Well Intentioned: 7 Celebrity Wellness Tips to Inspire Your Self-Care Practice in 2022 

“One of the big wellness secrets that I uncovered recently is asking myself a very simple question: ‘What’s in it for me?’ For a long time, I would feel guilty about asking that question. But I’m realizing now that it’s not selfish at all to consider yourself first and to make decisions about how good something is for you. There’s nothing wrong with that. But no one ever tells you there’s nothing wrong with asking yourself ‘Is this thing I’m going to put my time into going to be fulfilling, and good for me?’ If it’s not, then, nah.”

“If I’m not sleeping well, I m not a pleasant person to be around, I’m not the best wife or mother I can be, and I m making bad health choices. I interviewed Ariana Huffington on season three of my podcast, and she asked me what the last thing I did before bed was, and of course, I said “I flip through my phone.” So now, I keep my phone in my bathroom when I go to sleep so it’s in an entirely different room and I don’t look at it before I go to bed. Instead, I’ll either download with my husband from the day or read from my book, which is currently Yvonne Orji’s “Bamboozled by Jesus.” And I got a cheap digital clock from Amazon as an alarm, which wakes me up if my baby’s cry doesn t. I used to sleep naked, but after I had a kid I got modest. Now, I have to sleep in a big t-shirt. The older the better. I have to have a sound machine and an air purifier. Mouthguards have to be in. My Slip eye mask in leopard print has to be on. And last but not least: I have custom earplugs. I had them professionally made at a place where newscasters get in-ears made. They’re hot pink. I have two sets—one for the bedside, and one for the airplane. Oh! And I take Natural Calm every night. Orange is my favorite flavor. I’ll scream at Justin, “I’m making my drink.” It just calms me down so I can pass out in a very natural way— and it helps me go to the bathroom!”

“It’s hard to take in very limited amounts of news. During different parts of our last year I was just glued to what the daily movement was on the pandemic, or what Dr. Fauci was saying. But there were times I just needed to take a break from the news—and from getting on social media. It s just so toxic. I understand the innocence of how it was birthed and the intention was to bring people together and create a social community. And that’s lovely, but you have to take the good with the bad—that people just sit there and throw emotional knives at other people on these platforms. This skin is really not hard enough to take any of that. So now, it’s like, do not look at the comments section. It s all really devastating for a person like me who believes in, you know, be kind to your fellow brother or sister, or do unto others. I just find it really scary that that lives out there—that kind of negativity and rage and anger. It all comes from a place of insecurity, but still. So once the dogs are taken care of, and I’ve had a few sips of my coffee, I try to prioritize making time for meditation and journaling, instead of checking Instagram. I do my meditation for 20 minutes. I use InsightTimer which I have downloaded on my wiped-clean phone. It s not guided, although sometimes I do one of their courses, because they have beautiful courses. During the pandemic, that has been really helpful for me. They had one on “lowering anxiety,” or “how to create abundance and gratitude.” After I do my 20-minute meditations I take out my journal. Some days it’s just stream-of-consciousness for, like, 10-12 minutes; some days I make gratitude lists.”

“It is important to embrace tidying to get you closer to the lifestyle you see yourself having, but I’m not talking about your closets and drawers here. What I’m talking about is the chaos that ensues in family life. It gets very tough and life can seem so busy, but—and maybe this is him rubbing off on me a little bit—my husband is very good at seeing the humor or the joy of the situation. If you’re up with your baby all night long, and he’s not going to sleep, but then he finally does go to sleep, and then he wakes up right away because he pooped—normally, I would be upset. But my husband thinks this kind of thing is hilarious. To be able to shift your thinking to see the lightness of a situation is very important. My home can be quite chaotic after a long day with the children, but even that is funny, right? I’m Marie Kondo! And my house isn’t tidy! What is there to do but laugh?”

“Something I learned during my time as a monk is the idea of monotasking. We become more productive, more creative and more effective if we don’t multitask. Multitasking is a myth. Studies show that only 2% of the world’s population is able to multitask—and the problem is when people hear that, they think they’re in that 2%. But the truth of it is that most of us are in the 98%. We think that by doing a lot of things at once we are increasing our productivity, effectiveness and efficiency while the likelihood is that our productivity, effectiveness and efficiency are going to drop. Monotasking doesn’t mean that you don t have a lot going on. It just means that when you’re doing something, you re only on that one thing. I make videos, I have a podcast, I write books, I’m doing this interview with you—we all have so many things that are happening in our lives. But when you are doing that one thing it’s important that you are fully there. Monotasking doesn t stop you from doing a lot of exciting projects or having a schedule that’s full, either; it just requests of you to be more conscious and intentional of where you are. When you’re monotasking, you retain more, you’re able to build deeper connections and deeper relationships with people, and on top of all of that, you get to feel a sense of stillness and clarity we dont feel when we’re running around from place to place. Tea is another great way to make mindful moments. I hold it in my hands and feel the warmth, I breathe in the smell, I look at the color, then finally I take a taste and notice every aspect of the flavor as it hits my tongue.”

“I’m actually in a great place for talking about my intentions because I just made a vision board two days ago. To be 42 and making a vision board can be very triggering, and can only be compared to making a report when you’re a kid. So you re already transferred back to when you’re 11 or 12 years old: I have posterboard from Staples, and I’m cutting out words from magazines. I’m a comedy person so it’s hard to write, like, breathe, and forgiveness on a posterboard. Being in comedy, and being with people all day who mock anyone who has introspection, it’s hard to then have that introspection yourself. But I was really committed to doing this because I had made a vision board two years ago and I ended up taking it down! I had put it up on the back of my door around January 1 in the new year, because I heard you should always be able to look at it. It had all of these vulnerable photos of things that I wanted, and for eight months, nothing happened. In fact, a couple of the things definitely didn’t happen, so then it was just, like, taunting me. So I took it down. But in the last month of the year, three of the things I had put on there came true—and they were three big ones—and I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, it was that damn vision board.” I just had to be patient. And I thought that was a really good lesson, because when you put up a vision board it’s not like asking Santa for things. So one of the things I have on the new one is patience, because last time, I took it down. This year, I’m going to try not to do that.”

“You know, we talk about being a strong Black woman—it s also empowering to be the settled Black woman, the at peace Black woman, the still Black woman. One of the things I m saying goodbye to in 2021 is the hustle and grind. I want to grant myself time to rest and let abundance find its way to me. I’m grateful to have had so many projects this past year, but it was also nonstop: I published my book, filmed the last season of Insecure and Vacation Friends. Baths have been really important in helping me wind down. You know, Epsom salt baths, just put a little bit of them Dr Teal’s crystals in there. I also enjoy Lush products. I need to give myself some time to restore and replenish so I can continue chasing serenity, contentment, and rejuvenation while freeing myself from things that do not serve me.”