Life Update

The past seven months have been a whirlwind. From the beginning of this year, I have experienced things I never would have imagined, seen places I’ve only ever heard about, and created memories to last a lifetime. There have been many ups and downs, times where I didn’t even recognize myself and moments where I didn’t think I was strong enough to get through.These experiences to lead me to where I am now, creating a new path and vision for myself and others.

My biggest goal this year was to really experience what life has to offer and opportunities thrown my way, and trust me, I did. I started my career as a burlesque dancer in January and it has been a huge blessing and exploration for me. I have had so many opportunities already and have a great group of talented humans to continue helping me along this journey.  I also graduated from SWIHA with a 4.0 GPA, and moved to Alaska… It has been a journey.

Graduating from the Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching program with an emphasis in nutrition has been a huge blessing. I am very grateful for my education. It has always been something I wanted to pursue and now I have the ability to create specialized programs for individual dancers, as well as studios/companies (more on that coming soon!). With the support and knowledge, I am confident in creating a space that I believe will benefit the next generation of dancers. My goal now is to offer guidance to dancers to take their performance to the next level by focusing on their mindset, nutrition and recovery during training. This program will benefit the recreational dancer, as well as professionals of all ages. With school done, I was able to pursue another adventure for a few months, Alaska.

Moving to Alaska was one of the biggest risks I have taken this year, and by far the scariest move. I made the decision on a whim, and moved to the small town of Skagway to be a tour guide for the tourist season. I dropped all five jobs I was working at the time and packed everything I would need in three bags. I would be able to dance, make extra money, and give women’s history during the Klondike Gold Rush. After a very hard goodbye to my family and boyfriend, I arrived in Juneau. I knew I was in for a life changing experience from the beginning. I was met by a new life long friend, Brita. She showed me around her hometown, filled me in on the summer ahead and did a quick Costco run before we taking a seven hour ferry ride to Skagway. I am so grateful for her as she made the scary transition a little easier. Seeing the landscape from the ferry was unreal. I felt like I was in a water bottle label and coudnt’t stop looking at the mountains passing us by.

Life in Skagway was beautiful. A town of 800 year round residents, surrounded by nature and the gentle pace within town. Skagway is a port town, so during the summer cruise ships stop in for the day, creating the biggest economy; tourism. My job consisted of getting to tell the history of the historic Red Onion Brothel, now a museum and walking tours through the town. My coworkers were absolutely incredible. They are some of the best people I have ever met and made the job even more entertaining. Also, my employers were remarkable, working at the Red Onion was the most supportive and caring job I have ever had. Up until the end and even beyond I have felt the love and encouragement from them. It was a real blessing getting to experience Alaskan life, as it was something I never thought I would do. 

Despite all the beauty, love, and kindness that surrounded me, I fell into a very dark place both mentally and physically. I lost all motivation to exercise, take care of myself, even getting up in the morning was a huge task. I became unrecognizable to myself and even my parents became concerned, as they could hear it in my voice. I had a lot of time to think and it became apparent there were a lot of emotions from the past that I had not dealt with. Rather than numbing what I was feeling, which was something I was in fact doing, I decided to listen to my body and take steps to help myself.

After a couple months, I was struggling more than I ever had, and had to make the decision to come home to take care of myself. It was a very difficult decision but ultimately was the best one for me. I learned so much about myself, my goals and what I need to do in order to become the best me I can. I have started therapy, began exercising again, cooking and making my own food and I can already feel a difference after only three weeks. I would not change my experience for anything and I continue to feel the love of all the people who crossed my path. 

Coming home led me to make some big decisions; including leaving bartending which has been a huge part of my life for over five years. It also led me to reignite my passion for teaching dance and now I will be in a few different studios and schools, as well as continuing to build more wellness programs. I am so excited for what the rest of the year has in store. I have so many ideas, visions and programs that I am excited to continue working on. There’s going to be a lot more coming from myself and The Art of Wellness real soon! Keep your eyes peeled for new content coming your way… 

Xoxo