Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Janelle Hacault. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Janelle , thank you so much for making time for us today. We’re excited to discuss a handful of topics with you, but perhaps the most important one is around decision making. The ability to make decisions is a key requirement for anyone who wants to make a difference and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your decision-making skills.
Growing up as a people-pleaser, I found myself in my 30s looking to other people’s advice and stories to dictate what I would do. It was a clear path in my patterns to be presented with an opportunity to make a decision and then quickly look beyond myself for the answer. The root of that behaviour? Perfectionism. I didn’t want to get the answer wrong. I didn’t want to fail. I trusted other people more than I trusted myself. There were a handful of times that I’d feel a calling over my life and I’d act on it regardless of the opinions of others… but that was rare. It was when I was struggling with my marriage that I didn’t go to friends, therapists or family for answers. A life-coach appeared in my social media and through her, I began my journey in meditation. Through focusing on my own energy, my body, and my breath, I began to listen to my body’s signals. Then, when the pandemic hit, I decided to train as a coach based in somatic practices. Being a dancer, this felt aligned with my artistic/body-based lifestyle. In that intense year of intentional training, I learned to hold space for myself. I finally committed time to honour what my intuition, what my body, and what my instincts knew all along. I now have tools of visualization, somatic processing, and mind-body exercises I lean on to guide me to decisions that align with who I am and not with what others expect of me or even what “idea” I have of myself. Sometimes the messages are surprising but I’m learning to lean into my authentic self and trust my own path. More recently, I was introduced to Human Design and learned what my energy type is. This modality has taught me that my intuition, the initial small voice, is the key to my personal design of decision making. Now, I slow down and ask myself what I truly want and, as best as I can, base my decisions on that. Sometimes I still go with the flow of other people’s desires but now at least, it’s a conscious awareness that I’m doing that rather than it be my default. I train listening to my inner voice by experimenting following through with the small decisions but listening to my body to make it. “What do I want to wear today?” or “Which milk brand will I buy”, I listen to my initial gut feeling and then go with it. If I can follow through with the small decisions then I trust when the time comes, I’ll be equipped and prepared to do so with the big life decisions.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a professional contemporary dancer based in Montréal, QC. Throughout my 12+ year career, I have travelled the world performing in concert halls, stadiums, cruise ships, on television, and in film. I have worked with established companies, circus companies, musical theatre productions, in festivals, and with emerging independent artists, as well as created my own works. My love for collaborative creation processes runs deep and my new passion is reconstructing how leadership looks in the dance milieu. Through circular leadership and collaboration, I hope to deconstruct colonial and patriarchal systems of leadership. I hold workshops with another Asian artist as guest teacher to uplift and celebrate Asian artists in leadership.
Before dance got ahold of me, I trained in acting and obtained my BA in theatre acting. Just this last year, I am returning to my first love of acting as a parallel career to my dance career.
Apart from performance, my biggest passion is using the live arts as a healing tool. In 2020, I started my own business online bringing professional dance knowledge and creative tools to the everyday person through daily dance and embodiment sessions. Throughout these classes, people gained a greater awareness and appreciation of their body and creativity. They learned tools to use daily to create their own movement practice. My goal was/is to guide people to bring back a sense of joy and play to their daily lives and have a groovy practice just like one would have a meditation or dental hygiene practice. Through my Embodiment Sessions, I then designed more workshops to offer that would promote wellness from a dance medium. Conscious Connecting is a date night for any couple looking to connect deeply with each other through play and body-based games. Texture of Emotions is a workshop created to unveil and deepen the range of expression through body and voice exercises. What I have found over the years is that people know they have something big deep inside of them that wants to come out and when you give them a safe and fun space to do so, they experience present-moment healing.
If anyone is interested in my work both as an artist or embodiment coach, you can find me on Instagram @janellehacault, on my website www.janellehacault.com or simply email me and inquire at janelle.hacault@gmail.com
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Listening – both to myself (embracing my emotions and their signals) and to others.
Resilience – how to move through hardship in a healthy way before “moving on” and then respectfully moving forward with great care and support. Not to quite, but to know when to rest.
Rest – we live in a world that is on hyper speed. Without rest, we cannot be effective.
All of these are practices that take daily intentional action. Find your support and accountability people, and focus your attention on doing what’s important to you.
For listening, I’d say have a body/mind/breath based practice that quiets the noise so you can get to know yourself and make space to have tea with even the ugly parts of you.
For resilience, life will throw you the opportunities so you don’t have to look for them. When it gets hard, pause, talk with yourself from a self-compassionate lens, and ask yourself “what now…” versus “why”. “Why” begs an answer that increases shame and blame. “What” opens yourself to possibility and empowers yourself to keep going.
For rest, do not follow what others say, like “7 hours minimum”. Listen to your body instead and get your cues off of that. Rest is crucial for longevity. Andre De Shield said “Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be” and he was right. We live in a burn-out culture, don’t follow them.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
If you are a yoga practitioner, meditation teacher, sound healing musician or have other healing art forms and want to collaborate with me, please reach out. Together with my partner who is a psychiatrist, we are aiming to design a wellness through the movement arts.
The best way to reach me is through email: janelle.hacault@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.janellehacault.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janellehacault/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janelle.hacault.5/
- Other: janelle.hacault@gmail.com
Image Credits
Melika Dez, Anne-Sophie Heroux, Romain Lorraine, Francisco Cruz, Kayla Jeanson, Kyra Jean Green, Marie-Eve Dion, Grace Turnbull,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
