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Meet my daughter Skye Jolie, a 19-year-old college student and one of my most favorite people in the world. Here are our self-care habits from mother and daughter, for any age.

How We Move Our Bodies

Sherrelle: I do some kind of exercise nearly every day. I used to dislike yoga because I couldn’t sit still, but now I love it and think it’s imperative to a fully functioning body. I am a huge evangelist for kettlebells; I started using them over 10 years ago and will use them until I die. If you're interested, I post my weekly Kettlebell workouts on my Instagram story. Boxing is a great workout, mentally challenging (remembering the combinations is really hard!) and fun. I must have fun while exercising or I get bored. I can’t believe this, but I recently started running and I've run a 5K! I used to hate running. Maybe I still do (I haven’t decided yet), but I’m doing it and I like the challenge. I didn’t grow up as an athlete, but I’m inherently competitive, even with myself.

I hope that I have taught Skye that exercising is good for our brain, heart, and bones – and not to punish our body for eating certain foods or for trying to look a certain way.

Skye: I do yoga most days and started lifting weights a tiny bit. I like to skateboard for fun, but it’s great exercise too. I finally joined Mom in her boxing class and now I love it. With my physical therapy exercises I’m learning the importance of mobility and strengthening certain muscles. I find the human body and how it functions fascinating.

What We Eat

We are mostly a grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free household. This started ten years ago, spearheaded by me and since I’m the only one who cooks, my family had no choice. Now that the rest of the world has caught on, we can buy many of the grain-free foods that I used to make from scratch, like cauliflower rice. Vegan ice cream has gotten really good, and we don’t miss dairy ice cream at all. We do eat meat but not at every meal and try to eat 2/3 vegetables to 1/3 meat.

Sherrelle: Every morning I have a Bulletproof Matcha Latte that fuels both my brain and body with good stuff.

Skye: Even after our household turned grain-free, I continued to eat grains outside of the house until a few years ago when I figured out that by eliminating ALL grains, my digestive problems stopped, and my skin rashes cleared. Recently I learned how to cook and enjoy finding new recipes to try. Mom is always happy to eat one of my meals! I really enjoy the healing properties of tea and drink matcha, kombucha and yerba mate.

Our Morning Rituals 

Sherrelle: Every morning I start the day softly with a cuddle from my dog. I write in my wellness journal, TAP IN: A Daily Practice for a More Creative, Focused and Joyful Life, followed by a few poems (Rupi Kaur is a favorite), stories from Humans (of New York) or profiles in In The Company of Women. At some point Skye wanders in and we chat a bit and cuddle with the dog some more. Then I exercise. I try not to check emails or social until this is done. I skim The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and read emails while drinking my matcha. Finally, I light a candle, turn on some music and start to work.

Skye: Every morning I write in my wellness journal, TAP IN: A Daily Practice for a More Creative, Focused and Joyful Life, followed by meditation and affirmations. Then I play a vinyl record while making my bed. I swear by hot lemon water first thing in the morning before a good breakfast. No matter the weather, I step outside to get some fresh hair. Finally, I make a giant to-do list on a white board and start my day.

What Makes Us Come Alive

Sherrelle: Writing and creating – I get lost in those worlds. Curiosity is my passion; I’m always learning and challenging myself. Writing a screenplay was one of the hardest things that I’ve done but also so much fun to learn something new and create a whole world. I’m really proud of that, even if it never becomes a movie. My lifestyle and media company, World Famous, is multi-faceted and takes up most of my time. It includes this website as well as a publishing company, World Famous Books; the first product is TAP IN: A Daily Practice for a More Creative, Focused and Joyful Life. Running these ventures solo is so much work and really challenging to do in a full household, but along with my mental wellness advocacy work, it’s how I happily spend my time.

The beach is my happy place and I'm blessed to live nearby. I feel inspired while visiting art museums and bookstores, exploring new neighborhoods or being active in nature – rafting, horse riding, zip-lining. Where I really get my juice is traveling. I can literally feel the neurons firing in my brain and endorphins coursing through my body. For me travel is not a nice to have, it’s necessary.

Skye: I love music and enjoy both discovering new artists as well as reveling in the classics. I have a record player and listen to a different vinyl every day. I’m growing my collection slowly and I even have some of Mom’s old records. I have a very busy college schedule, but I like putting together 1,000-piece puzzles with Mom, doing cross-stitch and baking. I find all these activities relaxing. I like to read non-fiction books on science, music history or self-help. Currently I’m reading How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog. As a science major I am intrigued by the human body, plants and animals and often pursue those passions outside of the classroom.

Right now, I am fostering the most adorable puppy for the Labelle Foundation; it’s the best thing ever. I love to travel and have been around the world on vacation and on service mission trips, but probably my favorite place is Tumbling River, a dude ranch in Colorado. I plan to work there one summer!

The best thing about having a daughter is sharing life with her. It’s been so wonderful watching Skye grow into a young woman with her own interests and passions. I hope that I’ve taught her some useful self-care habits over the years – I know that I continue to learn from her. 

A longer version of this post (with beauty and skin-care habits) first appeared on Sherrelle - for the clever and curious.