The Wonders of Epson Salt

After a long day or a long week the best thing ever is to relax in a nice hot bubble bath! When I make my bubble baths I put lavender everything. Lavender Scented bubble bath and lavender epson salt. It is very relaxing especially if you have candles and can just soak for a while. The thing about epson salt is it not only makes your bath smell nice it is actually used for sore muscles and gives you a better nights sleep. After dancing  your little heart out all the time it is very important to give your self a relaxing break pretty often or your body will always be sore and tired. That will not help your dancing and ultimately make you feel like crap. So remember on your days off t treat your self! You deserve it! Here is what I like to do on my one day off.

I like to go out to brunch with my friends. We usually go to the Eating Establishment or No Worries. Both of these places are in Park City and are really good. Breakfast food is defiantly a happy food! I also like to get my nails done or occasionally get a massage. I just like spa like things. I don't really ever want to do something that exciting because I am so tired and after all it is the day of rest. I also do some homework, online shop  and watch Netflix. Netflix is possibly the love of my life (next to online shopping of corse.) I have seen Every romantic comedy n there not to mention binge watching Friends and Gossip Girl. My proudest achievements are watching 10 seasons of friends in 20 days and watching 125 episode of Gossip Girl in 21 days. :) But back to my day off it usually has a lot of lounging around and eating sometimes I never even get out of my PJs. (Which is just what the doctors ordered). And then to end the day I top it off with a nice bubble bath. I love to dance with all my heart but man do I love my days off too. What ever you do on your day off make sure your enjoying it you only get so many! Next time taking a bubble bath with magic epson salts I promise you will love it!

Photo by Me

How to Stretch not Strain

When stretching it can seem like the only way to get extremely flexible is to go to town and stretch as hard as you can. However this can be counterintuitive because i you strain a muscle it will far less flexible than before. You see, your muscles are like rubber bands. It is important to not let a rubber band sit to long or when you try to stretch it out it will be crusty and just snap but, if you stretch it too much it will loose its elasticity. The balance between the to is key and not really that hard to do. Next time you stretch keep these things in mind. There are tools you can use to help. I you are stretching your feet get a Theraband! Do this a lot to strengthen you feet.


Don't over work one area.
I you do to many reps of something you can pull something remember to only do sets of 15 or 20 and only to repeat then up to 4 times. This will prevent you from overusing a muscle making you extremely sore.

Even out your body.
If you stretch one side do the other swell if you don't your body will feel lopsided and it will not be beneficial. Also do not focus all your stretching into one area because then your body won't look good. If your legs are flexible but you hips or back are not it will not make much of a difference from before.

Take breaks.
I you take a quick break in between stretches it will help keep you going long while not getting as sore the next day. A good way to do this is Stretch during commercial breaks. This way you have 2 or 3 minuets of stretching followed by 10 or 15 minuets of relaxation.

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Finally, Don't push yourself to hard.
Yes, you always want to push yourself, but know you limits. Do not force something that you can not do. Baby steps is the way to go. You will not gain anything but pain from taking it to far to fast.

I you keep these in mind while stretching you will see a increase in flexibility throughout your dancing soon! Be patient and always keep practicing. If you stretch every night you will make progress in no time! Always remember to warm up and cool down before and after stretching. Stay sea and have fun! See you next week.

Nutcracker recovery

After a long 4 days with 8 shows I am as tried as can be but the next morning at 8 Am I got on a plane and went to Minnesota. It has been 6 days since nutcracker and I am still recovering. I have been sleeping until 1 pm then at 3 I take a nap and then go to bed at 11. I guess you can say my sleeping squeal is pretty messed up. It has been pretty rough since I am not home and I can't recover how I normally would, so I thought I would share some ways I relax after performance weeks. Oh, and by the way I hope your holidays were wonderful and not full of to much nutcracker music. I got a turn board! The best way to recover is pretty different than you would think. First you should get a normal amount of sleep. (not what I did...) Then have one day to relax. I like to take a bubble bath and try to get all my make up off but chances are the eyelash glue will be stuck for months.Washing your face and hair a lot is good because they will probably be pretty ruined from all the harsh make up and hairspray. I also love watching gossip girl and drinking lemon tea.(This is pretty much what I look like.)

Photo by Sunny-Rainy-Day

You should also eat healthy because it will help you not feel like crap.  Then a pretty important step is that after your one day you should exercise. Not super hard core, and doing something other than dancing really helps to not make your muscles sore. Some fun things you can do are hiking or even just walking around. It is better to do something outside because chances are if your show schedules are like mine you will have not seen the sun for 4 days. After this you can pretty much return to your daily routine with out feeling very tired but as I learned this break if you just sleep and never do anything it makes it so much worse. Happy recovering everyone!