Serena Williams has a lot of change coming her way, having announced just this month that she would be retiring from competitive tennis after over twenty years on the court.
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With such a change can easily come a lot of stress too, and during a recent conversation with Selena Gomez for Wondermind, a "mental fitness" platform co-founded by the actress, the athlete opened up about the efforts she puts into maintaining her mental health.
She discussed how she takes care of herself, especially amid tumultuous times, and detailed the importance of boundaries.
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Selena was immediately cognizant of the changes in Serena's life, kicking off the conversation by asking: "I can tell that you've been working a lot, so, how do you feel?"
The tennis star was careful with her words, and said: "Everything is good," before candidly admitting: "It's never really great, it's always something that I think you deal with," referring to "mental fitness."
She further explained: "Whether it's physical – like my back right now – or whether it's mental… but it's really about managing.
The candid conversation about "mental fitness"
"It's really about managing and how you're able to do it, and how you're able to kinda just manage your emotions, your feelings and everything and still be able to perform."
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Transparent about all that she juggles in her daily life, she said: "I'm not talking about performing on a big stage, but performing in general. Performing as a mom for me, or just perform in day-to-day life."
© Photo: Getty ImagesSerena revealed that she hoped to expand her family with Alexis Ohanian following her retirement
Explaining how she handles it all and takes care of herself, she said: "I always try to think of what are the most important things to me and prioritize those."
She detailed that for her, "mental fitness" is learning how to "shut down," and she said: "I have serious boundaries, and I don't let anyone cross those boundaries."
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