Today was the 15th show, I have been enjoying this so much. I’ve been able to really talk to other dancers in each city and get to know many of them in ways I would not have during the whirlwind tours of the past. Each night is like a festival to me I really look forward to every show and connecting to dancers in more meaningful ways.

One of the questions many dancers have asked me is how do I stay healthy while touring, what is my “tour diet” well, actually… what I’ve had to figure out the hard way was (how to stay healthy while touring?). When I am at home it’s easy to follow my diet and heath pattern because I can just hop over to a farmers market anytime and am not exposed to public germ pits such as Airlines, public restrooms, hotel anything especially breakfast buffets, drastic temp and climate changes, lack of sleep, and the term coined on tour “The bus plague” when one of us gets the flu eventually we all do! So anyway after all the wrong ways of going about it I finally trusted my intuition and past health education and figured out how I could survive tour life.

Before now I would loose the battle by the end of the first week. And now I’ve had to create a diet high in fruits and veggies, avoid all meat or if no other option a can of Wild caught Salmon, adding full spectrum supplements (sea veggies, Bluegreen and or red alge) Whole food supplements, no alcohol and lots of organic juice and clean water, and reduce my coffee intake to 1 cup rather than 4, also doing my best to have the main meal before 5pm has done wonders for my energy and sleep patterns.

In previous tours I went about it much differently I used to have wine to ease a sore back, and the end of the show to relax, or for high stress levels, or (insert stupid excuse here) only to end up feeling horrible then next show, and then the next, and the next until I felt worse than ever. My skin looked like hell too, due to the alcohol, rough sleep patterns, high amounts of coffee, and one of the worse crimes to the skin (outside of smoking), I was not drinking enough water. Also, I rarely did any kind of daily workout outside of the show, sometimes I would get the momentum going but after a few nights of 4 hours of sleep, I’d loose it altogether only to end up getting the bus plague due to my taxed immune system and quit working out at all. I headed downhill fast and needed a month to recover after getting back home.

So now, napping whenever possible along with a wise diet plan, absolutely no alcohol, and forcing myself into the hotel gym for 40 min or more if alloted of cardio and or yoga, or if weather permits a healing run in a strange new city with a fellow dancer, drinking tons of juice and water and paying close attention to sore muscles I’ve managed to actually be healthier on tour than I am at home. This (healthier on tour) thing seemed quite impossible to me a few years ago, now I just feel lame for not doing it sooner. I really did know better, I needed to practice what I was preaching. My improved health has me inspired to keep this up when I am home and feel even better than I do now!

Finally on the right track, I am thankful that I am having the time of my life doing what I love and worked so hard to achieve. I’ve learned that if I am going to use my body to do what I love I have to love my body and treat it right, because our body really is our temple, How do you want your soul to feel in this life? I asked myself Why on earth would I want to cut doing what I love in this lifetime short by making bad/stupid choices?! So, I fixed it and it is paying off nearly right away.

I hope that this not only answers questions asked recently but also advises dancers with the same passion for dance and wanderlust as I.
Just try to think ahead for every action you take that involves your health, and ask yourself what it will cost you in the long run, if your dream is the price then JUST simply change your focus to what you could do now that would make you perform better tomorrow in every aspect? and “Just do it” haha .
Deep down everyone of us knows how to feel good long term.

Effort is the toughest part of the reward, and the reward is always worth the effort!!