What's your name, where are you from and what do you do for work & for fun?
My name is Adriene Louise Mishler. When I was younger, my mom suggested so many times that I hyphenate with her maiden name, Martinez. This way I would have a wider reach with my acting resume, she said. Smart. But I think deep down it was also about honoring her name, her bloodline and ancestors. I was too young and distracted to take the name, or maybe thought it would hurt my Dad's feelings after a divorce. Those were different times and I was a pre-teen. I am honoring the name now by connecting to my ancestors as well as their native language and rituals through education and service.
For work, I do just that. I find ways to connect to what matters most, and I aim to offer that same opening to as many people as possible. I enjoy and feel called to create unique practices and gatherings that evoke connection and ask questions. I am a creative first and foremost. From that creativity I have worked as a professional actor, a teacher, a yoga guide, a writer, an activist and entrepreneur. All of my businesses are born from creativity and community, creating a safe and inclusive home for such. Not the other way around. My work is also an exchange, one in which I am both honored and humbled by each and every day. Through prioritizing accessibility and quality I have found myself in exchange with bodies, brains and souls way outside my Austinite Mexican- American bubble, expanding to countries far across the globe.
For fun, I love to move. For me, variety of movement inspires, heals and is my top choice for exploring, devising or working anything out from an honest place. Walking - all over. Yoga with just me and God, or Benji, or in community. Hiking - nothing better. Also pilates, salsa dancing, y dancing while eating salsa. I also love books. Books feel like good friends. I also love my friends who mostly take up supreme human and divine dog form. My friends make my life rich and interesting and meaningful - good trouble without a doubt.
I also enjoy cooking and travel. I delight with time in my own humble kitchen where I feel my Grandma Emma often visits me, and I crave long scenic road trips. Learning is fun for me, so I fight hard to carve out the time for ongoing studies which I am privileged to engage in. I am currently in a neuroscience academy, a pilates certification course, and taking regular one on one Spanish classes for fluency. My partner gently invites me to consider opening myself sometimes to doing things that are less accomplish driven. He may be on to something there. To that I say, 'Who is up for a game of Uno?"