Mindy Kaling On Egg Freezing, Going to Therapy, and the 'Restorative Power of a Run'

Mindy Kaling typically keeps her personal life private, especially since having kids. But the actress got candid about motherhood, mental health, and the exercise she relies on to be a "friendlier person" and a "more patient mom," as she put it, in a new interview with Marie Claire.

The 43-year-old made the choice to become a mom in her late thirties, opening up about having the privilege to wait until she had "the means" to become a single parent in the recent interview. "The choice to have a child — by yourself, on your own terms — it was the best part of my life," she said. "It's the thing that I hope women feel confident doing by themselves."

Though Kaling hasn't shared whether or not she herself froze her eggs, it's no secret she's passionate about women having the knowledge and resources to do so if they want to. "I wish that every 19-year-old girl would come home from college and that the gift — instead of buying them jewelry or a vacation or whatever — is that their parents would take them to freeze their eggs," she told Marie Claire. This would allow people to focus on their career and love in their twenties and thirties, while knowing they can still have children with or without a partner when they're "emotionally ready," she added, acknowledging that the procedure can unfortunately be cost prohibitive for many.

This isn't the first time Kaling has expressed her opinion about egg freezing. In fact, she delivered an entire monologue about the benefits of egg freezing to college women in character during an episode of her show The Mindy Project, in which she played an ob-gyn, back in 2015. (Read more: Everything You Need to Know About Egg Freezing)

Kaling didn't grow up being particularly interested in the pursuit of wellness. "For most of my teenage years and twenties, when I first heard the term, I was like, 'Who has the time for that?'" she said in the interview, adding that this was in part due to her Indian culture and family's beliefs. "If someone you knew or someone in your family or extended family was seeing a therapist or seeing a psychologist or going on medication or anything like that, it was seen as a real problem, a real sadness [or] tragedy for a family," she said.

Her mindset changed after losing her mom to pancreatic cancer in 2012 and going to therapy to cope. "I think you can get things done more if you're able to talk to the right people about the things going on in your life," she told Marie Claire. "I remember thinking, 'This [therapy] is extremely helpful, but this would have even been helpful when I was younger, when I had issues,'" she said. "Life is so hard. And I don't think you should just have to depend on friends and family to get you through those things."

Another way she prioritizes self care these days? She laces up her sneakers and enjoys "the restorative power of a run" every single day. "I'm always so self-conscious talking about how much I love running because I don't look like someone who's athletic or anything. But it has really helped me," she admitted. "It just focuses me and makes me a better writer. I think I'm a friendlier person, a more patient mom." (Next up: Mindy Kaling Shares the One Fitness Lesson She Wishes She Learned Earlier)