Mýa is opening up about being celibate for the past seven years and how the experience has “shifted” her mindset. During an appearance on Angela Yee’s Way Up radio show on Thursday, the 44-year-old singer explained that she began her celibacy journey to get past the “pressure” put on women to be in romantic relationships.
“Mental clarity. It shifted my mindset. It was no longer a focus. The rush to be in a relationship, the rush to be married, the rush to be in something because that’s what you’re taught to do — to have kids or to procreate. There’s a lot of pressure on women to be able to do that,” Mýa said. “Why are we taught we have to be taken or made an honest woman?”
The “Best of Me” singer stressed that she believes self-love should be the ultimate goal for anyone, but especially for women.
“Love is beautiful, and I think the world always needs more of it, but I think you must start with yourself,” she shared. “I have to start with self always, versus expecting from other sources. It was just reconditioning. It’s something that was necessary, because it’s a very spiritual thing. You must be very selective if you want better results. That self-accountability started with me by shutting that part of my life off.”
Mýa performs at the Blavity Music Awards Celebration sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka at Academy LA on February 03, 2024 – Natasha Campos/Getty Images
As someone who’s been in the public eye for most of her life, Mýa also opened up about how being viewed as a sex symbol also shaped her desire to keep her love life private.
“You try to process all of that at an early age and then the aesthetic you may come with is totally opposite of who you actually really are and it intersects in your life when you’re trying to date or maybe taking photos with other celebrities and so it can get very tricky,” the “My Love Is Like…Wo” singer added.
She continued, “But I think a lot of things that are sacred should just remain private, for me until, of course, I’m solid and I’m ready and the foundation of us is together and even then it’s a risk. So I don’t really play with that part of my life publicly.”
Watch Mýa’s full appearance on Angela Yee’s Way Up below.
Mýa isn’t the only celebrity sharing their celibacy journey recently. In May, Lenny Kravitz opened up to The Guardian about his decision to be celibate while he awaits new love in his life.
Lenny explained that his tumultuous relationship with romance served as a major reason for his decision to be celibate.
The 60-year-old rock star told The Guardian that he’s struggled with the infidelity “curse” his father, Sy Kravitz, put on him. When he discovered that his father was cheating on his mother, actress Roxie Roker, Sy glibly told Lenny that he would end up doing the same thing.
“He became right. After the marriage, I became more like him. I was becoming a player,” Lenny said of his dating life after divorcing Lisa Bonet in 1993. “I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be that guy. So I had to tackle that and it took years.”
Lenny added that he took “responsibility” for his behavior and learned not to let his desires “take over.”
Lenny Kravitz celebrated his 60th birthday with his ex-wife Lisa Bonet and their daughter Zoe Kravitz. – Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
The course of action resulted in Lenny not being in a serious relationship for nine years. The Blue Electric Light singer has spoken about embracing celibacy for several years; he first mentioned abstaining from sex until marriage in 2008, saying he had not had sex in the previous three years.
“[It’s] just a promise I made until I get married. Where I’m at in life, the women have got to come with something else, not just the body, but the mind and spirit,” Lenny told Maxim in 2008. “It usually trips them out, but that’s the way it’s going to be. I’m looking at the big picture.”
But in 2011, he told Details that his remarks got “blown out of proportion.”
Now, the singer says he’s still practicing celibacy as he waits for the right partner. “It’s a spiritual thing,” he shared, adding that although he would “love” to be in a relationship now, he thinks he might struggle. “I have become very set in my ways, in the way I live.”
Earlier that month, Lenny sat down with CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King and opened up about how he’s ready for love now more than ever in his 60s.
“Right now, I’m just open,” he said of his love life, adding that he is always looking — which might be the problem. “When you desire something, you’re looking for it, right? But I find that when you don’t look is when you find it.”
He added, “I can say that I’ve never felt how I feel now.”
