The daily schedules of the world’s elite—seven-figure athletes and platinum recording artists, media moguls and red carpet regulars—all have one thing in common: meditation. Here, in their own words, fifty stars explain why a dedicated daily practice is a key to their success.
Lady Gaga
Singer, songwriter
“Meditation helps me to calm down,” she told the teens at New York’s Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youths, before she led a brief meditation. “I don't have the same kind of issues that you have, but I have a mental illness [PTSD] and I struggle with that every day so I need my mantra to keep me relaxed.”
Ellen Degeneres
Talk-show host
“It feels good. Kinda like when you have to shut your computer down, sometimes when it goes crazy, you just shut it down and when you turn it on, it’s OK again. That’s what meditation is to me.”
Kobe Bryant
NBA player
“I meditate every day. It’s like having an anchor. If I don’t do it, I feel like I’m constantly chasing the day as opposed to being in control and dictating my day. I have a calmness about whatever comes my way, a poise, and that comes from starting my morning off with meditation.”
Gisele Bündchen
Supermodel
“The mind is more powerful than anything. So, during [my son’s] birth I wasn’t thinking about the pain. I was in a meditative state. I was concentrating the whole time, thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s time. I am going to meet my baby.’”
Lena Dunham
Actress, writer, director, producer
“Meditation brings me back to zero and reminds me of my most natural state. During the first season of Girls, I was so busy and so stressed that I didn’t meditate on the set. During the second season, I did meditate on the set and everything changed for me.”
Paul McCartney
Singer, songwriter
“It is a lifelong gift. It’s something you can call on at any time. Now it’s actually coming into the mainstream. I think it’s a great thing.”
Ringo Starr
Drummer
“At the end of the day, I can end up just totally wacky, because I've made mountains out of molehills. With meditation, I can keep them as molehills.”
Russell Simmons
Music producer, entrepreneur
“[Demystifying] meditation is something I’ve been passionate about for twenty years. I want kids to do it, I want adults to do it. I want the world to become a better place, and if I can get more people to do it, I can lift the vibration of the planet just a little bit. Then I’d really have contributed something.”
Heather Graham
Actress
“I love meditation. I’m kind of high-strung, so it’s easy to get anxious, but it really calms me down. It helps me find that peaceful place inside myself. Whenever life is going a bit crazy, it helps me to be really centered.”
Sting
Musician
"Yoga introduced me to the practice of meditation. The only meditation I did before was the writing of songs."
Oprah
Talk-show host, producer
“I give myself a healthy dose of quiet time at least once (and when I’m on point, twice) a day: twenty minutes in the morning, twenty in the evening. Knowing that stillness is the space where all creative expression, peace, light, and love come to be is a powerfully energizing, yet calming experience. Knowing for sure that even in the daily craziness that bombards us from every direction, there is—still—the constancy of stillness. Only from that space can you create your best work and your best life.”
Hugh Jackman
Actor
“I meditated before I hosted the Oscars, I meditate before I go onstage, I meditate in the morning, at lunchtime, when I’m on a film set. I became a different person once I began to meditate. Completely different.”
Martin Scorsese
Director, producer, screenwriter
“The last few years I’ve been practicing meditation, and it’s difficult to describe the effect it’s had on my life. If I can only mention a few words: Calm. Clarity. Balance. And at times a recognition. It’s made a big difference.”
Madonna
Singer, songwriter
“Meditation showed me how much energy silence has.”
Melinda Gates
Philanthropist
“The first thing I do in the morning is to meditate. No matter where I am in the world, that’s my one non-negotiable. Investing even a few minutes in meditation makes the whole day happier and more productive.”
Emma Watson
Actress
“My interest in meditation was born from an interest in Buddhism. I became interested in a literary way, but I realized that reading books wasn’t enough, that I’d have to practice for it to work. So I started it, and I love it, it helps me a lot.”
Orlando Bloom
Actor
"The philosophies behind meditation are very current today—it’s a way of finding peace.”
Ivanka Trump
Businesswoman, author
“Meditation is one of the most important things I do each day. I try to meditate for twenty minutes, twice a day. Sometimes I miss the afternoon session, but I always make the morning one. It’s been invaluable in terms of calming my mind and allowing me to think more clearly.”
Olivia Newton-John
Singer, songwriter, actress
“I used homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, and meditation in conjunction with my chemotherapy to help me get stronger again after the cancer. I also chanted with Buddhist friends and prayed with Christian friends. I covered all my bases.”
Howard Stern
DJ, talk show host
“Everyone in my life meditates; I am a big proponent of meditation. When I do it in the morning, it adds tremendous creativity to my radio show. After the show, my head is pounding from the headphones and the loud noise; five hours of headphones and talking is exhausting. I meditate, walk out, and I have the whole rest of my day. I’m a new person. I don’t think I could live without it.”
Russell Brand
Actor
“Meditation changes consciousness. It’s really good if you’ve had addiction issues. It’s highly psychological, very beautiful, overwhelming, real, and trippy.”
Arianna Huffington
Author, businesswoman
“Even if you do, like, ten minutes, it’s just a reminder that underneath all of our comings and goings, our successes and our failures, there is a deeper dimension to our lives. We can tap into it and show up from that place, which is wiser, more joyful, more compassionate, and all the things we want more of in our lives.”
Susan Sarandon
Actress
“It helps me chill out and focus.”
Steve Jobs
Entrepreneur, inventor
“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things—that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before.”
Liv Tyler
Actress
“Meditation is an incredible way of centering and calming myself; I feel much less panicked and anxious about things. I also feel deeply centered and rested.”
Adam Yauch
Rapper
“A few friends and I are meditating at the same time twice a day. We are picturing smashing apart all of the cancer cells in the world. We are visualizing taking the energy away from the cancer, and then sending it back as lightning bolts that will break apart the DNA and RNA of the cells.”
50 Cent
Rapper
“Meditation helps me because it puts me in a conscious space.”
Tim Ferriss
Author, entrepreneur
“I find that five to ten minutes of meditation is very helpful for avoiding anxiety. And it’s just a clean slate, it’s a reset button for the rest of the day.”
Miranda Kerr
Supermodel
“What I have found is that all of the answers, and everything you need, are deep inside. Sit with yourself, take a few breaths, and get close to your spirit.”
George Stephanopoulos
Journalist, political commentator
“It's the equivalent of a couple hours more sleep. I feel more space in my life even when it's not there.”
Dr. Oz
Cardiothoracic surgeon, television personality
“Imagine the ripples on top of an ocean. And I’m in a rowboat, reactively dealing with the waves and water coming into my boat. What I need to do is dive into the deeper solace, the calmness beneath the surface.”
Eva Mendes
Actress
“It helps creatively on a level that I can’t describe. I can give you a list of things I think [it does], but it’s tapping into something so deep that when I reap the rewards, I don’t even know I’m reaping them. It’s a more of an overall kind of thing.”
Elizabeth Gilbert
Author
“Meditation is an aid and a help but where it matters is in every interaction that you have with another human being. I had the realization years ago that I’ve spent my life looking for the light and I finally realized that if you want light wherever you are, you’re going to have to be the one who brings it.”
Moby
DJ
“TM Meditation has given me a perspective on agitation…that it’s a temporary state of mind and I don’t necessarily need to take it that seriously. I used to think that TM was for weird old hippies … but then I heard that David Lynch was involved, and that made me curious.”
Elle Macpherson
Supermodel
“I don't run eight miles a day like I used to. I eat a lot of organic food and drink lots of water, and I take time for meditation to set up my day. Beauty comes from within.”
Tina Turner
Singer
“Meditation and praying change your spirit into something positive. If it is already positive, it makes it better.”
David Letterman
Talk-show host
“I tell you, I enjoy doing it, and it provides me with great energy.”
Sheryl Crow
Singer, songwriter
“One of the things—and this comes from someone who was highly self-critical and a type-A personality—that has changed my life is meditation.”
Jim Carrey
Actor
“Years ago, I learned how to meditate, and it’s been very valuable; it’s teaching yourself how to get into a state of relaxation that affects your entire life. I do it, I’ve done it for awhile, and I recommend it highly.”
Cameron Diaz
Actress
“The benefits and restoration that come to me [through meditation] has changed everything. To have that tool now, to be able to go inside the deepest part of myself and recharge my battery internally, makes me feel so badass!”
Richard Gere
Actor, humanitarian activist
“The only thing that will get us anywhere on the spiritual path, whether it’s concentration, loving-kindness or wisdom, is dedicating ourselves to a daily practice. We take for granted that Olympic athletes and professional musicians train daily to achieve mastery of their sport or music. Why wouldn’t the same discipline apply to cultivating the most important qualities of our mind?”
Amy Schumer
Comedian, writer, producer
“I had been so busy and every moment there were all these increments of things I had to do, and I had no energy. [Meditation] just totally changed the game for me.”
Jerry Seinfeld
Comedian, writer, producer
“You know how three times a year, you wake up and you go, ‘Boy, that was a really good sleep?’ Imagine feeling that way every day. That’s what meditation is.”
Katy Perry
Singer, songwriter
“To me, it’s the most rest, the biggest power nap you could ever get. This tool helps me find moments of peace—because I don’t have a whole lot of time—that extends my day so I can live to my fullest capacity.”
Clint Eastwood
Actor, filmmaker
“I’m a great supporter of Transcendental Meditation. I’ve been using it for almost forty years now—and I think it’s a great tool for anyone to have, to be able to utilize it as a tool for stress.”
Jennifer Aniston
Actress
“[Meditation] is like a kickstart for your day, it centers you, your stress levels go down, and you find yourself interacting in the world in a much easier and calmer way. There’s just a peaceful joy.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Actor, politician
“I did twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes at night, and I would say that within fourteen days or three weeks, I got to the point where I could really disconnect my mind ... and learn how to focus more and calm down.”
Paula Abdul
Singer, television personality
“I incorporate meditation before or after I work out. Even if it’s just sitting quietly with my eyes closed and listening to the beat of my own heart, it reenergizes me.”
Tom Bergeron
Television personality
“I meditate. I have for over thirty years. The idea of being present, being in the moment, is crucial on live TV, but it also has benefits in life in general. So when I go on stage, for example, on Dancing with the Stars, I’ll have just meditated.”
Julia Roberts
Actress
“Meditation has helped me to cope with loss. It has been a great comfort to both me and my family.”
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