How Ellie Goulding 'boxed' her way out of panic attacks

She gave us major fitness goals with her recent gym Instagrams and now, Ellie Goulding has opened up about her terrible bouts of anxiety and how she managed it with exercise.

In an interview for Well + Good magazine, the 30-year-old singer explained how her mental problems began when she shot to fame for her song "Lights" in 2010.

The 'Love Me Like You Do' hit-maker said, "I started having panic attacks, and the scariest part was it could be triggered by anything. I used to cover my face with a pillow whenever I had to walk outside from the car to the studio."

"My new life as a pop star certainly wasn't as glamorous as all my friends from home thought," she continued. "Secretly, I was really struggling physically and emotionally."

Goulding explained that her anxiety was partly to do with not feeling confident and being scared she wasn't as good of a singer as everyone thought she was. It was only before her last year's Grammy performance that she realised if other people believed in her, she had to start believing in herself.

She noted, "But there was another way I found inner confidence: boxing and kickboxing. I love that extra kick of adrenaline. Keeping fit doesn't mean spending hours at a gym; the key is to find a workout you really love."

"The more I started doing classes and also working out with my trainer, Faisal Abdalla, the better I felt about myself. And it wasn't about any change in my outward appearance; it was about seeing and feeling myself get better and stronger. It carried over into other areas of my life, and now I truly feel that exercise-however you like to work out-is good for the soul," Goulding revealed.

She added that she still suffers from anxiety from time to time, but it's not crippling like it used to be. "It took time, but I've accepted that everyone feels nervous before they perform-it's not just me," she concluded.