How Alicia Keys Is Staying Centered at Home

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.

When word spread in beauty circles that multi–Grammy Award–winning artist Alicia Keys was launching her own brand, it seemed like a natural progression for the woman who helped turn a #NoMakeup moment into a movement. But Keys Soulcare, the 40-year-old’s debut line of six dermatologist-developed skin-care essentials designed to nourish the complexion (and nurture the soul), wasn’t as obvious to Keys herself. “A lot of people have always assumed that the wellness thing was natural for me, but I have only recently become clear on how I can take in better things for myself—physically, emotionally, spiritually,” says Keys, who notes that a lot of her own skin issues were due to the stress and anxiety she experienced around negative associations with traditional standards of beauty. “When I started to rebel against those ideas, and what they meant for me, it changed how I felt. And to change how you feel changes how you look.” Here, in the first installment of our new wellness series, Keys opens up about the mindfulness techniques that help her glow, grow without guilt, and “shine at full wattage.”

1. Manage Your Time

“I’m struggling with this, let me be clear. I was talking to one of my light workers recently and she was saying, ‘Your time is a currency and only you get to determine how it’s spent.’ We get into these patterns where everyone else determines how our time is spent—we’re afraid we’re not going to achieve if we’re not 100% productive, or someone else is going to get there first. I really want to switch that up and give myself enough space because if you create the space, you can have time for yourself and honor it. So I’m trying to make more space between everything.”

2. Read More

“I’m so much more…‘everything’ when I read. I’m calm because I gave myself that moment. I’m more conscious because I’m learning. I’m more proud. Even just a good 30 or 40 minutes is enough. I recently read Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, and I just watched the Toni Morrison documentary The Pieces I Am and realized I haven’t read enough Toni Morrison. So I went back to her first three books and I’m rereading The Bluest Eye. When you reread things at different points of life they land on you differently. I can’t believe how beautiful her cadence is. I really want to take her words and put them to song.”

3. Practice, Practice, Practice

“I know practicing is so good for me—when I touch the piano I feel great; I’ve written something I never expected to—but I don’t schedule it in. We schedule ourselves out of our lives! So now I’m trying to set aside even just 45 minutes to practice between calls. The piano is like a best friend to me, so sitting down to play is a nice respite and a nice ritual. I’m all about the rituals and ritualizing beautiful moments. When I meditate, I light my Soulcare candle, and if I’m in a new space, or a new studio with new people, I will light my candle and some sage and I set my crystals out on my piano to manifest creativity. I’m big on crystals, and I love to go crystal shopping in small shops. In Soulcare we’re using obsidian, which is a new stone for me that I’m loving that is about inner strength and removing negative energy. And I love rose quartz; it’s such a heart opener. And I also like regular quartz because I’m always searching for clarity.”

4. Know Your Worth

“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.”

5. Give Gratitude

“Gratitude is my secret weapon, period. When I just can’t figure out how to change my mood or my level of anxiety, or if I’m feeling tired or I can’t muster the strength to keep moving forward, I give thanks—five times a day sometimes, just for the food I’m going to eat, for getting to a place safely, or for the night’s sleep I’m going to have. I pray out loud, but this can be internal and quiet, or I write down my gratitude in my Practice You journal. And when I’m spinning, I just try to think in my head, ‘Name five things to feel grateful for,’ and it helps me realize it’s not so bad.”