The 23-year-old actress, who has been open about struggling with mental health issues in her teens, tries not to keep things bottled up because it affects her physically.
She explained: "For me, yoga's the only way I can really feel things and check how I am. Because there is always pain somewhere, even if it's completely irrational pain, and it's always good to find it and get it out. If I don't cry pretty much every day I will hold it in, and it will manifest in me in things that are destructive, like my skin."
Cara also praised Will Smith, 47, with helping her to get in touch with her emotions.
The pair star together in new movie Suicide Squad and Cara was impressed by how honest Will is about his feelings and emotions.
She told the September issue of US Elle magazine: "I don't think I have ever, ever cried in front of more than one person ever. Because I grew up in this very 'Emotion is weak, head up, move on, onward and upward' kind of way. Which is not healthy.
"Will Smith was telling me he brought up his kids to put their emotions first, and when I heard that, I was just like, 'Oh my God, that sounds like a fairy tale'. Because emotions should be put first. It's the most important thing."
And Cara revealed she decided to open up about her own issues because she wanted to show teenagers that they can overcome their problems.
She explained: "I couldn't just sit there and listen to these girls, and boys, too, but usually girls, say this stuff, about bullying, about their sexuality, depression, and guilt and suicidal thoughts and just all of it, without being like, 'I have been through that, and it's going to be okay.' If I can help a teenager go through a better time than they should be, then I am going to f**king do that. I mean, f**king being a teenager suuuccccks. And I somehow came through the other end."
Cara says she lost her virginity at 18 after she stopped taking anti-depressants.
The actress - who is dating singer/songwriter St Vincent - was prescribed pills at the age of 16 when she was feeling depressed and suicidal but hated them and says it was only when she quit taking the medication that she could "feel things again".
Suicide Squad star Cara explained: "That week, I lost my virginity, I got into fights, I cried, I laughed. It was the best thing in the world to feel things again.
"And I get depressed still, but I would rather learn to figure it out myself than be dependent on meds, ever.
"I hate meds. I don't agree with them. It's so easy to abuse them."
Cara admitted her teen years were extremely tough and says "all I wanted to do was die".
Speaking in the September issue of Esquire, she said: "When it got to being a teenager, and all the hormones and the pressure and wanting to do well at school, I had a mental breakdown.
"I was suicidal. I couldn't deal with it any more. I realised how lucky I was and privileged I was, but all I wanted to do was die.