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When it comes to balancing motherhood, a stacked acting career with credits in hit shows like Netflix's Forever and Apple TV+'s The Morning Show (returning September 17), and her own well-being, Karen Pittman makes it clear how she gets it all done.

The actress recently chatted with The Cut about the intentional ways she carves out space for herself amid being booked and busy. Between taking her daughter to school, helping with college essays, traveling for work, and reminders from her PA to finish a script, Karen weaves in moments of pause and rituals that keep her grounded throughout her day.


From regular stress management to her nightly three-hour sleep routine, Karen shows us exactly what it looks like to tend her garden, and tend it well. Because rest is always productive.

On How She Manages Stress: 

Learning how to effectively manage your stress is something many of us have had to prioritize for optimal well-being. The former And Just Like That star is no different. For stress management, Karen to prefers to go to the Hollywood Reservoir with her dogs and relish in the art of doing nothing. "I allow myself time to daydream," she tells The Cut. "I give myself time not to do anything, to let myself think and deliberate and sip tea, and then think some more."

Those unstructured moments of stillness, she explains, are especially important to her craft as an artist and an actor because they allow her mind time to rest. "Away from the phone, away from the TV, away from everybody," she continues, "We don’t have enough time to digest what we see before something else gets thrown at us."

On How She Winds Down: 

The same way Karen is intentional about pressing pause and creating moments of stillness during the day is exactly how she treats her nights. Her prioritization of rest as a time for renewal is sacred and she treats it as such — with an approach to proper sleep hygiene that many of us aspire to.

"I have a very specific three-hour sleep routine," she shares with The Cut. "Like most moms, I stay up at night ruminating. Raising children in our current political climate, you’re always nervous."

To help her calm her mind and body as she prepares for sleep, she turns on her Hatch sleep machine, listens to a story, and does a meditation before taking a shower. In. That. Order.

"I’ll take a magnesium packet in water. I will have a Cup of Calm, which is what the tea is called, with honey in it. Then I’ll get my book, and I’ll probably unwind by talking to my bestie on the phone for about half an hour."

By 11:29 p.m., Karen switches it up with her Hatch for ocean sounds, closes the shades, adjusts the temperature to her liking, and is in bed with the glow of the red light designed to block out screen residue for the ultimate nighttime ritual that follows her everywhere she goes. "That’s my routine after a day on set, or if I’m with the kids, or even in a hotel room on my own, and I am religious about it," Karen concludes.

For more of her interview with The Cut, click here.

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Featured image by Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

 

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