Vella Lovell's Mantra Is for Anyone Who's Way Too Hard on Themself

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Mr. Mayor star Vella Lovell's personal mantra is super simple—but undeniably powerful. "Be gentle with yourself," Lovell tells Health. Unsure of where she picked up this mantra, she carries it with her every day, especially now during the pandemic.

"We're all under a lot of stress, and we're all under a daily dose of anxiety," says Lovell. "We all need to take our expectations down a little bit. It's okay if I'm not the perfect 10 right now in all areas of life. I'm doing my best and being nice with myself."

Lovell emphasizes that how you speak to yourself sets your personal tone, and being hard on yourself doesn't necessarily lead to improvement. Having self-compassion can help open doors as well: "I've had to look at how I'm speaking to myself and ask 'why does this have to be perfect?'" After she realized that her mantra strengthened her relationship with herself, Lovell noticed how self-kindness turns into greater compassion for others. "If you're being gentle with yourself, you can't help but have compassion for other people," she says.

Watch the rest of Lovell's mantra in the video above.