The Anti-Aging Habit Andie MacDowell (68) Refuses to Give Up

She has silver curls, glowing skin, and a philosophy about getting older that makes most wellness gurus look like they’re trying too hard. But the secret to how Andie MacDowell looks and feels the way she does is less about what she puts on her face and far more about what she does before most people have finished their morning coffee.

And once you hear it, you’ll wonder why you’re not doing it too.

Her Morning Ritual Is Remarkably Simple

MacDowell, the ‘Groundhog Day’ and ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ star and long-serving L’Oréal Paris ambassador, has built her mornings around one non-negotiable: getting outside and moving her body first thing.

“Usually by 7 o’clock, I’m walking on the beach,” she told Today. Her goal, when she can manage it, is five miles.

The Habit She Has Kept for Decades

Hiking is not a recent wellness phase for MacDowell. It’s my ‘thing,’ she has said plainly, adding that she tries to do it every day. She has hiked Griffith Park in Los Angeles, trails in Montana, and pretty much anywhere else life has taken her.

What makes it more than just exercise, she says, is the mindfulness that comes with it. When she hikes, she makes sure to hear the birds, see the light falling on rocks, and notice the plants around her.

Why She Takes It Even Further

MacDowell doesn’t stop at a brisk walk. She is a devoted believer in forest bathing, the Japanese practice known as Shinrin-Yoku, which involves immersing yourself in nature with full sensory attention. When she’s exhausted from work and away from home, she has admitted to hugging trees and thanking them, completely unbothered by who might be watching.

It sounds unconventional, but the science is real. According to experts cited by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, the practice can make people more relaxed and happier, relieve stress, and reduce chronic pain and insomnia.

What the Research Actually Says

Experts back MacDowell’s instincts entirely. A large-scale review covering more than 100 studies and over 300,000 participants found that the evidence overwhelmingly supports walking as a powerful anti-aging intervention.

Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that daily walking can increase life expectancy by as much as seven years, with significant reductions in all-cause mortality. Studies also show it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, and type 2 diabetes.

The Rest of Her Routine

The walking is the anchor, but MacDowell has built a full wellness life around it. She juices fresh vegetables every single day and has been doing so since she was growing her own wheatgrass decades before it became a wellness trend.

She eats only whole, real food, avoids packaged and processed items, and has followed a largely gluten-free diet for years due to an intolerance. Yoga is her form of meditation, she says, and sunscreen has been her daily non-negotiable since she was young, when her mother warned her about the South Carolina sun.

The Mindset Behind the Glow

What MacDowell talks about most, though, isn’t any single product or routine. It’s perspective. She doesn’t use the word “embrace” when it comes to getting older, preferring instead to “romanticize” and “glorify” the process, as she told Today.

She has said she wants to be old, openly and without apology, which in Hollywood remains a quietly radical thing to say.

The real takeaway from MacDowell’s routine isn’t the mileage or the green juice. It’s that she has found something that genuinely makes her feel good, and she has simply refused to stop doing it, for decades, through every season of her life. That kind of consistency, it turns out, might be the most anti-aging habit of all.