By Jessica Thomas
It was a moment borne of dreams when Carrie Janell Hamner was hired at the age of 21 to be one of the Rockettes who make their home in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. The precision dance group is an American entertainment institution. Carrie was hired on the spot (a rarity in show business) to join the group and she performed as one of the high-kicking dancers there for seven years.
Before she danced beneath Broadways lights, the San Antonio, Texas, native attended Oklahoma City University for two years, and then became a cruise ship entertainer, a common step for professional dancers beginning their career. One of Hamner’s fellow dancers on the ship introduced her to Yoga, which she remembers as being difficult; especially when holding downward-facing dog pose, which required the upper body strength she did not possess as a dancer.
When Hamner sustained a minor back injury during an aerial performance on the ship, she visited to the doctor and was shocked to learn that she had polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic degenerative disease.
“I was accidentally diagnosed,” says Hamner. “It was a huge awakening to feel unstoppable at 21 and then be told that you have a disease for which there is no treatment and no cure.”
It was a turning point for Hamner, who became more conscious of her body’s health and balance. She began integrating Ayurveda into her Yoga practice in 2007 after being certified as a Yoga teacher at Sonic Yoga in New York City and in 2010 she completed an advanced Yoga and Ayurveda course with Mas Vidal at Dancing Shiva near The Grove in Los Angeles.
How has your dancing background influenced your yoga practice?
I started teaching dance when I was 13, so I’ve been teaching for a long time. Performing gave me the confidence it takes to teach yoga. Professional dance was so much about precision and discipline, especially being one of the Rockettes, one of 36 women who needed to conform and collaborate for uniform movement. Yoga is more creative. Being on stage, you can only see the people in the front row but with yoga I get to directly interact and give someone a hands-on experience for an hour and a half. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.
What makes Ayurvedic Yoga different?
All these lines are starting to blur for me between Yoga and Ayurveda and it is hard to pinpoint a style in my classes. You could call it a blend of Vinyasa flow and Hatha Yoga from an Ayurvedic perspective, which really just means we do a lot of breath work. I teach about the benefits of certain postures and go into tangents about the thyroid gland or the nervous system. I like to throw out a lot of information during classes. Ayurveda is an iceberg. Just the tip is going to bring you so much fulfillment; but the deeper you go the more you will get out of it.
What keeps you inspired?
My students. It’s all about them. They are the ones doing the work. When I am going through a hard time, I make the decision to just bring it to the practice and be open and vulnerable. It takes my teaching to another level. It is more honest and I am able to go a bit deeper.
What is the most healing asana for you?
Plow position. Halasana. Most days it is not comfortable for me but the intention of the practice is to learn from what is difficult. I will practice plow for five to ten minutes, not even going into a shoulder stand. There are so many benefits to it being a slight inversion and a forward fold at the same time.
What is in your playlist?
Krishna Das is always one of my favorites and I listen to KCRW and the independent artists they support. I like older artists like Otis Redding and adore Tony Khalife, a kirtan artist from Ojai who has so much truth in his music. Music is a must-have for me during my classes. I love music just as much as I love Yoga and create playlists based on the intention of the practice or the season.
What do you cook at home?
When I stopped eating meat it was a big learning experience. Considering I am from south Texas, my cooking had to transform a lot. At least one day a week I eat kitchari, an Ayurvedic detox food, and drink hot tea as the perfect balancing cleanse. I make the kitchari in a rice cooker, which is not traditional, and combine basmati rice with turmeric, an important herb in Ayurveda, cumin, coriander, Himalayan rock salt and ginger. You can add vegetables too. It is delicious and so good for you. People are always surprised that it is so tasty.
How are you dealing with PKD?
I felt so helpless at first but I have realized that being diagnosed with PKD is the best thing to happen to me. What I needed was to slow down and to listen to my body. It forced me to pay attention. I had doctors telling me there was nothing I could do, that I might eventually go through kidney failure, dialysis, maybe get an organ transplant; that I might not have children and all of that was not OK with me. I needed to feel empowered with my own health because I felt I had so much to do in this life. It is a common disease but there just isn’t awareness about it. That is why I talk about it openly.
Is dosha about diet or something more?
The first question an Aryuvedic practitioner asks during a consultation is, “What do you spend the majority of your time doing in your daily life?” Usually that is a person’s job. So the next question is, “How much do you love that job?” The thing that you spend the majority of your time doing is going to greatly dictate your overall health and wellbeing. There are tools in Aryuveda and Yoga to improve your lifestyle and health, but unless you change the thing that is not making you happy, Ayurveda is only going to take you so far.
On being a Pitta dosha:
I am learning to have compassion and love for myself. Being primarily a Pitta dosha constitution, I am fiery and can push myself to where I overdo it. I can get obsessive about things. I once asked my nutritionist friend, “I drink coffee. Is that bad? What should I do? Should I stop?” My friend smiled and told me, “Carrie, everything in moderation. Including moderation.” That is my favorite saying now and I use it all the time. I think that should be the Pitta motto. My biggest growing experience is learning how to soften, to take a step back, draw a deep breath and just be.
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Hamner loves being a Yoga teacher and cannot see herself doing anything else, although she admits that it is a challenging career choice. “It is just as competitive to be a Yoga teacher as it is to be an actor and a dancer,” says Hamner. She has presented four-hour Ayurveda workshops around the country and is planning more workshops in the coming year. Hamner currently teaches a Level 1 class at Liberation Yoga in Hollywood on Mondays at 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 P.M. and Thursday evenings at 6:00 P.M. She is also frequently found teaching around her Silverlake home. More information can be found at LiberationYoga.com and CarrieJanell.com.
