How I Met Your Mother star Ashley Williams is celebrating the wrap of her new movie. Williams, 45, shared a picture of herself wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt, jumping in joy. “Last night I wrapped picture on a movie that came straight outta my brain and you’re going to love it and I’m so tired and so happy. So I had to jump around. #wedidit #movie #tired #happy,” she captioned the post.”I love you so much,” commented actress Sarah Drew. Here’s what Williams’ approach to wellness looks like.
Williams is a trained doula as well as an actress, and chose a home birth for herself. “What made ME feel safe was having my (amazing) husband by my side as well as five birth professionals and two dogs,” she told PEOPLE. “I was in charge of the lighting. Music blasted. I got to go out to the back porch and stare at my ferns. THAT’s what kept me feeling safe and, in turn, my contractions strong. I danced in between my ‘surges’ and sang along to the music. As I had always dreamed when I pictured my home birth, I was surrounded by people I trust and fear was not in attendance.”
Williams loves hiking with friends and family. “Cleaning out my summer pics and FORGOT THIS DAY. I’d just finished a job and Neal and I hiked the grouse grind in Vancouver! A solid 1.55 miles uphill, elevation of 2624 feet. It was gorgeous and hard and so much fun,” she captioned an Instagram post.
Williams used deep breathing and meditation to deal with the pain of childbirth. “I didn’t have pain medication. But what I did have turned out to be all I needed: breathing, meditation while looking into people’s eyes, massage, a hot shower and, halfway through each contraction, for my (amazing) husband to say, ‘It’s going to be over soon.’ I needed him to say this because in the moment I was convinced each contraction would last forever,” she told PEOPLE.
Williams is very close with her sister Kimberly Williams, and would love to work with her. “It would be such a great honor to co-direct with her. She and I would make a really good team, and she’s definitely the clear leader between the two of us,” she told The List. “It would be fun to be able to have the power fly back and forth between the two of us. We would make a good team. Funnily enough, she did write a script and ask me to co-direct it with her.”
Williams loves how inclusive Hallmark has become. “The new administration at Hallmark is so creative, and the first thing that they’re saying in every meeting is, ‘What’s the most interesting way to tell this story? How can we have more representation? How else can we tell love stories?'” she told The List. “Working with them on the development side has been so creative — way more than it was a couple of years ago. I’m really excited about the next couple of years.”