Ayurveda & Self-Care - Part 2

Well these past 2 weeks with my daily Dinacharya - or daily routine - has gone pretty well. I will admit that some mornings were harder than others, especially if I went to bed later than I had hoped. But I persevered! Every night I would set up my clothes, water and bag for the next morning, and then every morning I would do my morning ritual:

1. Wake up and drink a glass of room temperature water
2. Go to the bathroom
3. Wash my face
4. Scrape my tongue
5. Brush my teeth
6. Put in contacts (I learned that after the 1st time I tried this. It is MUCH better to put in contacts BEFORE applying the oil...duh!)
7. Moisturize my face
8. Apply my dosha oil all over my body

This simple change to my morning has really helped me start my day in a more positive light! Now, I will admit that throughout the day, people can and did get on my nerves. There were some days when I was pretty angry and depressed as the day dragged on - BUT I feel like I was able to get out of that funk much quicker than I had before! So that made me happy! Also, I never started my day in a bad mood because of this extra "me time" that I started my day with. I plan to continue this daily routine for the rest of my life! I am running EXTREMELY low on my oil. I did order some more but it still wont get here for a few more days. So lately I have been using just a drop or 2 for each limb, trying to make it last until my order arrives. 

I gave myself 2 weeks to practice this Dinacharya because that was what was required for my homework for my Ayurvedic training. I took a picture of myself before, after 2 days of Dinacharya, and now a picture after 2 weeks.

Before

2 days in

After 2 weeks

Okay, honestly, I can't really, really see a big difference. But I do think that my skin in my 2 week picture has a little more glow and it isn't as pink. Which may signify that I am slowly getting my Pitta Dosha (fire-y personality) on track, so I am not as high strung and red-faced. I do feel better and my skin feels softer and as long as I feel good, that is all that really counts right? 😉

Dancing for Self-Care

Another thing that I have adapted is doing something just for me - something that I think I shouldn't do but want to do. I have been trying to be conservative with spending money. I have not been to a dance technique class in years and my creative side REALLY wants to start taking at least one class a week.  But I feel guilty about spending the $20-25 on a dance class, when I should save that $$ for groceries or something. But in reality, we can afford this, so I don't know why I am stressing!

So this past Friday, my friends Anthony and Erech, came with me to a Ballet class and it was awesome! Anthony and Erech are performing with me in the Rockaway Cafe show in November, and there is A LOT of dancing in it. So we banded together and decided to take dance classes on days we don't have rehearsal to stay in shape and because Hey! It's fun!

We went to Ballet Arts and took Richard Marsden's Beginner Ballet class and hoo baby! It was a tough one! I have not been to ballet class in over a year and I felt muscles that I forgot I had! But the boys and I had a great time! We laughed, we twirled, we jumped, but most of all - we SWEAT! The next morning all 3 of us had tight calves and hamstrings, but it was a good pain! We are going to keep this going and have invited more friends to join us this week for a Beginner Jazz class at Broadway Dance Center.

Anthony, Erech, and I before Ballet Class! Bright eyed and bushy tailed

Anthony, Erech, and I after Ballet Class! Exhausted and oh so sweaty!

To sum up, these past two weeks have been great! Even when I am down, my morning routine and my dance classes are little treats that I give myself that make me happy. It is hard to remember that it is okay to splurge a little if it gives you a little more joy, but I am working on it! So if you are reading this, I encourage you to find a little something that will give you a little more joy to your week and go do it! ❤

Namaste!

Ayurveda & Self-Care

This summer has been rather slow for me. Which is extremely odd... Usually I am involved in at least 3 projects - usually performing of some kind. But this summer, I found myself trying to figure out what to do with my life. Oh, I also turned 30, which actually wasn't that big of a deal to me, but it did make me reflect on my current life and also my future life. (I did throw an awesome Harry Potter themed birthday party and had a BLAST!)

My Hagrid birthday cake was a surprise from my husband. Can you tell I was surprised???

But I found myself in a funk...and not the cool "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, but the "I'm-Bored-And-What-Do-I-Do-With-My-Life" kind of funk.

On a side note: Can we just talk about how awesome Bruno's choreographer is??? Such simple choreography but so awesome and perfect!!! Another one is his Lazy Song...love the choreo!!!

3 Things That Got Me Funky:

1. My teaching schedule slowed WAAAAYYYYYY down. Due to the studio's change in scheduling and my scheduling issues, I went from teaching 4-5 classes in a week to only 1.
2. My husband started Graduate School - so major FOMO started happening
3. The dance companies I performed with kind of disbanded and there weren't any community theatre shows that I could be involved in.

When I am not busy, I think it gives me too much time to think. Too much time to scroll through Facebook and Instagram and seeing all my friends with amazing careers, houses, and new families. It tends to get me a little down, even though I KNOW that there is still plenty of time for all of that for me. Believe me! I KNOW! I get it, I understand, I know, I know, I know...but I still can't help but feel shitty. (Insert poop Emoji here)

The official image of "Blah"

Getting Out of My Funk

I needed to get out of my funk. So I started think of ways I can be more positive and of things I can actively do to change my situation.

1. Substitute Yoga Teacher - Okay so I am not a regularly scheduled teacher at the moment - I am however, a substitute teacher at my studio and have applied to many other studios as well. I actually am averaging about 1-2 classes a week now, and I have more flexibility to take time off if I need to. Which is actually really good for me at this time! I am able to hang out with my friends more and spend time with myself, my husband and my pug, Phoebe! 
2. 300hr Yoga Teacher Training - Since my hubby started Grad. School, I have been feeling the hunger to be in school too. But I also wanted to take some "me time." And what better way to do that than to study Yoga?! I just completed one of my first courses which was a weekend of Ayurveda. It was fantastic!! More on that in a little bit!!
3. Dance - I decided that if I wasn't in a show, I needed to exercise my performing arts muscle, so I decided to take my butt back to dance class! BUT! Before I actually signed up, 2 of my choreographer friends emailed me about some projects they are working on this fall and asked me to dance with them! Hooray!! Just knowing that I have rehearsals coming up in the next few weeks as really boosted my mood! I am still going to enroll in dance class...I just need to wait for my next pay day! :)

So all of these things have really helped my mood. But also what really inspired and helped me was my Ayurveda Yoga Training that I completed yesterday.

Ayurveda & Self Care

So the thing about Ayurveda (without going into too much detail because after awhile, your head starts to spin!) is that it is all about balancing your energy levels. And these levels can change with the seasons, time of day, the food you eat, and your sleep schedule. Have you ever noticed if you are especially grumpy and depressed in the winter? Or overly energized and spacey in autumn? This occurs with different imbalances in your Dosha - or personality/energy. 

So in my case, I tend to put other peoples' needs before my own. I make excuses for other people's rude behaviors. I am also very headstrong and I like to be in charge, like a Type-A personality. Sometimes I work and do a million things for a few months and then I spend 2 weeks on my couch doing nothing at all but binge watching Netflix and taking naps with Phoebe!

Oh so much Kapha going on here....

At times I can get very annoyed with people (usually during the cold weather and gloomy days) and I feel pure Hulk-like rage burning inside me, and I hate everyone and everything! Strange for a yoga teacher right? Aren't we supposed to be the most zen-ed out people? You would think that right? But most of us are nuts! That is why Yoga is called a "practice" because we are constantly working on it :) 

But any hoo, I found out I have a Pitta-Kapha Dosha. The Pitta is my motivated, take charge, Type-A personality side, and the Kapha is my grounded, nurturing, and sometimes lazy side. Whenever I feel my blood boil, I have too much Pitta going on! And I need to slow down, breathe, eat cooling foods and maybe take a restorative yoga class to help balance that out. Whenever, I get a little depressed, heavy, sad and lazy, I have too much Kapha. And to help balance this out I need to take some "me time" and most of all, NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT! Also it helps to do something fun and just for me, like take that dance class I have been putting off, or the energizing power yoga class, and eat some spicier foods. 

Ideally, the Ayurvedic diet is vegetarian and organic. Also, it is very specific and I am still trying to wrap my head around it. I also am fully fueled by pizza so it is going to take a lot of time and effort for me to change my dietary habits. But as my teachers Ali Cramer and Dana Slamp said, "Even one change can make the world of difference!" So I decided to adapt Dinacharya, or a daily routine to my mornings. This routine gives me a little extra time to slow down in the mornings (helps keep my Pitta in check) and also allows me to put myself first (helps keep my Kapha in check). Luckily, it is pretty easy to adapt these to the morning routine I already do. But I now have more awareness to how I am feeling while I do it!

Ashley's Dinacharya

1. Drink Water - First thing I do when I wake up is drink a glass of room temperature water that I set up the night before "to get the juices flowing" so-to-speak
2. Go To The Bathroom - pretty self explanatory....
3. Wash My Face - I have never washed my face in the morning. I usually take showers at night and wash it then, but I was surprised to find how refreshed I feel after washing my facing and then applying a gentle moisturizer.
4. Scrape Tongue - I bought a tongue scraper from Walgreens for $8 (pack of 2). I scrape my tongue 9 times to get coating that forms overnight off and I feel super clean afterwards
5. Brush My Teeth - again pretty self explanatory
6. Blow My Nose - It is recommended to use a Neti-Pot, but that weirds me out at the moment. So right now I blow my nose to get all of the "stuff" out so I can start fresh!
7. Oil - The last step I do is take oil and massage it into my feet, legs, stomach, arms, chest and neck. Not too much but enough to help me feel moisturized. This is really good to do after a shower or bath. I usually bathe at night, so I apply the oil a little bit heavier at night, than I do in the morning. The oil is specific to my Dosha - Almond oil with Frankincense and Geranium essential oils. 

**There are more things to do like, oil pulling and eye washes, but I chose to do the things I know I will be able to keep up consistently

I have only done this for 2 mornings and so far I feel amazing!! It only takes me 20 minutes to do in the morning and that includes getting dressed! Just taking a little bit of time for myself and allowing myself to slow down is wonderful for me! Especially living in NYC where everyone is rushing and the first thing I do is get on the crowded subway to go to work and everyone's tensions are high!

I plan to keep up my Dinacharya for my whole life. I know some days I may not have time, but I am promising myself to always try to make time for myself at some point during the day if I miss my morning routine. Ayurveda is quite fascinating to me and it is so interesting how simple and yet complicated it is. There is a fantastic website called Banyan Botanicals, where, if you are interested, you can take a free survey that will help determine your specific Dosha. Then according to your results, it will suggest foods, oils, spices, etc. that may be beneficial to you! 

For my own amusement, I am going to check in two weeks and see if anything has changed as far as my skin, mood, digestion etc. When I am stressed or sad, I feel like I carry it a lot in my face, I feel dry, wrinkly and tight.

Here is my "before" picture from a few months ago:

No make up, a little rosy and slightly dull skin

I took this picture of my face on Day 2 of my Dinacharya: 

No makeup and a little less pink, a little more under-the-skin-glow

I can't really tell if my face is changing, or if its the lighting, or if I just think I look "glowy-er" because I feel better about myself! Who really cares, as long as I am happy and healthy right?? But I am excited to see if my face changes even slightly for Day 14! Now that I may be starting dance rehearsals soon, it will be very beneficial to keep my morning routine going. It is a small task but I already feel the affects! Hopefully, if you are feeling off maybe the links I have included in the blog can help you find at least one thing that you can do everyday to feel better about yourself! It doesn't have to be huge! Something as small as taking a big inhale and exhale everyday at 10am can do wonders!!

So until next time! Namaste!

A Chorus Line!

Hello! Long time - no blog! I have really been lacking on the blogging lately and I apologize. But the good news is that I have been busy rehearsing a new show and teaching yoga! So a lot of my "blogging time" has been taken up with studying music, scripts, choreography, writing lesson plans and making up playlists! But in a few weeks things should slow down.. maybe... I am really excited to perform this show which is a little special to me and here is why...

Me and A Chorus Line: an Epic Journey... (to me anyways)

In the fall of 2006, the Theatre and Dance Department at Missouri State University was putting on a production of A Chorus Line. They held auditions at the end of the spring semester so they could start rehearsing the show right when school started back up in the fall. I was a freshman at the time of the auditions. And I was extremely nervous! I was a Dance Performance major and I thought: "Hey! This IS a dance show for dancers, so why not audition?" Plus I was in a little choir in middle school call Dee's Dreamers (we were terrible btw...) so I can sing on pitch...just not well. But I thought "What the hell? I will audition and see what happens." 

I was 1 of 2 dance majors that auditioned for this show. At the time, or at least what I was told, dance majors didn't audition for the musicals because: 

1. We can't sing...and talking? Forget about it! (which is actually a big theme in this musical....interesting...)
2. Dance majors had student choreography dance concerts to workshop and perform at the end of the semester, so they were a little busy.

But I have always loved to perform! When I was in elementary school, I used to write short sketches and plays. Then I would perform one woman shows for my parents. Sometimes, I would get the kids at my summer camp involved in my plays, and we would perform for the camp counselors and other kids. Not to mention all the choreography I would make up in my bedroom - mostly dance numbers to the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Will Smith - and afterwards, I would teach the dances to my 4 year old sister and again, perform these routines for my parents. Oh God bless my parents and their patience! So you can say I had a "flare for the dramatics." (Direct quote from my Grandma).

But anyways, I was super scared to sing for my audition. At this university, the singing auditions were always before the dance auditions. I knew I would get cut right away. This theory has been confirmed from past experience. I was really bummed because I KNEW I could dance the heck out of this show and I didn't want to be cut before I could show the directors what I could do. When the auditions were finally announced, it was like an answer to my prayers! The dance call was first! 

Cue gospel choir

Okay! I got this! I was ready! And I nailed the dance audition! I danced my heart out! I kicked, twirled, shook my hips, popped my head, and left everything I had on the dance floor! I remember feeling super confident and in my element. It was so freeing and fantastic! I felt like Cassie in her "Music and the Mirror" dance solo! AND I got the callback! Which meant that now I had to sing...

I was shaking in my little dance shoes. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I remember sitting outside the little music room where the singing audition was taking place and listening to these singers go into the room and belt out these powerhouse songs. The other auditioners waiting in the hall with me were all laughing, talking, and vocally warming up by doing those siren exercises. You could definitely tell that this was THEIR element and I didn't stand a chance! At one point, this girl came down the hall. She was a senior who was graduating, and she went up to this guy about to audition and gave him warm apple juice to help warm up and lubricate his throat. "I have to take care of my babies!" she said. And I was thinking "Damn! I just drank water out of the water fountain like an idiot!" I didn't know that you had to drink a special concoction before you sang!

Actual photo of me from that day...

It was finally my turn to sing. When they called my name my throat immediately tightened. I had this thing for a few years where I would get so nervous before singing that my throat would get a lump in it. You know the painful lump you get right before you are about to cry, but you try really hard not to? Yeah that's the one. I gave the accompanist my music, which was "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (my FAVORITE Disney Movie). The sad part was that I was so nervous that I did not sing well at all. My voice cracked and I sang way too fast. I think the accompanist even stopped playing for a second so she could catch up to me. I was hoping that this would be an easy song to sing because I knew it by heart and I usually ROCKED at this song while singing in my shower. But singing in front of an audience is a different story. I finally got through the longest 3 minutes of my life, and I knew that I did the best that I could and all I could do now was wait. 

I believe there was another round of callbacks after the singing, but I didn't get one. "Oh well, I guess that dream is over," I thought. They posted the cast list at 11pm the next night. My dance friend who auditioned with me (she unfortunately was cut after the dance call), urged me to go look at the cast list after our dance rehearsal let out. I knew I didn't get it, so I didn't know what the point was to walk all the way across campus just to see that my name was not on the list. Plus I was sleepy...it was 11pm people! Way past my bedtime. But we ended up going to check it out. I looked at the list, and there I was!! Ashley Ann Hendrix as Betty-the-dancer-who-gets-cut-after-the-opening-number! WHAT!!??!!! I was so excited! I made it in the cast and I couldn't wait to get started!

Me warming up before the show...and striking a pose...

Over the summer break the choreographer learned the show's original choreography from Mitzi Hamilton. Mitzi is the lady whose real-life story is Val's character in the play. Val is the character that sings about getting plastic surgery on her chest and buttocks. But Mitzi made it very clear that she only had plastic surgery on her boobs, not her butt. So just make note of that because she is very proud of her natural butt!

Mitzi Hamilton - Real butt, Enhanced boobs

The choreographer asked me and one other girl to be dance captains for the show. So even though I was only on stage for the opening number, I was still at every rehearsal, learning choreography and teaching it to the actors during breaks or outside of rehearsal. And I loved it! The nights were long but I knew this show inside and out! I also really liked being able to help the other actors and help polish the show.

The Chorus Line rejects.
While the cast was getting ready for the show, we made our own signature "Line" poses.
Our poses have way more pizzazz!

Now during this time, one of my classes during the fall semester was Theatre 151 which was an Intro to Theatre Tech class. One of the credits for this class was a lab credit and we were required to work backstage for one of the department's shows. For example, running sound, lights, checking out costumes, etc. In the lecture part of this class, there was this guy, Geo Jones, who was an Acting major and he was super hot and funny! But way too popular and cool for a nerd like me. We would say "hello" to each other, but there wasn't a whole lot of interaction between us. When we started dress rehearsals for A Chorus Line, I found out that Geo was working in the costume shop for his lab credit. We started to hang out during dress rehearsals and performances.

Each night, I would perform the opening number (and I gave extra oomph because Geo was watching from the wings), and after I got "cut" Geo and I would hang out backstage. We would flirt, joke around, laugh, take a break whenever I would have to sing off-stage during the chorus parts, and then we would pick up where we left off. It was a flirty "showmance" and it was fun. But that was all it was...or so I thought...

After the show closed, I didn't expect to really hang out with Geo anymore. I thought we had a lot of fun flirting but I really didn't think that he would be interested in me because again, he was way too popular and cool to want to date me. He had a lot of friends and went to parties. I did not. I had friends, but not a huge group that I regularly hung out with. I also did not go to parties, because Hello! I had school and homework! I was a nerd, remember? But one day after our Theatre 151 class, we walked together to the campus shuttle bus in the freezing rain, and he asked me out! I seriously almost turned him down because I just didn't think I was cool enough. (I guess you could say that I had some confidence issues back then... I am much better now!)  But something told me to say yes, so I did. I mean there was no reason not to! I don't know why I was so hesitant. He was a nice guy, he made me laugh, and he was hot! So what is stopping me from seeing where this date goes? God! Live a little Ashley!

This pic was taken from a photo booth at a movie theater.
One of our first dates!

So we went out and I liked him a lot!! We really clicked. We had the same sense of humor, the same values, and the same people annoyed us...you know, all the important things that fuels every relationship! It was just great and we were great together! 2 years later he asked me to marry him and 1.5 years after that we got married! And now 11 years later, I am doing A Chorus Line again only this time I finally made it on the line as Judy Turner and Geo, my husband, gets to watch me from the audience rather than from the wings!

A couple things have changed since then, other than my last name :) I no longer think my husband is too cool for me. We are equally cool and yet at the same time, nerdy people. In fact, we are pretty much all-around bad-asses! Geo has boosted my confidence with acting and singing and encouraged me to take voice lessons to learn how to use and support my voice. Those lessons helped a lot! I still get very nervous when singing at auditions, but I no longer get the lump in my throat or want to die anymore! So big improvement there! But a few things are still the same: we still have the same sense of humor, the same values, and the same people still annoy us! Ahhhh True Love!!

The many faces of Judy Turner
A Chorus Line 2017
Photo Credit: Rob Mintzes

And next Friday, on March 24th, 2017, we open A Chorus Line at The Rockaway Theatre Company! I am ecstatic and I can't wait! Judy Turner is such a fun and quirky role! There are so many similarities between me and Judy. It has been such a blast to explore and play with this character. It is so neat to look back and see how far I have come. I did not realize that this show was such an important piece of my life until now. A Chorus Line made me want to explore acting and singing even further and it sparked a "showmance" between me and Geo that turned into a true romance. And I am extremely grateful for everything!!

Mr. & Mrs. Jones 2010