Washington (CNN) Former first lady Michelle Obama offered a passionate appeal for empathy during her first televised interview since leaving the White House a year ago.

Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres, who told the wife of President Barack Obama that she felt frightened after a year of political turmoil, Michelle Obama encouraged anxious Americans to tune out the noise.

And she offered a glimpse into her post-White House life, one she said is more normal than some people might expect.

"We have to be an open-hearted nation and that's who we are. And that's the truth of who we are. We can't lose sight of that. So, let's just keep living our lives like that every single day and forget what they're saying in Washington," the former first lady said in the interview, which airs this week.

"We know who we are and I know who this country is," she said.

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