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Cheryl opens up on her lockdown: 'Everyone should take a break from social media!'

British singer Cheryl, formely known as Cheryl Cole, presents a creation for L'Oreal during the Women's Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear collection fashion show at the Monnaie de Paris, in Paris on September 28, 2019. (Photo by Lucas BARIOULET / AFP) (Photo by LUCAS BARIOULET/AFP via Getty Images)
Cheryl has described her one-year Instagram hiatus as 'so peaceful'. She is pictured at the L'Oreal fashion show in Paris in 2019. (Getty Images)

Cheryl's fans rejoiced when she returned to Instagram after a year-long hiatus, but the former Girls Aloud songstress believes everyone should take a break from social media.

The Greatest Dancer judge felt she "didn't have much to share" during the height of the "rollercoaster" pandemic.

Last posting on #blackouttuesday, Cheryl announced "we back" on 7 June – in a post that has been liked more than 249,000 times.

The mother-of-one, 37, thinks it is "healthy" to take some time off social media every now and again, describing her 12-month digital detox as "so peaceful".

Read more: Cheryl returns to Instagram

Back online, Cheryl has revealed how she coped with lockdown, her favourite comfort food and the "life changing" meditation she does every day.

Watch: Cheryl's quiet Christmas with ex Liam Payne

"Everyone should take a break from social media," Cheryl tells Yahoo UK.

"I think it's healthy for you. It's so peaceful."

Having been in the spotlight since competing on Popstars The Rivals in 2002, Cheryl has long contended with trolls.

"I'm quite thick-skinned," she says.

"Hurt people hurt people. It's coming from an upset person."

Read More: Liam Payne and Cheryl 'closer' than ever

Meditation helps Cheryl stay centred. Admitting it did not come easily at first, she believes "consistency" is key.

"If you just meditate for two minutes a week, it becomes five minutes," she says.

"It's life changing. It makes you more peaceful and happy."

Known for her dancing, Cheryl also took up yoga during the pandemic.

"I've heard stretching adds an inch to your height," jokes the 5ft 3in star.

Lockdown also inspired Cheryl to start using Mindful Chef, recipe boxes delivered to your door.

"I got so fed up during the pandemic of thinking what to eat," she admits.

Read more: Cheryl wants son Bear to be a 'yoga person', says Liam Payne

Her favourite meal is aubergine with tahini or any tofu dish, she reveals – and when treating herself, Cheryl struggles to resist Thai or Chinese.

"I think that's a childhood comfort," she says.

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Cheryl is a brand ambassador for Feel supplements. (Supplied: Feel)

Cheryl also relies on supplements to stay healthy, recently becoming the ambassador of the brand Feel.

"Feel multivitamins are part of my daily ritual," she says.

"I want to ensure my body has consistent energy and the nutrients it needs, particularly with such a busy lifestyle, juggling motherhood and my career."

With sleep "not coming easily", Cheryl particularly likes "Feel Nootropics" – "designed to help improve mood, mental clarity, calmness and sleep".

Cheryl takes the supplements with coconut milk, her plant "mylk" of choice.

The Fight For This Love singer, who has an equity stake in the Feel brand, called the move "a natural evolution" of her "personal health and wellbeing story".

"Taking an equity stake in an existing business is a new frontier for me but one that makes total sense and really represents where I am at the moment," she says.

"This is incredibly important to me, putting better health and wellbeing within reach for people everywhere."

Watch: Rylan Clark-Neal thought Cheryl should replace Bruno Tonioli on Strictly