This video is part of our My Mantra series. Follow along with new videos on our Instagram page and share your own words of wisdom using #MantraMonday.
Julianne Hough knows what it means to work hard. A dancer, singer and actress, Hough's work ethic allows for minimal downtime. But lately, the Dancing With the Stars pro has focused her energy on staying in the moment. Hough sat down with Health (check out the video above!) to share the motto that she relies on to get her through every day.
“I would say my mantra is to acknowledge and honor the feeling in the present moment and actually go through it rather than suppress it and go around it,” she tells Health.
This year more than others, living in the moment has been more of a challenge, Hough shares.
“It definitely changed this year because I am a very hardworking, competitive, driven person that can just push through anything and have the willpower to do it. But that's not healthy,” she says. “So I just really learned this year it's about acknowledging, honoring those feelings, sitting in it for a minute and going through it instead of going around it or suppressing it. We've got enough suppression to deal with, so don't want to do it internally.”
Her mantra especially applies to her struggle with endometriosis, which she’s been dealing with for more than a decade. Hough was diagnosed with the condition in 2008 and has been speaking out about the lack of research and awareness there is when it comes to endometriosis, which typically causes pelvic pain and strikes one in 10 women of reproductive age.
“It's definitely my mission to let women know that they can speak endo, they can get information, they can feel educated and empowered by having a name and being diagnosed versus just sucking it up and going through debilitating pain that they don't need to go through,” she says. “And especially not alone.”
One of her biggest coping mechanisms is to lean on the support she gets from her husband, Brooks Laich.
“When I first started talking about it with Brooks, it was really because I was having one of my episodes where it was so painful and debilitating that I literally could not even speak,” says Hough. “I would basically say 'hang on one second,' and be breathing. And he was like, What is happening? I just want to help you—which is actually another part of this, which is not only does it help the people that have endometriosis, but it's for the people that are around you, too. Your family, your friends that you feel understood and that they actually understand you because there's dialogue for it now. And that's huge.”
Her mantra's focus on being in the moment has also helped her overcome adversity in general.
“That [mantra] was so big for me because I had a lot of big moments where usually in situations I would just be positive, and work through it, and I would actually let myself feel sad,” says Hough. “And work through it instead of just going on with my day pretending like nothing happened."
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