Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba is opening up about her return to dance, years after being forced to take a break due to health issues. Inaba, 56, shared pictures of herself wearing a gray tank top and workout pants, posing next to a ballet barre. “Movement is the language of all beings that have bodies. Within the movement there are truths that can’t be unlocked with words alone. I’m grateful I have found my way back to dance again. It is my first and most authentic language… I’m not the same dancer I used to be. But from this day forth, I celebrate every move I can do, with immense gratitude,” she captioned the post. Here’s what Inaba’s wellness regimen looks like.
Inaba’s workout routine is based on low-impact exercises. “I used to do kickboxing, martial arts, weights and dancing as my workout. Now I do a combination of yoga and Pilates as my core fitness regimen,” she told M. Citizen Magazine. “I don’t overdo it like I used to. I used to push myself to the limits all the time. Now I enjoy a healthy and balanced routine and I’m kinder to myself about my workout schedule. I’m not as skinny as I used to be, but I’m okay with that. As I grow older, I have learned to cherish my body and its functions even more. I do a half an hour of yoga at least three times a week at home. I have a small studio right off my bedroom that is filled with light. I like doing yoga in there, and I listen to music and inspiring words while doing it. I always feel incredible after my practice.”
Inaba has multiple autoimmune diseases, and says movement is crucial for managing the symptoms of lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren’s Syndrome. “I was making sure that every day, no matter how much pain I was in, that I did some sort of physical movement,” she told Health Digest. “That’s difficult. That sounds so simple for most people, but when you’re having an active flare-up, and your body won’t respond to you the way you want it to, it’s almost impossible. Then the longer you go without exercising, the worse it gets. That’s the same for everybody, right? [laughs] When we don’t exercise, it gets worse and worse and harder to get back up. But when you’re in a pain cycle, or you’re in a flare-up, it feels almost impossible.”
Inaba’s diet is key to helping her feel better every day. “I changed the way I ate, making sure that everything that I ate, my body liked and I reacted well,” she told Health Digest. “I kept a food diary in the beginning. [Dr. Daniel Amen] says, ‘Find 20 foods that you love and love you back.’ That’s such a beautiful way of putting it, and [it was] changing the way I was looking at the way I was eating as opposed to trying to think “anti-inflammatory,” which felt so stringent and rigid to me.”
Inaba is embracing each year that passes. “As you get older, the thing that happens is, I’ve noticed I appreciate people’s beauty by what you see in their eyes — like the joy or the courage or the bravery, or when you’re sitting next to them and you feel their compassion or their warmth or their spirit of determination,” she told PEOPLE. “To me that’s beauty, so I think people do get more beautiful as they get older.”
Inaba says self-care starts one step at a time. “I’m really a big proponent for baby steps,” she told M. Citizen Magazine. “I think we struggle with self care and wellness because we are so busy “doing” that we aren’t sure how to be anymore. Take time to be with yourself, and ask ‘who am I? What do I want? How am I feeling?’ If we don’t know who we are or what we want, it’s difficult to give ourselves the love and care we need.”