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Issa Rae is leveling up her health and wellness routine — and she’s teaming up with Beyond Yoga to do it.
The Insecure actress partnered with the activewear brand for its new Seek Beyond platform, which aims to give users a space to reflect on wellness through the lens of movement, mindfulness and connection. The platform prioritizes personal growth and emphasizes confidence and joy in every stage of the journey.
Rae — who also stars in campaign imagery for Beyond Yoga’s new Outdoor product line, which bridges that gap between true activewear and athleisure for every day — tells PEOPLE exclusively that the partnership couldn’t have come at a better time.
Beyond Yoga
“I’ve been going on this fitness journey that’s not about working out the hardest I can work out, but about how I can feel my best,” she explains.
Part of Rae feeling her best includes swimming and running in activewear that makes her feel motivated. She cites the brand’s Easy Wide Leg Pant ($118) as a favorite when she trains, as well as when she’s at work.
Beyond Yoga
“I was recently working in London, and going to set every other day in those pants was great, and the colors are bright enough where I feel like I’m showing up,” she says. “When you’re showing up comfortable, you’re just showing up as yourself, and that feels the best.”
Rae also notes that wearing Beyond Yoga makes her feel “the most productive and the most free.”
“Before, even in working out or deciding to move, I would just throw on old T-shirts. Now, I feel a desire to dress up for myself, and this is a form of dressing for myself,” she says. “I feel cute, and I’m excited to figure out what I’m going to run or move in that particular day.”
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Beyond Yoga
The multi-hyphenate additionally wrote an anthem to accompany the Seek Beyond campaign, which allowed her to internally reflect on what she wants out of her wellness practices.
“Writing the anthem felt like, ‘I get to really examine and talk to myself about how I want to feel, and how I want other people around me to feel, and my own journey,'” Rae notes, adding that she has the tendency to “be hard on myself.”
In addition to the Seek Beyond campaign and Rae’s own fitness efforts, she decompresses with a few beauty rituals that allow her to relax at the end of a tough workout or hard day at work.
“I love to take baths. I’ve taken up running, so I’m constantly sore and do a beautiful Epsom salt bath maybe once or twice a week,” she says of how she chooses to relax. “I’m a candle collector, and so I accumulate. I have at least two, and then I just soak, and I might listen to a podcast, music or an episode of reality TV like Temptation Island.”
Beyond Yoga
The increased focus on her wellness routine has given her the chance to
“alleviate the stress” and “pressure of perfection” that she puts on herself, Rae says, adding, “As long as I feel my best, that’s enough.”
