21 Celebrities Share Their Self-Care and Mental Wellness Tips

The singer and actress revealed that she was having a hard time with her mental health, struggling while filming Cinderella. Luckily, working on music and putting her focus on acting helped her to get through it.

"When I was working on 'Million to One' for Cinderella, to be totally honest, I was going through a really hard time with my mental health," she said. "It was just a period of a lot of anxiety and sadness for me, and that song had me feeling like, 'I can overcome this. I know that I can make my life better.' I feel like I channeled my personal journey into the one of the character. The character was super confident — everybody was telling her no, but she knew," she explained.

For this Drag Race All Stars season two winner, keeping mental health levels running at optimal means getting a good start and staying connected to gratitude. “My perfect day starts with putting on the teapot. Then I have tea in my favourite Golden Girls mug and watch The Daily Show. Meditation is essential. I try to start each morning with a focus on the breath and three things I’m grateful for,” she says.

“Sleep your way to the top!” jokes media mogul and sleep advocate, Arianna Huffington. After passing out from exhaustion in her office and breaking her jaw, Huffington began to adopt better sleep habits and took to sharing them with the world. She believes we’re in a sleep deprivation crisis and espouses a series of strict rules for better self-care through better sleep.

Director Ava DuVernay looks outward to other women to boost her mental health, hope and enthusiasm. During the 22nd Women in Hollywood Awards, she reminded the female attendees that, “We also blossom because we nourish one another. We focus on her — the woman sitting right next to you. We focus on us. It's equally as important.”

Outspoken and honest, the late Carrie Fisher took mental health out of the shadows and shone a light on it. She showed us there’s no need to be silent about our struggles and that getting things out in the open helps us to heal.

Sometimes our mental health leads us to depression making it hard to know where to turn. For Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who spoke about his own struggle with depression, an important step is to realize you are not alone. "You're not the first to go through it; you're not going to be the last to go through it. And oftentimes — it happens —you just feel like you're alone. You feel like it's only you. You're in your bubble. And I wish I had someone at that time who could just pull me aside and [say], 'Hey, it's gonna be OK. It'll be OK.'"

An accomplished actor still in high demand, Ellen Burstyn famously enjoys 'should-less' days. In an interview with WNYC’s Death, Sex and Money podcast the star said, “I have what I call should-less days. Today is a day where there’s nothing I should do. So, I only do what I want to do. And if it’s nap in the afternoon or watch TV and eat ice cream, I get to do it.” Flip the script. Instead of beating yourself up for not doing enough, encourage yourself to do whatever feels right.

This enigmatic recording artist gathers some of his confidence from a skin care regiment. It’s true! The Grammy winner told GQ he is a firm believer in night cream and said having great skin makes him feel a boost. “Some days, like today, I feel very beautiful,” he said.

Academy Award nominee, actor and writer Gabourey Sidibe has been on the receiving end of many an unsolicited opinion about her work and her body. And while it’s easy to say we shouldn’t pay other’s opinions any mind, Sidibe took not taking it to heart to a new self-care level. “One day, I had to sit down with myself and decide that I loved myself no matter what my body looked like and what other people thought about my body. I got tired of hating myself.”  

Happiness researcher and guru Gretchen Rubin has written several books on the topic and found that wellness and self-care come most often from one simple value: know thyself. For Rubin, when we understand our own core principles, personal tendencies and unique personality traits we can more easily create habits and make choices that guide us towards tasks and activities that take care of our needs.

For some, self-care and nourishment are hard-wired to our relaxation. For writer, director, actor and Stanford graduate Issa Rae, finding time to relax with a hot toddy while listening to a podcast is just one way she meets her relaxation goals.

Actor, dancer and trans-activist Laverne Cox knows that keeping a hectic schedule can take a toll. While she values sleeping and eating right she knows that there’s an important place for talk therapy in her self-care regime.

In case you haven’t heard, singer, rapper, flautist and varsity-level twerker Lizzo is on the come-up. Lizzo gets her “Juice” from celebrating body-positivity and empowering women to love and be themselves.

You think you’ve got a lot on your plate? When things get overwhelming for former first lady Michelle Obama, she calls in the cavalry to help ease her mind and bring her back down to baseline. When the going gets tough, Obama told Women’s Health that, "I reach out to friends, my mom, my girlfriends; I vent, I release, I have sounding boards…"  

It’s highly unlikely that any of us will ever be as busy as the owner of OWN herself, but that doesn’t mean we can’t draw from her well of wisdom when it comes to self-care and mental health. For O, it’s about taking time away so she can give her all. "I always give myself Sundays as a spiritual base of renewal — a day when I do absolutely nothing. I sit in my jammies or take a walk and I allow myself time to BE — capital B-E — with myself," Oprah said in her O Magazine.

Novelist, cultural critic and writer Roxane Gay tackles serious issues in her work. Though her work delves deep into racism, feminism, politics, bodies and more, this intellectual and Twitter expert loves to unwind with (and sometimes even write about) her pop-culture obsessions like Vanderpump Rules, romantic comedies and of course, the Fast and the Furious franchise.

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen up in here?” This wisdom offered at the end of every episode of the juggernaut reality show, RuPaul’s Drag Race serves as a reminder to drag queens and civilians alike that self-care starts with self-love.

The greatest athlete of all time, Serena Williams, applies discipline and care to her self-maintenance routine too. “I think self-care is very important to prioritize in life. When you make time for yourself, you feel like the best version of you and that extends into other facets of life. My self-care routine varies — whether I’m trying a new product or staying loyal to my feel-good classics like coconut oil, I always carve out moments to tend to myself and nurture my body.”

A long-time advocate for the power of self-care, rapper, entrepreneur and bestie of Martha Stewart, Snoop Dogg has his own set of beauty rituals, like getting a manicure, that leave him feeling restored. “I’m a man that can tap into my feminine side and still know that I’m a masculine man with a manicure,” he said. “As males we all have feminine ways… It’s okay to tap into those inner ways.”

Hit show: check. Fashion icon: check. Instagram heavy-hitter: check. Activist: double-check. Taking on a lot and wearing many hats means we need to double up on self-care, so we can stay on top of our game. “I’ve always worked out and been active and it’s one of the ways I care for myself: along with meditation, baths, eating beautiful things that make me happy, being silent and being with friends and family. Self-care is one of the active ways that I love myself. When you can and as you can, in ways that feel loving, make time and space for yourself," Ellis Ross wrote on Instagram.  

Yes, Russell Brand is into self-care. In a YouTube post, the comedian, activist and yoga enthusiast encouraged viewers to take on a few self-care routines including mediation. “You’ve got to have some relationship to your own mind that’s not about external stuff,” he said adding, “kindness to other people and doing something for someone else that’s just about them” are also key.