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Artistic Statement: Dance – Emily Seymour

I view dance as a medium for life force energy cultivation; it is a matrix for various movement technologies. This feeling of heightened awareness is like an electrical current moving through my body. I have experienced this sensation through movement, music, meditation, and while observing dance.

I’ve been aware of this phenomenon since my early childhood. My father is a musician, and so I asked him why I had goose bumps when I listened to music. He explained that it was an effect of the aesthetic sense, but that felt like only part of the answer. I went searching for more answers, which I discovered through dance, yoga, and martial arts.

The common denominator that wove these modalities together has many names: àse, chi, prana, mana, and pneuma are all used to describe this concept of vital energy.

I was blessed to connect with teachers who furthered my understanding of the conductive nature of dance. One of my primary teachers was dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Arthur Hal l. I also completed immersive studies with Yogi Nataraja Kallio and Dr. Avi Ginsberg.

I dance because it recharges my human battery. For me, the effects of dancing extend beyond the benefits of exercise, lifestyle and diet. This nourishment has sustained me through some of the greatest challenges in my life. It is alchemical, meditative and therapeutic; it is a taste of freedom that I aspire to share in my service as a teacher.

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Dancing with Baba: An Artist in Residency Apprenticeship

Superfood Peanut Zucchini Noodles

Swift as the wind

Quiet as the forest

Conquer like the fire

Steady as the Mountain

– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”

Can you feel it?

Things are heating up. There’s a buzz in the air, like we’re on the precipice of something big. It’s almost palatable, electric.

It’s not great for sleeping but it is good for getting focused. And whatever we focus on, grows…

Summer heat brings thunderstorms. As the storm approaches, sink down and root. Take slow, deep breaths.

Just stay cool.

Summer is a great time for detoxifying and introverted asana practices. It’s also the season for salads, juice, and other raw foods.

There are a few raw dishes in my culinary arsenal that have withstood the test of time. Zucchini noodles are one of them.

My love for zucchini noodles (zoodles) began with a simple salad of wide noodles (using a vegetable peeler), marinated for fifteen minutes in lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and Kosher salt.

Easy to digest = easy to absorb the prana of the food.

My brother sent me this spiralizer for Christmas. I’ve been waiting for the warm weather to try it out.

My first project: Peanut Zucchini Noodles. I found some inspiration here:

Crazy Good Peanut Noodles (Quick & Easy, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Paleo)

And here: Easy Healthy Dinner: Peanut Chicken Noodles

Zucchini is a superfood that has incredible health benefits. Peanuts and peanut butter are powerhouse foods too, especially for men.

A Word of Caution: Please read ingredient labels, avoid trans fats, and choose organic whenever possible (especially zucchini – avoid the conventional GMO variety). Toasting nuts adds flavor and kills mold. People with peanut allergies could substitute almonds/almond butter.

Superfood Peanut Zucchini Noodles

Makes 3 servings

Sauce

5 Tbsp peanut butter, smooth or chunky
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp Sriracha (I like MM Local)

Combine in a saucepan and warm on low until peanut butter melts. Remove from heat and set aside.

Stir Fry

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 carrot, cut into 2″ slivers
1 bell pepper (yellow, red, or a combination), cut into 2″ slivers
1/2 c green onion, sliced (reserve green parts)

Preheat a large saucepan or wok on medium low. Add coconut oil, carrot, pepper. Gently stir fry for 5 minutes.

While cooking julienned vegetables, spiralize 2 medium zucchini with the wide, fettuccine blade. Set aside.

Add 1 Tbsp minced garlic and white parts of green onion to the stir fry. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Turn heat off.

Add zucchini noodles and green onion parts, fold in sauce. Finish with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil.

Toppings

1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup chopped, toasted peanuts
Himalayan pink salt

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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St. John, USVI

Summer Skincare is Getting Juicy

St. John USVI

March 9, 2011

Chi is my Co-Pilot

“A genuine smile distributes the cosmic current, Prana to every body cell. The happy man is less subject to disease, for happiness actually attracts into the body a greater supply of the Universal life energy.” – Paramhansa Yogananda

I’ve never seen the ocean turn purple before. The sky is a lighter shade of violet smeared with gray clouds and the final sweep of the sunset. Across the bay the islands are beginning to light up. As I’m writing this entry the color of the water changes to indigo.

I’m sitting in my friend Sunny’s apartment on St. John. It’s been almost a week since I arrived in the Virgin Islands. The energy of this place is tangible. A few hours ago I ate a bowl of potato leek soup that I helped Sunny prepare. It left me feeling totally buzzed. She asked me if I wanted to go to a party with her.

“Will there be people there who I can do Tandem yoga with?”

Probably not. So here I am, writing to you and enjoying the sunset. I have to say it’s pretty awesome here. I’ve been practicing yoga every day in Sunny’s kitchen that sits high up overlooking the water. We sit on her porch in the mornings watching the basil and tomatoes grow. Sunny tells me the names of every island in the bay. Hummingbirds and iguanas come to visit us.

I am happy… being… here.

This is the perfect place to write about chi. I’ve been working as a freelance writer on a book about health and energy practices. One of my assignments is to write about what chi (life energy) means to me.

Chi is all around me. It’s inside of me. It’s the feeling of looking at clear turquoise water. It’s the after-effects of hiking up the incredibly steep (!!!) hills. It’s in the sensations in my body when I meditate. It’s the fresh juice from Sunny’s Champion juicer, a sunset swirl of carrot, beet, apple, ginger, lemon. I feel it when I’m laughing.

The sky and the water have turned to black. In the distance the hills are glowing orange and white. The crickets are singing and the evening air is soft and inviting.

I wish I could practice yoga here with all of you.

March 28, 2011

Reflections

“Thirty spokes converge upon a single hub;

It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges.

We make a vessel from a lump of clay;

It is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.

We make doors and windows for a room;

But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable.

Thus, while the tangible has advantages,

It is the intangible that makes it useful.”

– Lao Tzu, The Tao Teh Ching

I’m inhaling another sunset here in the City of Love. For the past month I’ve been awake at dawn almost every morning. This is what happens whenever I’m in the tropics. Before coming here I received a Reiki treatment from my friend Mandy. She predicted that this place would feel like home to me. It has in ways that I didn’t expect. St. John feels like a hybrid of Maine, Hawaii and Colorado.

It’s another world here. People drive on the left side of the road which does a number on my dyslexia. There are no fast food restaurants or strip malls. The internet is limited here so I’ve been reading a wonderful book called “The Enzyme Factor – How to Live Long and Never be Sick” by Hiromi Shinya.

Very rich food for thought.

I’ve taken to calling this trip Sunny’s Island Boot Camp Adventure. We’ve been hiking, snorkeling and stand-up paddle boarding. We practiced yoga with friends and went dancing. Every night is Friday here.

Sunny has been teaching me about the history of the island and about the slavery uprisings. One morning we hiked to a sacred pool on Reef Bay which sits below the largest waterfall on the island. On the rocks surrounding the pool are petroglyph carvings made by the Taino, the early inhabitants of St. John.

This was a place of ancestor worship. The petroglyph symbols are positioned to reflect in the water so as to represent the inter-dependency of the spiritual and physical worlds. I wanted to meditate there and will go back sometime when there are less tourists.

Three more days until my gypsy caravan moves on. I’m looking forward to coming back. There is an amazing retreat center here and a wonderful community who I would love to continue practicing with.