Tia Mowry On Meditation, Pilates, & Her Summer Plans

Tia Mowry likes a good party, and lucky for her this summer season is chock-full of them. “There's a lot of birthday parties in the summer,” she says to The Zoe Report. “We're summer babies over here. My daughter, she just had her eighth birthday party [...] and then my son is next. And then my sister and her kids are coming down, so it's just going to be a whole bunch of nieces and nephews, which is always loads of fun. And then there’s my birthday!”

Festive celebrations combine all the things that make Mowry’s world go round: “great food, music, dancing, family, friends, making memories.” In fact, it’s these simple yet crucial elements that play into her latest campaign with Bounty, where Mowry is ringing in her personal party season with the brand’s iconic paper towels. In the latest promotional video, the actor and entrepreneur pokes fun at the classic summer family cookout and the familial hijinks that often ensue. But, in all seriousness, one glance at Mowry’s day-to-day rituals and you’ll see that these communal moments — as well as the quiet solo ones — do wonders for her general happiness and mental health.

Ahead, Mowry breaks down the wellness rituals and little life luxuries that keep her moving, from Pilates and meditation to time with her kids and the occasional Mexican escape.

What's the first thing you do when you wake up?

Meditate. Ten minutes.

When you have a chance to treat yourself, what do you do?

Massage. Gosh, I can tell I'm getting older, because usually it would be red velvet cupcake or a cookie. But as you get older, I'm like, ‘Give me that massage.’

What are you listening to these days?

I am listening to old school. Oh gosh, Tia, why are you aging yourself? Nineties R&B, that's not old school! So there's SWV. [sings] I get so weak in the knees, I can hardly speak. I just love R&B.

What's one thing that you cannot live without these days?

The first thing that comes to mind are my children. They're an essential. They put a smile on my face. They give me a sense of purpose, joy, and they're just incredible beings. They keep me busy and I love it.

Are you dreaming of traveling anywhere this summer?

So I am going to be headed out to Mexico soon and I'm really, really excited about that. Just hang out by the beach, chill, relax. I think it's well-deserved.

What's your secret weapon when you want to look and feel good?

I am going to say a nice lip gloss. I feel like it just makes you look refreshed. I love that just dewy kind of feel.

Besides meditation, do you have another favorite workout or wellness practice that you swear by?

Pilates is amazing. And the reason why I love it is because I feel like it hits so many things at once. So you have the breathwork there. I believe in breathwork as well. It's something that I do and it's just a way to just tap into your own body and just to slow down, which is just breathing. And then it has a nice flexibility stretching component to it. So you're able to just move around with flexibility and fluidity, which is important, especially around my age, I feel like right now. And then there's the strength component to Pilates.

I feel like it's one of the hardest workouts that I've ever had to do in my entire life. But I think the reason why I do love Pilates is because as I'm aging, it's more about being able to move and do things, the simple things in life as we get older, just from picking up something off the ground or picking up something out of a cupboard. And Pilates, it has all of those things in mind. It's about strength, it's about fluidity, flexibility, but then it's all about just calming the nervous system and it's something that I'm just really obsessed with right now.

What's one piece of advice you would give your younger self?

Try not to worry. Anxiety was my best friend, really, I think, in my 20s. It was just something that I was constantly doing. I was worried about where I was going to be, what I was going to be doing. And what I've learned now, with me being in my 40s, is everything in life happens for a reason and everything will unfold the way that it's supposed to unfold. So I feel like right now I'm very grateful and life just feels at ease. But it's not because everything is perfect, I'm not going to say that. I think it's more about perspective.