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How Intuitive Dance Transforms Stress Into Strength · WhozYourMama

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Who's Your Mama, a podcast focusing on tomorrow's future, which are our kids, educators, teachers, parents, all encompassing with the goal of understanding that our brain is a muscle that we can exercise to control the speed in the direction that we want.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, y'all.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: The time is now.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sebastian Siren, welcome back to Who's Your Mama?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, Michelle.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Nice to be back.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's just start getting into it.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: When you came on before, we were talking about you are very creative and and uh make uh your your DJing speaks to people and is creating a movement within yourself, within others.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the many things that we have a shared love and appreciation for is the power of music and bringing people together through that.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so last time we spoke about movement and how that has a the ability to have a positive impact on our nervous system and how it's all intertwined to our brains.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we talk about here on Who's Your Mama Brain Health is life health and music being a powerful tool.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we talked more on a macro level on that, but let's dive deeper and go into your journey with that and and where you're taking us.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I think we left off at a great place because I think we were talking about community and you know, when you're like that intuitive movement, when you go to a party or a rave or a dance, whatever you're going, or even if you're just dancing in your living room.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Which of which, by the way, I do a lot.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually my best work, apparently, is in the kitchen.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And my daughter, since she was like seven, has been watching me without me knowing.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So side note.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love that.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's giving her, it's making her, you know, it's she's seeing it that it's normal.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think like, you know, some people started doing stuff like that during COVID just because they couldn't go out, but like, you know, there's moments where I think you just know that your body wants to move.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And let's say you're a runner, you don't, it's like you go for running, it's just not the same.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like intuitive movement, like dance is just it's so unique and it's very primal.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so I think when it comes to that, like I think a lot of people are starting to realize that when you go out with friends, and we'll just keep it specific to electronic music since that's what I play.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're going out to these spaces or you get this kind of, you know, you're like, oh, I really want to go out.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I should text some people, we should find a good event to go to, or who's in town to play.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you're on that dance floor and you're starting to realize like your emotions are shifting, you're feeling better.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're actually feeling like worse as in like it's releasing something.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a big believer in emotion, is sort in the body.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of research coming out.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're based in LA, it's much easier to find and talk about as a resource, in my opinion.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: New York, a little different.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's well known, but it's not like part of the local culture.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's growing.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think people are understanding that when you're in a yoga class or you're in physical therapy, if you've had an injury, like you're working through not just muscle tightness or pain, or even if your body feels fine.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: You could literally just leave the event and feel, oh my gosh, I feel lighter, I feel freer.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you don't you start to like question like wait, that was like way better or cooler or more of a thing than I thought it was going to be.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: I thought we were just going out.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly right.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a big thing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I used to, so I ran with a knee injury that I shouldn't have for probably two decades.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And when I tore my quad and hamstring, and I realized that that's it's over.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I mourned not being able to run like a family member, truly.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: No disrespect to that.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: We've all lost people in our families, but I I was so dependent upon it for my mental clarity and productivity.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I started doing this weighted hula hoop and dancing in my living room with my daughter when it was she was in elementary school.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is before the pandemic, and she has two homes, and it helped her open up.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I have gifted that hula hoop to so many people, it forever changed the way that I listen to music in the most beautiful ways and got lost in it.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so on that note, so I've had this whole transformation over several years in that way that you were describing.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I know we spoke about last time how you, you know, you grew up in in Southern California, and that's where you started DJing, and then you've been in New York City, and and then talking about what you just said about people going out and and feeling free.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: How did you make that transition personally, professionally?
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: How did that transpire your music?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And what would you advise, give advice to people that are hesitant?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're believing all of that internally and hearing what we're saying, but where to start to start to release that type of positive energy?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Great question.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it was hard for me at first moving to New York in the area of like I was so used to in LA, like I used to go to like float tanks in Venice like twice a month.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I used to go to yoga.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: I like sought out that we could even just call it somatic spirituality, but like the body connection to energy.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind of call it, I'm very spiritual, but I call it energetics.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's easy to explain and talk about.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, acupuncture, all that stuff.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's so accessible in in Southern California.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: New York, it's all here, it's just less volume, it's way more expensive, so it's less accessible.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: We'll just broadly call it that.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I stopped doing a lot of those things.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so dance really became like that go-to source.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think when it comes to creativity, New York is very much, both cities are very entrepreneurial and creative.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: But I have to tell you, New Yorkers like get things done and they get them done much faster, and people are more serious about it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I lived there for five and a half years.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, that's right.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then I went back to Texas where I'm from, and then I've been here for 12 years.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I I get it.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: But a lot of people forgot about that.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, but a lot of people don't, and that's okay.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: But it there is kind of there's similarities, and then there's a yin and yang.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, I'm that's why I'm curious about your flow of that transition and how that impacted you and and your music and all of that, and where people can go to to be on that positive journey from a community standpoint.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: So taking the words from my mouth, so community.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like uh so I've been in New York uh a little over four years at this point, feels like five minutes, but also a hundred years.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a weird feeling.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like uh if anyone's been following me since like my like before I moved to New York, like I had an intentional shift in my brand to be more than just techno and electronic music, like it was hyper, hyper focused before.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I had this realization kind of combining the coast where and just the future of where uh let's say just people who have something that they want to put out are evolving as like a brand.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I also work like my whole background is in marketing, so I have that mindset as well.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I wanted to be more than just a party, like that's always been something like I want to have those things, those events, those live streams, whatever, but it's so much more than that.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've been like, how can I reflect that?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so I looked to a lot of people outside of music, like thought leaders, spiritual gurus, you know, just people talking about their life.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like literally, it could just be like a random, awesome person talking about like their knee injury or something like that.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, wait, this is so much more interesting to watch.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And so I had this light bulb moment where I was like an intentionality, right?
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I shifted my brand to be we all love techno, but we're gonna talk about things related to evolving as a person, self-expansion.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's really just a journal for me, honestly.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm thinking about my personal life experiences and then things I'm going through right now.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm actively trying to work with my hips, whether you call it lower chakras or just like my hip muscles.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to open them up and be more flexible, be stronger.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm genuinely trying to go through somatic things.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm probably gonna talk about that on my channel.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And then you can go listen to a techno playlist.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe you're on the dance floor.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be maybe after hearing me be open to be like, wait, where in my body do I need to like?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Where is my body trying to speak to me right now?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Should I be like doing hula hoop hip movements?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you could do that at a rape, no one's gonna say anything, and you'd be shocked if you like leave the dance floor and you're like, wow, like weirdly, my hips feel better.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no, it didn't be performed.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was the most incredible, like I said, I I was trying to find something else outside of running, and I was like, nothing's gonna compete with this, like how that made me feel.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: But my body told me how it made me feel, and yes, mine logically was like, Come on, girlfriend, like make a shift because we already showed you like what do you need to see next.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when I found that it I it opened up so much what I wasn't prepared for, what it would open up inside of me and what it did for my daughter at such a young age, and other people who were having kids were having feelings during the pandemic as well.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I but but to your point, it's all through movement and music, and I threw I played volleyball at a high level, I've had so many injuries I can't even keep track.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have and I drive for work, I didn't all of a sudden the L5 L5 issues I was having gone because of posture.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I it transformed things way beyond, you know, this is not aesthetics, this was about internally and strength and both my mind, body, and soul.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: That when it was combined with music, I love that you're doing that.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean it's you're saying it, it's like and it you don't even have it's like we both have been through a variety of injuries, so we're like, it's almost like I never want anyone to have an injury like either of us, but it's like it forced us to listen to our bodies in a different way, and then because of that, maybe pain was the driver, maybe it was frustration for not for being like limited in a new way.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm open, I will try anything, like and also I go back to intentionality.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have a post about this.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's like if you're gonna try something, actually try it, like dive in.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're gonna do a meditation, be careful what you asked for, but you start, you finish.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: I would tell my daughter that, and then you learn and grow from it, but don't have a anything, like if you're looking to experience somatic healing, whether it be from a yoga class or literally meditating and picturing like a red orb on your hips, you have to take it seriously and be open.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: I swear to God, there's magic all around us.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I am a big believer in that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, try it.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: And like it would, I just have a fundamental thing in like, and you'll find the thing that works for you.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Not that's the other big thing, is like certain things might not work for you because you're you're like, you have to wait till your body's like, oh yeah, this is it, like this is it.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's slow, you have to be so patient.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going through this journey of like patience right now because I'm evolving as a person, as a brand, as an artist, like just as a body, like, and that's all that's a lot too.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's like a lot, it's new, and so it's really thinking about like my vision, like you talking about almost like you asking me to synthesize, like, refreshes like like what I actually my vision.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I would love to be at a big party.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I call it a party, but like it's like imagine like a big group of people who are here to see a techno DJ, and everybody at that experience are all into things like evolving as a human, really great values, nice to talk to, like a group full of people who feel like sunshine throughout my body because that is the energy shift and exchange.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Could you imagine?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I actually I can, and we I love it.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, so on that note, as we're getting closer to at least for this episode and coming towards the end, and I'd love to continue it because there's so much and is that so on this journey and and what you're creating and also being part of it, in some ways you're you're the audience and the creator, and yeah, and so if people want to be, you know, go through this with you, what would you say are some of the biggest things that helped you in New York feeling that internal strength to seek out that and have yeah, that's a great question.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, New York is in general overwhelming.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like even in LA, LA is also overwhelming because you have an overwhelming, I feel frozen with choice.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you look at my bookmarks on Google Maps, it's just all it's all, it's all it's just covered.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I don't know what to do.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I just end up not doing anything.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: How do you help people find the zone?
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I guess is the question.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's like you have to be super intentional, and here's what I believe.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Most, I call them little portals, which I have a blog about.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's like they'll come through people.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: So talk to people, whether it be at the bar, at the coffee shop.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to go out of your way and be kind of like overly weird about it, but like you will or listen, you can overhear things, you'd be shocked.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Just talk about what you're looking for.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, oh, I would love to find a community that gets together and meditates.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then I found like a cacao ceremony via a person who just I don't know, I think I was talking to them at a restaurant.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like we were because in New York you sit at the bar.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: So advice for LA people if you go out for dinner alone, sit at the bar because you will generally talk to people.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I find most of my stuff.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had to commit to um integrating it, being like, okay, you should go to like I love um like I call it like water therapy.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: So going to like bathhouses.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I need to go.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: I went recently and I hadn't been in probably over a year.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you spend like seven hours at these places.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: I left and then slept for 12 hours and woke up like a new human being.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, you need to do this monthly.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: You have to do this, it is part of your self-care.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's a place on Long Beach I just went to that has this, it was a breath work and and red light therapy and stuff, which side note, I I'm not gonna shout out to where it is because I'm not trying to make it about that, but it was it was uh pretty much anyone could afford it, and it was an hour and a half, and it was my sister and I and a girlfriend.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: I call it the sanctuary, that's not the name of the place, but that's what it felt like, and I was like, oh, like holy, I just I felt so blessed.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so I agree with you coming to places that sitting at whether it's a coffee shop bar or a bar or sitting at and and talking to people, like you said, even listening, you can hear things and just ask some questions of where they are.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: You never know what's going to be sparked by those conversations that will help narrow it down.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so, last thing before um we wrap up is how how can people narrow it down and and uh or how did you narrow it down to where you're at and how can they uh, you know, if they want to find you?
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say um I'm a big fan of meditation, but if that's intimidating for you, which is fine, it's intimidating for a lot of people when you begin, or if you're not doing it, think about like things that you really enjoyed doing before you were inundated with work and life.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, like I like spending time outdoors, so hiking in LA or going to parks in New York, music obviously, but what kind?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you want to so find little like buckets and then be like, what sounds interesting?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like, my driver is when I feel curious or intrigued, uh, or excited, obviously.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, unfortunately, everyone, you have to spend some time reflecting on these things.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's the hard part.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: You have to just do it, and then just go fucking do it.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I know you told me not to swear.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm obviously animated.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, everyone.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I get it, I get it.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: You have to go do it, and then listen, you said it exactly.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, my body, you felt something, you have to listen, get quiet and listen to your body, and then you have to figure out like everyone's like thing, like that their bodies tells them, or there's whatever you're you feel when things are right, might be different for you.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, find what that is, and then be like, maybe I should do this more often.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to do it every week.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, if you were gonna describe your music where you're at right now and it's ever evolving, like we are as humans, in three words, if somebody just clipped out this last part and were like, okay, or they were listening to the whole thing, you're like, Yeah, this is speaking to me.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you could describe an experience for somebody to listen to you, whether it's you know online or in person, three words, what would they be?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, generally, so I think my music and my personality is very playful.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I like to infuse things that are unexpected.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of my music tends to feel very transcendent, like it has a spiritual through line, it feels like energetics.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: You can just I I personally feel like you can sense that.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then um it's transformative.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like I try genuinely like to have pieces that feel like you're being taken on a bit of a journey, and you're I'm not gonna leave you on a sad track and have you go home and be like deflated, it's to be uplifted.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna leave you at least neutral or a little bit.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Or I'm gonna leave you very high.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like it's reflective because it is that you're not having those peaks and drops, and and I've been on those journeys too, and and I've enjoyed them at times, but the journey is just that.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for taking us on a journey.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to diving in more on that and more specifics.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um I will close off as we always do.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Sebastian Siren, for again coming on who's your mama, and hopefully I look forward to the next time because I enjoy the journey every time with you.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll sign off with let's go, y'all.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, do we do it but together now?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do we do it together?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to, yeah, okay, ready?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, y'all.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: The time is now.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning in to Who's Your Mama?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I look forward to collaborating from a community standpoint for the next episodes.