuck in place and we all had to be honest.
“And we don’t even know what the missing piece is, because I don’t know who the donor is, but at least now the painting is honest.”
Kerry has since undergone family therapy with her parents and husband Nnamdi Asomugha, 42
Before she found out the truth, Kerry said she always felt like something was wrong as a child
Noting that her father had difficulty with the idea of her knowing the truth, she added, “To my father I am his and he is mine, and there is no point in admitting any other truth… It doesn’t matter… He’s my father, he will always be my father.
‘There is more complexity, there is more nuance. …Yes, we belong together and there is another number that makes up 50 percent of my genetics.”
The Little Fires Everywhere star revealed that her mother originally planned to reveal the truth to her in a note she would leave in a safe after she and her husband died.
Kerry admitted to Jay that she was relieved she didn’t find out the truth that way, explaining that discovering it now helped her build a closer bond with her parents.
“Once I had this truth, I now have the opportunity to show my father what it feels like to actually be loved unconditionally,” she said. “From this moment on, every time I say ‘I love you,’ you thought that despite this truth, it was too terrible to bear… It felt like such an opportunity for healing.”
Thicker than water is now available for purchase.