Bruce Willis‘ wife Emma Heming-Willis has been candid with fans about everything from her husband’s health to how their family is ensuring he has the most comfortable life possible as he battles dementia. And she has also not held back in telling them how she is personally coping, too.
The British model and entrepreneur, 47, has been the 70-year-old Die Hard actor‘s primary caregiver since his frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis, and has also become an advocate for caregivers navigating similar challenges.
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The mom-of-two, who shares daughters Mabel, 13, and Evelyn, 11, with the Moonlighting actor, is not only caring for her husband, but also advocating for carers on various platforms. She has written the book The Unexpected Journey about caregiving, contributes to a resource platform for carers, and is now expanding her mission through her women's brain health brand, Make Time Wellness.
The brand recently debuted on QVC's The New Beauty Inside & Out, a special series focused on holistic beauty and wellness. And while promoting the launch, Emma opened up about the importance of self-care, and explained how she is looking after herself amid her ongoing caregiving duties…
Emma Heming-Willis Talks About The Importance Of Caring For Yourself
In a new interview with People, Emma reflected on her own brain health journey and the moment she realized she needed to advocate more strongly for herself. She revealed that some of her symptoms had previously been dismissed by doctors, which pushed her to dig a little deeper for answers…
"I think as women in society, we tend to put ourselves last, and we put everyone's needs above our own," she explained, before saying that she realized how important self-care is even more after stepping into her role as caregiver.
"What I've realized is that if you are not caring for yourself, if you are not finding ways to make time for your health, your hobbies, it's impossible to be able to care for the people that we love."
She added: "I think that 40% of caregivers aren't making their own medical appointments and caregivers can sometimes pass before their loved ones. So that's a reminder to keep me on track and hopefully educate people, caregiver or not, just about the importance of caring for yourself. It's really vital."
Emma Heming-Willis On Stepping Away From Screens, Spending Time Outside, And More
Emma told the pub that for her, self-care begins with protecting her brain health. And she acknowledged how easy it is to feel overwhelmed by endless to-do lists and daily responsibilities – especially while caring for a loved one with a degenerative condition – and said that she intentionally schedules what she calls 'brain breaks' into her calendar to combat that.
"It's really easy to get bogged down with our to-do lists and our calendars. I try to have a 'brain break' on my calendar," she explained. "So I remember to step away from the screen, getting outside, making sure that I am checking the boxes on my brain health journey because that's sort of how I care for myself now. I think about my brain first and the rest of my body benefits," she added, which we believe is advice we could all benefit from!
That philosophy is woven directly into her brand's mission, as she explained: "I mean, it's embedded in our brand name, you know, making time for yourself. I think it's just coming from the mindset of knowing how important I am and trying to keep sight of that. We have to really learn how to value ourselves."
