Toni Collette shares secrets to aging happily as actress celebrates 50th birthday

From meditation to Reiki and positivity, here are Toni Collette's tips for getting older with a big smile on your face

Toni Collette
(Image credit: Slaven Vlasic / Contributor)

Academy Award-nominated actress Toni Collette just turned 50 this past November - an age that doesn’t seem to fluster her much.

"I wasn't fussed about the number itself," Toni, who is set to divorce her husband of 20 years following a kissing scandal, said to People in a new interview. "I know a lot of people are, but I think accumulatively, over time, I've gotten to know myself, accept myself, love myself and all these things really enrich your life."

The mother-of-two went even further, sharing her secrets to happily aging with the public. 

"The more you nurture your internal world, the richer your experience is of engaging with the external world," she said to the outlet. "So it just makes everything deeper and more beautiful. Life is so magical and magnificent and I'm in a position where I'm really able to see that clearly. I'm just so grateful for all of the experiences I've had."

Toni Collette

(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Contributor / Getty Images)

But there is more.

It’s all about mental disposition, says Toni, and a whole lot of active practices - including meditation work and Reiki, which is a Japanese form of energy healing. 

About the former, Toni said to People that she "it used to be something I felt that I had to do and now it's something I truly want to do. I just know it makes a massive difference in my day, so that's really important to me."

As for Reiki, "learning to practice that was really life changing for me," the actress said on the record. "I find it so calming, so relaxing. If I wake up at three, four in the morning jet-lagged, in the past it's been impossible to get back to sleep. But now I do that and just drift off again. It's been really great."

Toni Collette

(Image credit: Kevin Mazur / Contributor)

Currently starring in The Power on Amazon, the Australian actress is living proof that aging does not necessarily come with a career slowdown - and perhaps her mindful practices are part of the reason why that hasn't happened to her.

The Power is a British sci-fi series is by many been defined as a feminist manifesto with great potential based on Naomi Alderman's 2016 novel of the same name. 

Fun fact: the TV show's entire writing room is made up of women - a political statement of sorts that carries through the actual plot lines as well, which focus on the same world we live in today - albeit one where all teenage girls suddenly have the ability to electrocute people at will.

Toni switches gears a bit in Mafia Mamma, a new action comedy set to hit theaters later this week, in which the Australian actress plays an American woman who heads to Italy following the passing of her grandfather - whom she actually finds out is part of the Mafia.

Toni, keep trekking along and showing us the way through a successful career into our 50s!

Anna Rahmanan

Anna Rahmanan is a New York-based writer and editor who covers culture, entertainment, food, fashion and travel news. Anna’s words have appeared on Time Out New York, the Huffington Post, Fortune, Forbes, Us Weekly, Bon Appetit and Brooklyn Magazine, among other outlets.