A little Jillian Introduction:

Hello there, I am Jillian Ardoin, Co-founder & Co-Owner of Live Love Relax.  And I would like to share a little bit more about me, my story and how I got to this place in my life. I want to tell you the Why and What that brought me from professionally trained dancer, gone dance teacher, to barista, to dance company founder, to non-profit board member, to healer and educator and to a newly proud momma.  And even more recently my new found love of the power of women and our strength in numbers in this 21st century on planet Earth.  If any of this interest you then keep on reading. I hope you might find just a little something that resonates with you.

Jessica Frey Photography

Jillian’s Story:

So I’ll be honest with you, I’m not the best writer and this whole blogging thing is extremely foreign to me.  Growing up I learned how to diagram sentences, not how to write from my heart and soul, while being grammatically correct, or making sure that it fits the 1500 word average for Google to index appropriately!  I graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance. So I’m very aesthetic with all that I do, and the way I am in the world. Over the years I’ve learned that I also prefer conversations, relationships & opportunities the one-on-one’s give me.  I find that to grow I need these. So, after reading, feel free to leave a comment below. Who knows, we might have something in common, or even meet up one day and learn something from one another. Ya know those one-on-one’s I previously mentioned.

Guess I’ll start with “Laissez les bons temps rouler ” – Let the good times roll!  This common phrase I heard a lot growing up in southwest Louisiana, where most days included about 80% humidity and the summers were hot with more humidity, so let’s just say it was a little sticky. And when it snowed, aka dusted the ground, the city closed down and we stayed home playing board games & watching VHS movies we had recorded from our favorite TV shows.

We really only had 1.5 seasons out of the year, Summer and a warm Spring, and they all included humidity.  But regardless of the season, this southern belle will always love a good thunderstorm in the middle of the summer.

I grew up in a small town with a small family, where we had lunch together on Sundays after church and my weekly afternoons were spent at the local dance studio.  I attended private Catholic school from K – 12th grade, so yes I experienced the uniform day in and day out. And yes I rarely wear plaid now for this reason, except around the Holidays if I’m feeling the look.

So when I was three my parents put me in dance class on a whim, something for me to try out. And before too long I was delving into my passion for this art form.  I cannot put into words my love for dance and what it and my late dance teacher have done for me as a person. For now, I’ll stick with the short story of how I started with a few techniques and loved them so much that I quickly jumped into all I could over the years, at my teacher’s discretion of course.

I was hooked, I loved it, and I was good at it! Dancing and moving my body made me feel good inside and out.  I entered competitions; some I won, most I did not. But I got to perform and make memories while growing into a young lady. But most of all I kept up my health, which I’m ever grateful for.

As I got older, Dance was my constant.  Moving from grade school to high school, I joined some elective groups and the dance team of course. Dance was always present, 4 days a week, 3-5 hours each day, taking and teaching weekly classes.  I approached each year with more desire and interest to be better and learn more. We were very competitive, probably a little too much at times, but it kept me moving forward.

Upon graduating from high school and moving onto the next step, college, I found myself at a point where I was not dancing much, but rather doing other normal life things a college student experiences.  It was then that I had my first “What am I doing with my life?” moment. Holding this question for myself led me back to dance and its position in my life. I researched just a few colleges with dance programs, and I guess you could say that I put all my eggs in one basket, at the University of Texas in Austin.  I auditioned, got accepted, then enrolled in their Theatre & Dance department. It was just close enough to home to drive back on weekends when needed, and far enough to stay away and start diving into me.

I was back at it, dancing 5 days a week; in the morning, afternoon and sometimes evenings too. It was hard and fun all at the same time, and I learned so much about relationships and started to tap into those communication skills.  I simultaneously took the time to figure out my general likes and dislikes, to question life, love, art, music and most of all movement! Yes, so much movement, it was a good time and I loved living in Austin in my 20’s.

After receiving my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from UT in Austin I stayed local for about a year, jumped back into teaching dance with a few studios around the area and picked up break-dancing.  I was just sailing along enjoying the ride, then a much-needed break-up happened and a dear friend asked me, “Do you want to move to California with us?”

Um yes, please!

I saw this as an opportunity to grow more as a person, a woman, and an individual.  Move to a bigger and scarier city that I didn’t know, to experience the unknown of my life as it unfolds before me…again yes! I was committed and excited but needed some funds and the “go ahead” from the parents.  My parents are amazing and support me with everything I want to do. They asked their questions, said their peace and provided what was needed to make my next dream come true.

I eventually made it to San Francisco with my dear friend where we got an apartment in the tenderloin of the city and worked as baristas.  It was sketchy for sure, and yet these two petite women made it out safely. We made our way around and through the nightclubs dancing our hearts out at night and working early mornings and long days.  It was at a cozy venue where we synced up with a small crew of very talented B-boys. We took our turn in the circle, showed our moves and that was that. We danced the night away, chatted it up a bit and by the end of the night we got an invite to practice with them down in front of the Gap, so we did.  It was exhilarating, fun and, it hurt. The concrete was not forgiving like the studio floor where I grew up training.

Weekly we put on shows and conjured up crowds, yet my body just would not yield to the concrete.  I incurred many injuries over that year and decided to pull away from the crew and continue with life as a barista in San Francisco and dance teacher in South San Francisco.  This went on until I had my second “what am I doing with my life?” moment. Except for this time it came out through tears and uncertainty. My dear friend helped me along and told me what I needed to hear to get my butt in gear to follow my heart and make the “move back home.”

So there I was back in Southwest Louisiana (SLWA) near my friends and family.  I made the adjustment from the metropolitan fast-paced city over to very slow-paced town where everybody knows your name.  Before I knew it I was teaching at my old dance studio and working as a barista. I spent my free time on my new project, putting on a local dance show.  This quickly turned into participating on the board of a non-profit organization, Poor Pony. Through this outlet, my dance company, Breathe, performed annually for a few years. We even initiated the annual Halloween Thriller pub-crawl dance performance.  It was great, Michael Jackson’s Thriller in the downtown streets of my home-town. I was part of a group that was giving back to the community in some way and it felt good.

I feel I truly accomplished my goal when I received a grant via the non-profit organization.  The grant allowed Breathe to perform on the exact same stage I grew up performing on as a little girl, the Rosa Hart Theatre.  Ah, a beautiful full circle.

In the time I had back home, I aimed for productivity, experiential, and doing more within my community.  Because before too long I was off to my next chapter.

This chapter initiated on a weekend visit to Austin, Texas where I received my first Rolfing Structural Integration session from Advance Rolfer Brian Beard.  Bless this man. He had already been working with my parents over the past few years, which is a backstory for a coffee date. And because I was coming up on completing my massage licensing in Louisiana they suggested I get a session from him, and boy was I glad I did!

PSA: If you get anything out of reading my Story, please do yourself a favor and go find a Rolfer nearest to you and get a session immediately.  It can be a life-changing experience. This work is amazing. Please keep an eye out for my next blog on Rolfing SI

I had found the topic for my next chapter, Rolfing SI Certification. This journey led me and my massage therapy licensed self to the beautiful state of Colorado.  This place had 4 yummy seasons, continuing ed classes for my new found career and as the Universe were to have it the honor of syncing up with my soul mate, Oscar Alejandro Ruiz.

Read “Our Story” for more.

Side-note, I had recently found him in a dream just a few weeks before I met him in real-life; yeah I’m aware that sounds strange and a little weird, but it’s true.  

Boulder Colorado brought me a renewed sense of myself as a woman in this world, outside of my connection to Dance. It introduced me to The Rolfing Institute of Structural Integration, thank you Ida P Rolf.  I became a certified Rolfer, found the love of my life and began a private practice in Boulder and back home in SWLA.  We took road trips, went camping, enjoyed hot springs and danced as much as we could all the while taking care of each other through our relationship and individual “growth spurts.”

Additionally, the community of supportive women I fell into helped me highlight the most beautiful things about my soul that had been hidden for so long. How to be proud of these attributes, enjoy them and never ever apologize for any of them! They also carried me through my first pregnancy, pre & post and showed me the possibilities of having loving and positive relationships with other strong women.   My next project is to have a diverse community of strong and supportive women here in the Austin area –email me if interested.

Y’all I am a Momma & I love it!  If you are one you know that there are just no words, but here are 3 – Priceless, Difficult, Rewarding.  Birth blog post coming soon.

The journey of being a parent in this world and economy has totally changed my perspective on almost everything.  I have learned to be more patient and present with myself and my partner on a daily basis. I try to practice the unconditional presence of remembering that I do not know what others are going through and to just be nice regardless.  This is one of the ways I want to be in the world.

Another Full Circle, another deep exhalation, and I am back in Austin, Texas.  I have the loves of my life with me, my family nearby and a community I feel at home in.  I look forward to participating in this community at large, working with new clients and meeting awesome, quirky, outrageous, quiet and like-minded people who also want to grow and share.

Well, that was a short story of how I got back to Austin, Texas.  I hope you were able to feel something in your body or mind. Mainly, I hope you know you have the power to do something different today that marks the first step in the journey of getting closer to the person that you want to be.  It will probably be difficult, but it will be rewarding and priceless.

Good luck in finding you!

Thanks for reading.

Keep Breathing ?

Jillian