Ahhhh February, the month of LOVE.
I am so excited to share + celebrate one of my favourite people, my dear friend Erin! Not only is Erin the sweetest + most courageous women I know, but she works tirelessly to help others live their very best lives and to take care of themselves. She is a chiropractor + queen of self-care and literally a DREAM.
Friends, meet Erin.
Hello HBXO Tribe!
I’m Dr. Erin Dashney, but please call me Erin.
Let me just take a moment to say that I am so thrilled to be this month’s Boss Babe! I am excited to be here and to share a bit about myself, my lifestyle, and my story with all of you. First things first, I met Holly WAY back in the day slinging ribs at the Cookhouse (haha!). We recently reconnected through our LimeLife businesses and I am so blessed to consider her one of my dearest friends. This world needs more women who support other women and Holly is such a beautiful example of that. I mean, Hello, Boss Babe of the month?! What an amazing way to celebrate other women.
So who am I anyways? As I said, I am Dr. Erin Dashney. I am a chiropractor, a partner, a stepmom, and an animal lover. One thing that’s unique about me is that I am OBSESSED with personal growth, optimizing health + wellness, and empowering others to live their very best lives. This mode of being is present in all areas of my life. I’m a huge nerd (I basically lived in the anatomy lab at chiropractic college), I am a fanatic about maximizing performance so that I can get more done throughout the day, I continue to study even though I’m not in school anymore (shhh… I know I have a problem), I’m constantly working on my emotional + spiritual development, and I basically have a podcast or audiobook going all the time #alwayslearning
One thing I am unbelievably passionate about is empowering others to take charge of their own health, happiness + overall well-being. I wholeheartedly believe that people have SO MUCH MORE control over their lives than they realize. I have completely turned my life around and I am always continuing to grow. I feel a large part of my calling is to share my story and the techniques I’ve used to change my life because I want to show others that they can do the same for themselves. True power over your life begins when you adopt an internal locus of control, where you realize that your actions have power over your life!
Anyways, thanks so much for taking the time to read this! Let’s get on with these 5 questions.
Yay to the famous five questions! Let’s learn more about this boss babe, shall we?!
My husband is a musician and I have always been a night owl, so, I wake up as late as possible, haha! (I may or may not be writing this at 1am on a Tuesday)… The time I get out of bed ranges from 6:45-10:30 depending on the day. My morning routine is variable, but an ideal morning goes something like this:
Roll out of bed and go make my morning bullet coffee (1tbsp coconut oil, 3tbsp butter, 1tsp turmeric, a dash of pepper). I then make my way back to my room where I open my bedroom window to let in the sunshine, set up my yoga mat, turn on my essential oil diffuser and do a morning yoga session. Then it’s time to shower and get ready for the day. I sleep with my phone on airplane mode and it STAYS on airplane mode until after yoga, only then do I start to address the world and my to-do list for the day. This is a really important boundary I try to set to avoid the world from hijacking my brain and creating a distracted state of mind for the rest of the day.
This is a tough question to write about. My teen years were some of the hardest years of my life. I was a complete mess, reeling from a traumatic childhood without the clarity to understand how I had been affected, or the tools to handle it. Looking back through the lens of an adult, I see a girl who was behaving in exactly the way you would expect, given the circumstances, but at the time I blamed myself for everything that went wrong. My heart hurts for that girl who was struggling so much to just make it through the day, who cared so deeply for others, but never fit in. I would tell that girl that none of this was her fault, that she is lovable, that she isn’t bad or damaged, and that her life is going to work out for her in ways she could never possibly imagine.
When I’m in a funk, I retreat for some time away from people. Typically, I head into the woods with my dog Kiska. She is my soul sister and her presence fills my heart with so much joy. There is something so healing and so grounding about being away from the busyness of the world and being around nature. This is what I do to recharge my batteries. It reminds me that we are all part of a larger network of life on this planet. We humans make our problems so large and sometimes it takes stepping outside of the city to realize that they’re actually small and will pass in time.
About a month ago I was in a funk and Kiska and I went on a hike to see a waterfall. We sat down at the foot of the falls listening to the water crashing down. Seeing how powerful the water was reminded me that I am also a part of this natural world and it just filled me with a renewed sense of strength and inspiration. Plus, Kiska’s joy while being outside is 100% contagious. I always feel good afterwards.
I literally have a book of quotes that I’ve been writing in since I was 17 years old. Clearly I was very popular… I really wasn’t kidding when I said I’m a huge nerd! One of my favourite quotes is the lyrics from an Incubus song.
“Perspective pries your once weighty eyes, and it gives you wings”
Interestingly, the songwriter’s description of the meaning behind these lyrics is COMPLETELY different from my interpretation of them… but I like my version better.
For me, this was another reminder of the power we have over our own lives. In any given situation, we have control over our perspective, and that notion is beautifully freeing. Yes, we have natural tendencies that have developed over a lifetime of conditioning, but we have the power to change those patterns when they no longer serve us. I know this because I’ve done it. I used to be quite a pessimist. My lens automatically filtered in the negative of any situation, but I have changed this over time. Even when I default to negative, I find it freeing to switch the perspective and see things from another side. For example, if someone is cruel and miserable, I think about how sad it must be to walk around feeling that way and instead of being angry at them, I feel compassion for their pain.
A thickening + lengthening pitch-black mascara FOR SURE! My eyes are blue and the shade ranges from almost gray to deep ocean blue, depending on my mood and the clothes I’m wearing. Wearing black mascara + eyeliner deepens the blue and makes my eyes pop! It’s the one beauty product I wear basically every day. Right now I’m obsessed with LimeLife’s perfect mascara, which gives that dramatic look without any toxic chemicals.
Ugh, I’m obsessed. Erin, thank you so much for being the February Boss Babe! It means the world to me–and y’all, if you are not a member of the HBXO Tribe over in FaceBookland, RUN + join so you can watch Erin in action. She will be taking over the tribe every Wednesday of this month! Woo.
Oh, and please don’t forget to follow her along on social (IG and FB), she is chock full of value and incredible content + helpful resources and is (obviously!) a total bright light. You can also totally check out her website.
Thanks again Erin! Love you girl!
XO