From mantras to meditation, mindfulness to manifestation, Well Intentioned offers an intimate look at how to make space for self-care in meaningful ways, big and small.
From the moment she whipped her hair back and forth, Willow Smith has been committed to presenting the most authentic version of herself in every space she occupies, refusing to conform to preconceived notions about what, or who, she should be. After her 2020 song, “Meet Me at Our Spot,” casually went viral on TikTok and had us all catching vibes last year, Smith proceeded to flip the pop-punk world on its head when she released the experimental album Lately I Feel Everything, a compilation of 11 alternative rock anthems that helped her secure collaborations with Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, Tierra Whack, and Cherry Glazerr, to name a few. In a scene that is oversaturated with the toxic energy of cis white men, Smith obviously stands out as a Black woman, but so did her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, when she was the front woman of the metal band Wicked Wisdom from 2002 to 2006. This kind of early exposure had a huge impact on the 21-year-old, eventually motivating her to expand from the contemporary pop and R&B lane that longtime fans had previously associated her with. “Everyone has different facets of themselves,” she says about this current stage of her career. “I feel like there’s so much more to go and learn, and I see myself as a good student, so I’m ready for the class.”
Understandably, 2022 has been busy for the musician and model thus far: In addition to cohosting Red Table Talk with her mother and grandmother, Smith is the face of Thierry Mugler’s Alien Goddess fragrance, and a new ambassador for Ultimate Ears Fits, promoting its Lil Nas X–approved wireless earbuds that mold to the shape of your ear. There are also all those live shows to prepare for: Smith has been working on new music and practicing for a summer run with Machine Gun Kelly, not to mention the global festival circuit, which will see her perform at Lollapalooza in July. (Smith recently gave fans a taste of the new project she’s been working on with the release of “Purge,” a single featuring Siiickbrain with an accompanying music video that shows her rocking a recently shaved head.)
Much like the rest of her extremely famous family, Smith knows how to own the spotlight, but she is equally well-versed in knowing when and how to step out of it, something she learned at a young age. (The Smith family’s former home in Malibu featured a home theater, a recording studio—and a meditation room.) The morning we connect over Zoom, Smith tells me that she’s feeling “pretty relaxed” in spite of dealing with the stress of a sick dog. “In the past, I defined wellness as being productive and getting things done, and that’s one side of it,” she explains. “But I feel like the other side is actually knowing when you just need to stop, take a step back, and be like, ‘How do I really feel?’” These vibe checks often mean making time solely for herself and trying to avoid falling into the trap of being extremely online: “Even if I’m checking in for like 15 minutes a couple times a day, once it hits an hour, it locks me out,” Smith says of a timer she has set up to manage her scrolling on Instagram. Here, she shares some of her other hacks for unwinding an active mind, from listening to affirmations to sitting with her raw feelings.
