Lena Dunham reflected on the past 12 months and what she has learnt from the past year in a candid post on Tuesday.

Taking to Instagram on New Year's Eve, the 33-year-old actress discussed her 'awesomely complex' year and gave her followers a list of life lessons.

She accompanied the post with a snap of herself clad in a lacy pink bra and white briefs as she perched on the edge of her bathtub.

Looking back: Lena Dunham reflected on the past 12 months and what she has learnt from the past year in a candid post on Tuesday as she shared a snap in her lingerie

Accompanying the shot with a lengthy caption, Lena began: 'This year has been complex and awesome and awesomely complex.

'It’s been the best professional year of my life - not because I’m on a million magazine covers or making gossip waves but because I’m quietly doing what I love with people I love who also love doing it.

'If I had to distill the year’s lesson: -go slower than you think you should because it ultimately adds up to more. You don’t have to push you can just move ahead with passion. People will come and go and surprise you and often their rejection is God’s protection (it also sometimes has nothing to do with you).'

Speaking out: Taking to Instagram on New Year's Eve, the 33-year-old actress discussed her 'awesomely complex' year and gave her followers a list of life lessons

Candid: Lena, who suffers with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue, went on to discuss her health battles

'Sometimes you heal slowly and then all at once -spend Sunday night returning emails and Monday morning returning texts and you’ll feel very accomplished. Be mindful of “self-care” not turning into hiding out- there’s a difference.

'Say yes more than you want to but no whenever you need to. Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you laugh and implicitly understand your issues and don’t keep a tally of your wrong doings.

'It’s okay to take a pause from work to focus on the personal and a pause from the personal to make your art. Be a b***h on a mission don’t make it a mission to be a b***h.'

Lena, who suffers with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue, went on to discuss her health battles.

She continued: 'Health is wealth but also disability and pain don’t have to mean the end of your dreams - just the beginning of a new dream.

'Think before you speak, tell the truth, say sorry when you have to and it’s okay to make a joke nobody gets.

'Animals are people too (this is me excusing having adopted four new pets in a year). It’s okay to give up on jeans. I love you all. '