Abigoliah Schamaun talks about how we can achieve balance as she discusses her show Namaste, Bitches and her search to find harmony between her life as a health-obsessed yoga teacher and her love of hard-living.
Abigoliah Schamaun
Living a Yin-Yang Life: Part Yogi. Part Comic.
I’m heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this August as I have for the last eight years. For those of you unaware, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a month long romp where performers head to Scotland and perform every night accompanied by partying harder than they ever have done the rest of the year. At least that’s how I’ve done it. Too much booze, too many late nights, and a lot of pizza from Palmyra.
This August, while I’m wassailing all over the town, I’ll also be performing a show, Abigoliah Schamaun: Namaste, Bitches every night where I talk about my life as a yoga instructor. I’m not a very good yoga instructor: I’m booze-swilling, back-bending, Bikram teacher. One who believes strongly in herbal supplements - but not all those supplements are legal if you catch my drift.
Blending the lifestyles that are yoga instructor and comedian is like mixing oil and water. It just doesn’t work. Or at least, it took me a while to figure out how to do it.
For years at the Fringe, maintaining the ideal Yogi stereotype as someone who gets up with the sun and lives off kale and kombucha tea, then at night performing an hour show on top of hosting one of the Fringe’s most notorious Late Night Shows, Spank!, and drinking beer, eating shitty late-night food, and staying out as late as possible because I didn’t want to miss out on any fun, started to take its toll. Living like this, my sanity started to crumble.
I had to re-examine how I was living and make adjustments because I was falling apart at the seams. I was attempting to be a sage yoga instructor during the day and a party girl at night. In truth, I was just a hung-over instructor and a dehydrated zombie. I was living two extremes and it wasn’t working. I needed to fix it, but how?
First thing first, I needed to sort out my sleep, and this means I now have three rules I use to keep me check.
Get rid of FoMo: I leave parties early now and I’m happy to do so. I’m now 31 years old. I’ve had every great night possible. And if you keep chasing that dragon you just wind up that sad old weirdo who’s the last to leave and no one really likes.
Get rid of early mornings: To be honest, I’ve never been a morning person. And Lord knows I’ve tried to be but it doesn’t work. Not unless I want to spend my waking hours as over-caffeinated and grumpy. Learn what works for your body.
Eat crap - it’s gonna happen: I eat healthy during the day, and it took me a while to learn I don’t have to have a whole meal after a gig at midnight. But every once in a while I need or I want to. A kebab here and there isn’t going to kill you - and stressing over it doesn’t help.
Instead of living each life to textbook perfection, I live them both in the middle. Now I might miss the sunrise salutations and I might miss the part of the party when things “really kicked off” but in missing those things I live sanely. And I’m happy and present for the moments I am here.
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Abigoliah Schamaun is a US-born, UK-based stand-up comic and yoga instructor with a penchant for fine whiskey. She’ll be performing “Abigoliah Schamaun: Namaste Bitches“ at the Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe from 3-27th August at 7.40pm.
Tickets available at www.edfringe.com
Tagged in Edinburgh Festival Fringe