The 1 *Super Easy* Wellness Tip Julianne Hough Swears By

Dancing With The Stars co-host Julianne Hough is fresh off an appearance presenting at the Tony Awards on Sunday night, after which she danced the night away while co-hosting an afterparty with pal Darren Criss (who, by the way, took home his first Tony at the awards for Best Lead Actor in a Musical!)

"I am not gonna lie, I'm still recovering," Hough tells Well+Good with a laugh. It's busy times like this one that can serve as a helpful reminder that the best way to make sure you keep taking care of yourself is to keep your wellness routine simple. 

"We can be inundated with so many trends and so many things," she says. "And I love to try everything, but I will say less is more at this stage of my life."

It's that mentality that brought Hough to partner with Icelandic Glacial for the water brand's first major celebrity partnership. Launching Wednesday, June 11, the "You Are What You Drink, Be Exceptional" campaign encourages consumers to be more conscious about how they're choosing to take care of themselves, whether that's what they're consuming or who they're spending time with. 

The core tenet of her wellness routine

"Everybody asks me: What are my beauty tips? Honestly, water and being hydrated," Hough says. "It's the most important thing. I've been a dancer my whole life. I love an active lifestyle. So anything that fuels my body from the inside out is something that I'm passionate about." 

The National Academy of Medicine recommends women 19 and older consume about 72 ounces of water per day (that number spikes to 80 if you're pregnant and 104 when breastfeeding), and 104 ounces for men 19 and older. Those who are more active require even more water. But some nutrition experts argue that a better rule of thumb is half an ounce of water per pound of body weight—so that may be up to 100 ounces of water daily for a person who weighs 200 pounds.  

Hydration, Hough adds, is the core of her everyday routine and the most important wellness tip she follows. That includes everything from a morning lemon water and hydrating lip balm (she's also previously raved over Laneige's lip sleeping mask) to makeup (Patrick Ta Beauty's major glow balm is "so creamy and clear," she says) and sometimes opting for a sparkling water on ice rather than a cocktail during a night out. 

"I always have water wherever I'm at, whether it's on the plane, on the go in the car, because I'm active," Hough says. "It is my go-to for everything." 

And let's not forget about dance

Hough founded her own dance fitness company, Kinrgy, in 2018—first as an online brand and more recently with an IRL dance class studio in West Hollywood. The premise: combining dance, breathwork and community connection for a unique workout that leaves you feeling mentally and physically well. 

Research has shown dance to be one of the best exercises you can do to improve your mental health. And Hough agrees. "[It's] because of the music connection as well as the people connection," she notes. "You're not only connecting with yourself and your body, but you're also connecting with people around you. That's why community and movement and dance is, I think, even more beneficial than doing it by yourself." 

In other dance news, Hough is gearing up for the next season of Dancing with the Stars, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. (FYI, Hough has been involved with the show in some capacity since 2007, first as a dance pro, then stints as a judge and guest judge before landing her current co-hosting gig alongside past winner Alfonso Ribeiro). 

"It's one of my greatest honors to be a part of a show that has elevated dance to have a seat at the table," Hough says. Two contestants for the upcoming season have been announced so far: TikTok star Alix Earle and Australian zookeeper and conservationist Robert Irwin. As fans wait to learn who else is vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy this year, Hough says her DMs are full of stars hoping she can put in a good word for them. (She's personally crossing her fingers for Traitors breakout influencer Dylan Efron, TV host Kelly Ripa, and former NFL player Emmanuel Acho.) 

"My advice (for celebrity contestants) never really changes," Hough says. Her exact advice? "If you can commit full out and put yourself in a vulnerable situation, knowing that the show is there to highlight you and encourage you, all people want to do is get to know you and get to see you," she explains. "The more authentic, the more real, the more vulnerable you can be and share the journey the better, because that's all people really want: They want to go on that journey and see themselves in you." 

Well-being is all about showing up for yourself

Can we get spiritual for a sec? Hough loves a moment of synchronicity—she's a water sign (a Cancer, to be specific), loves being by the water, and features the natural elements (earth, fire, air and water) as a recurring motif in her Kinrgy classes. So working with a water brand like Icelandic Glacial seems like a little wink from the universe. 

"We're in such a follow culture right now," Hough says. But she explains that we don't have to follow what everyone else is doing all the time. "We have the pwoer to be exactly who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world," she explains. She also notes that it's essential to take your life back into your own and make choices that are best for you, and that can be as simple as "choosing the things you do, you say, you eat, you drink."

Hough wants you to remember that "it's not about the external; it's about what it does for you internally and how you show up in the world," she explains. "To be an exceptional human in this world, you have to take care of yourself. For me, that's by doing the simplest but most effective thing."