Jennifer Aniston Signed Herself Up for a 40-Day Silent Retreat

There’s no right way to “do” wellness, but Marie Claire’s Doing Well offers a glimpse into the self-care mantras, therapies, and affirmations practiced by industry trailblazers.

Devoted Jennifer Aniston fans don't just love the actress for her role on Friends; they also can't get enough of her beauty and wellness tips. Of course, there's her haircare routine (long live "the Rachel" haircut), her workout regimen, and her viral salad. But in the age of commodified wellness and mental health infographics, I've become increasingly curious about Aniston's ability to stay centered amidst such a busy, public-facing career.

As it turns out, her secret is to unplug. "I've tried to stay off Instagram, honestly, as much as I can," she shares, citing the detrimental effect social media can have on the psyche, famous or not. "It also probably keeps me out of what's currently trending."

Ahead, Aniston shares more lifestyle tips, from her self-compassionate workout routine to her realistic approach to finding balance—and why, sometimes, a margarita on the beach is just what the doctor ordered.

This is probably going to sound weird, but a forty-day silent retreat. That's something that I've heard about and thought, "Ooh, that'd be really nice to do that." But then you try to imagine yourself being silent for an hour and that just seems impossible. How do they do it for 40 days? I admire it.

I would probably have to say the 40-day silent retreat. I signed up for it and I backed out all in the same two minutes.

Workout-wise, I've done everything—kickboxing, regular boxing, high-intensity workouts—there are so many different forms. Everything is kind of a trend, but I realized over the years that some of those are really tough on your body over time. So now I do low-impact.

Oh, well, that would be a workout with Dani Coleman. If I could just have Dani every day, first thing when I wake up in the morning, well, there's nothing better. I always have challenges with sleep myself, so if I'm coming in a little underslept, she just knows how to adjust. She inspires me to move my body and her Pvolve workouts are so much easier on the body because they're functional fitness. It's not banging your body. It gets your heart rate up, it works out your muscles, it keeps you functioning throughout your days. And that's ultimately where I've found myself. My body does better with this.

I found her through an injury. It's really frustrating if you can't move your body. That's what keeps my endorphins going; keeps my blood and my brain operating. So when this was introduced to me, I could work out and preserve my body so that it could heal, as opposed to having to just sort of sit for a month until I was all healed.

My wellness philosophy is 80/20. You have to live your life, enjoy yourself, but also stick to your goals. Eat healthy, work out, sleep, drink, water, all that stuff, and then you can truly enjoy a little of whatever you choose to be your 20 percent of fun.

I have a really great therapist that I trust. She's not on an app or anything, but she's just a great person that I connect with every week about keeping sane, especially these days when everything is so insane.

I can't believe there is still a stigma around mental health. I mean, who doesn't need someone to check in with? Also, I have an incredible group of girlfriends. We check in once a week, always. But I think it's always really good to talk stuff through with someone who's not inside of your circle or inside of your world, who can have a little bit more of an objective viewpoint on things.

I don't turn to a wellness app or a fitness app. I try to have that in person. Listen, if it comes to shopping, I'm an app's target. Instagram sees me coming miles away. It's like, "Here she comes. Let's get up the sleep pillow. Let's get up the cute workout clothes. Let's get up the cute sweatpants." I mean, half of what I'm wearing is Instagram purchases. But when it comes to a wellness situation, I usually stick to that in-person.

I usually go to a girlfriend's house or have them come over. Or I get outside, plant my feet in the grass, take some deep breaths, and meditate.

When I'm with my friends, we're just being present and talking about what's going on.

Generally speaking, I'm a pretty happy human. I mean, I do get sad. Listen, the world is challenging obviously right now, and I think for all human beings, if you have a pulse and you have a heart, you're hurting a little bit right now.

Stay out of the news as much as you can. Keep screen time limited. It works for me, at least. And am I out of the loop on certain things? I am. But if there's something I have to know, someone will tell me. I just know that right now, I don't think that we as human beings are designed to take in as much information as often as we do now. I mean, I can't imagine being a teenager in this day and age, or being the parent of a teenager in this day and age.

On a beach. Anywhere with beautiful sand, a gorgeous, clean ocean, and a margarita. I always love Mexico because it's right there for me. Also the Caribbean if we're going to dream big, with that white, beautiful water where you can see all the way down to the bottom—because I also don't like surprises in the ocean.

I would probably say keep it up. I was into wellness. I went to a performing arts school, so it was mandatory to take a dance class. I just loved moving my body. So I found myself getting into aerobics, roller skating, rollerblading. Early on, I discovered that moving my body really worked for me, and I liked the benefits of it at a pretty young age, but that was also just because I went to that school. I probably wouldn't have gotten the bug otherwise, I would imagine.

I remember I would take jazz class at this place called Steps on Broadway. My girlfriends and I would go and we'd take jazz class and then sweat and have a really great workout. Then, we'd go have pizza, because that's what you could do when you were a teenager. I didn't quite get the fitness-nutrition connection at that point.