interview
Jasmin Wagner
“I have become gentler with myself”
© Gerald Matzka/Getty Images
Singer Jasmin Wagner about the late joys of motherhood and the happiness of meeting the love of your life at over 40.
Jasmin Wagner in a GALA interview
GALA: You seem totally at peace with yourself – is that so?
Jasmin Wagner: It’s this beautiful state that, I think, many women over 40 experience: you have gained experience, know yourself well, have become gentler with yourself and can classify things better. I have found my center. And at the same time my great love, with whom I started my family life. That makes you very happy.
You were 42 when your daughter was born.
I am very happy about my relatively late start as a mother! (laughs) So I was able to observe my friends who had children in their early 30s. I didn’t slide into motherhood out of naivety; I was prepared and expected everything. Just not that we have such a great flow. I also thought about what it would do to my love. But it has only connected my husband and I even more, we have created the most beautiful hobby for ourselves and feel very fulfilled.
Jasmin Wagner: “My career was number one for many years”
What has changed most since your daughter was born?
When she turned one in November, my husband and I said, “That was the happiest year of our lives!” You may have had a year with a lot of hardships behind you, but you still feel satisfied. We are in love and are happy about every day we watch our daughter grow up. That puts other things in life into perspective. For many years my career was number one, but that has changed. And with this distance, professional things can be done with greater ease.
You can look back on a 30-year career, what is your interim conclusion?
It’s a special way of life, many things could have turned out differently. If you look at Britney Spears or the Tic Tac Toe press conference (at which the members of the girl group argued so much in 1997 that they then separated, editor’s note) you realize that early fame had a negative effect . I had a great manager and a loving mother who strengthened my values and gave me security.
This is how Jasmin Wagner keeps balance in life
How do you stay fit?
Sport has become less important to me. If I manage to do sports, fine, if not, that’s okay too. When I look at my body, I see what it has achieved. I don’t compare myself to a 20-year-old. I feel like mothers have become more relaxed. If you give yourself time and are loving, you will find your way back to yourself.
You have discovered yoga for yourself.
Yoga helped me find my balance again. When I was younger, I lived a very extreme lifestyle: I gained ten kilos, then lost ten kilos again – I had three dress sizes in my closet. Everything was somehow too extreme, that’s different now. My learning over 40: The less I force it, the easier it is for me to access things.
What are you dreaming of?
My husband is Danish and speaks Danish with our daughter. I don’t want them to use their secret language against me at some point! (laughs) That’s why my dream is to rent an apartment in Copenhagen for a whole summer and learn the language. But now I’m looking forward to this summer and my tour.