Interviews with Artists and Athletes: Sean Oshima

At Making Movement, we have the opportunity to work with some amazing people who inspire us in our everyday lives. These interviews shed light on how they excel in their art or sport.

What bands or musicians have influenced you the most?

Growing up I listened to The Beatles, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, and Gillian Welch with my family. Later I became interested in more pop influenced songs of John Mayer, Maroon 5, and Michael Jackson. I think I draw off of music from the folk styles that my parents play, as well as the pop that makes me want to move.

Are there any physical activities that you enjoy or that you feel compliment your musical performance? 

I love to dance. I'll dance in slippers in the kitchen. I'll dance at a club. I'll dance a a contradance in a barn or with a partner to pop music. I love to partner dance, to connect and communicate with someone without words. Music moves me.

When you hit a creative block, what’s your strategy to get through it?

The ocean helps me be creative. I love to be by the ocean and feel small; it puts things into perspective. Musically, trying to just check in with songwriting a little bit every day. Treating it like a job. Writing even when I don't want to. 

What books or authors do you recommend to your friends most often?

Poems by Nayyirah Waheed. The Name of the WInd by Patrick Ruthfuss. Mink River by Brian Doyle.

What are the foods or drinks that you try to consume everyday?

I try to consume so much water. I love to drink water. I try to eat amazing, locally grown foods of all shapes and sizes. I also try to consume a donut everyday. Maybe two.

What do you do on your days off?

On off days I spend time with friends. I cook them dinner. I go to see movies. I dance all night. I make more music.

What rituals do you have before and after a musical performance? 

My brother and I (we preform together) try to make sure to give each other a little back pound massage to loosen up before each show. It's very grounding. We also hug. After a show I just want to talk to and meet and hug everyone. Maybe eat a donut. 

Learn about and listen to more of Sean and the Oshima Brothers on their website, or follow on instagram.

Challenges Today, Benefits Tomorrow

Walking up the hill I noticed a car trying to parallel park in a tight spot between two other cars. A woman was on the sidewalk frantically giving a variety of hand signals to help the driver. Each attempt seemed worse then the last. As I got closer I noticed there were three or four empty parking spots on either side of the two cars; both seemed easier to park in. Hoping to help the situation I pointed to the vacant spaces and offered, “Those spots are also long term parking.” The woman smiled and replied, “Tomorrow is my daughter’s drivers test and she’s still working on how to parallel park.” 

I smiled thinking of how I misunderstood the situation at hand. I found myself in a similar situation down by Pemaquid Point a few years back. My friend and I loved to go rock climbing on the dramatic cliffs just north of the lighthouse early in the mornings. We had set up an anchor to top rope a slightly overhung route. I was part way up the cliff and finding the project much harder to climb than I had thought. I was clinging to a tiny hand hold when a man appeared above us in a bathrobe and holding a cup of coffee.  He lived in a house close by and, by the way we were moaning and groaning in our efforts, thought someone had fallen off the cliff. Taking in the situation he offered, “If you guys walk back about a hundred yards that way, it would be much easier to get up.” My friend and I laughed and replied, “We’re hoping that by practicing now, some day it won’t feel as hard!” 

Our muscles work the same way. When we physically push them to perform under high loads we create microscopic tears in their fibers. As a response the injured cells release myokines which activate the immune system to repair the muscles, creating thicker fibers that are even better at handling future loads, becoming stronger through the process. Everyday activities don’t stimulate new muscle growth and without exposure to resistance and stress we loose one percent of our muscle mass and three percent of our strength every year. You don’t slow down when you get old, but you get old when you slow down. 

Recent studies have shown that each time we contract a muscle myokines are released into the blood stream. These work to regulate metabolism, increase glucose uptake, control inflammation, and possibly prevent most metabolic diseases. Since muscle makes up 45 percent of the body, making the hard choice to do what feels difficult in the moment could be the key to our own longevity. 

If you’re interested in learning more check out this great podcast: The Broken Brain Podcast – Muscle: The Organ of Longevity with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, #12

Summer Dates At Stone Coast Wellness!

We Make We Move Wednesday

Grace Under Water / 6" x 6" / oil on panel by Jessica Lee Ives / 2018

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Wednesday We Make We Move posts bring together the art of movement, and the movement of art.

The fine motor movements made by painters, writers, and musicians are not unlike the full-bodied exertions of runners, climbers, and swimmers; both express kinesthetic intelligence. Human movement is a privilege and a wonder to experience. It is how we make. It is how we move. It is how we live in this world. And it is how we make this world livable.

Interviews with Artists and Athletes: Jack Hauprich

Jack is one of our coaches at CJ Strength & Conditioning. He’s also a wrestler, firefighter, and strongman competitor. He can deadlift 485 pounds, squat 365 pounds, and run a six-minute mile.

What are your greatest athletic accomplishments?

There have been lots of accomplishments that I’ve been privately proud of, but they aren’t the things that make headlines.  It’s going back to the gym after a disappointing competition.  It’s doing the training instead of hanging out at the bar.  It’s not quitting.  My greatest accomplishment is always right around the corner.

What are the foods that you eat every day?

My diet is not my strong suit.  I’ve recently begun really trying to eliminate processed foods because I got used to just throwing protein bars and snacks into a bag for the day.  To eat right you have to slow down a little -- it’s going to take a little more time, and that’s something I never have enough of.  I’m working on it though!

What supplements do you take everyday?

None, but I go to see two of the most knowledgable massage therapists in the industry that I’ve ever met at Making Movement!

How often do you train a week and for how long?

I usually train six days a week for about 12-16 hours a week.

What are your favorite bands or music to listen to when you train?

It depends on what I’m doing!  I like Eminem and Skillet.  When I’m lifting heavy, it’s Skillet.  When it’s a “grind” kind of workout -- fast and light -- it’s Eminem.  During rest periods I listen to Disney Classics.

What do you do for your rest days?

Catch up on things I neglect when I’m training -- haircuts, chores, tidying up, crying profusely in the corner.  But I also do other stuff -- hanging out with my friends, training at the firehouse.  

What books or authors do you recommend to your friends most often?

Verbal Judo and Champion Mind.

Learn more about Jack and CJ Strength & Conditioning.

At Making Movement, we have the opportunity to work with some amazing people who inspire us in our everyday lives. These interviews shed light on how they excel in their art or sport.

We Make We Move Wednesday

Bright Morning, Rapid River / 10" x 22" / oil on panel by Jessica Lee Ives / 2018

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Wednesday We Make We Move posts bring together the art of movement, and the movement of art.

The fine motor movements made by painters, writers, and musicians are not unlike the full-bodied exertions of runners, climbers, and swimmers; both express kinesthetic intelligence. Human movement is a privilege and a wonder to experience. It is how we make. It is how we move. It is how we live in this world. And it is how we make this world livable.

Why We Take Breaks

Muscles work, muscles rest, and sometimes muscles need a reminder to stop working and start resting. The system by which they operate is scalable. For example, in the following passage on muscle function and dysfunction, it's easy to see parallels that apply when we pan out and consider the whole organism, specifically an individual human living in the modern world: 

“We move by contracting. Muscles fire, causing them to tighten, shorten, and pull. With repetition and habituation, muscles fire quicker, shorten more, and pull harder. When strength or stability are needed, this rapidity, tightening, and pulling are all very good things.

But muscles that get accustomed to firing quickly or strongly can lose refinement and finesse. Powerful movements become jerky and less precise, as muscles “forget” they don’t have to bring all their motor units online at once. And when it’s time for rest or relaxation, muscles accustomed to fast contraction, strong pulling, and sustained tightening sometimes forget how to simply let go.

That’s where hands-on work can help. By leveraging the nervous system’s built-in regulatory and control systems, skilled manual therapy can “remind” muscles to lower their resting tone when they aren’t working. And using the same systems, hands-on work can also help muscles learn refined, incremental, and nuanced possibilities for action, instead of lurching into unnecessarily large all-or-nothing contractions with every moment.”

A muscle must learn to enter full relaxation in order to access full range of power. Have you ever seen Derek Stockton's quad? This is what an insanely powerful set of muscles looks like when fully relaxed. Super-jiggle is not exactly what our culture of "firm and fit" inspires us to work toward, and yet there's no denying this man's elite practice and performance. If we scale up to the whole organism, our culture's projection of what a powerful, productive life looks is also incredibly misguiding and unhealthy. "The Busy Trap" is one of the best reminders of this that I've ever read.

When we lead hyper-tense lives (using our hyper-tense muscles) what is the scaled up equivalent of the manual therapist's elbow, effective in forcing a lifestyle stuck in sustained "work" contraction to relax? Well, Jonathan and I have decided that booking non-refundable plane tickets seems to work for us!

Our first summer of business at Making Movement was successful far above and beyond what we had anticipated -- which is awesome! -- and we are so very grateful to all of you who made it so. The work we get to do with you is a privilege and joy; it is a GOOD thing. But too much of anything can kill you, even good things like kale, oxygen, exercise, or meaningful work. With no previous standard to pace ourselves by, and falling fully in love with our new profession, we slipped into overworking so easily we didn't even realize it at first. It was only July when this happened, and a full two months of the busy season still remained! Almost accidentally -- but thankfully -- plane tickets had been booked well in advance so that we would be forced to take a fall break.

During the month of October Jonathan and I closed our practice for three weeks. We traveled back to Bend, Oregon, the city where we trained to become LMTs, and a place where our outdoor adventure spirits feel at home in the landscape. While there, we didn't give any massages, we only received them. We gave our hand and forearm muscles a rest, enjoying the larger whole-body activities of hiking and fishing instead.

Like all of us who are navigating the demands and opportunities of our contemporary culture, Jonathan and I are guilty of the work-hard-play-hard grind. But we also endeavor to practice what we preach -- that rest and relaxation are vital not only for muscles but for people! -- and in order to do this we're learning how to take intentional, even anticipatory, and sometimes costly (plane tickets?) measures. All well worth it to maintain health, balance, and the capacity to live a life in full range of motion.

How can you hold yourself accountable to practice necessary rest and relaxation for the health of your muscles? Your whole body? Your work? What are the possible ripple effects that a vital rest cycle might have on your family and community?

For more information and inspiration check out The Wisdom of Recovery or mull over functional medicine practitioner, Chris Kresser's thoughts on Leaonardo da Vinci.

Interviews with Artists and Athletes: Annie Bailey

At Making Movement, we have the opportunity to work with some amazing people who inspire us in our everyday lives. These interviews shed light on how they excel in their art or sport.

What are your greatest artistic accomplishments?

The Account of The Royal Tar which was on exhibit at the Farnsworth Art Museum in a show called The Art of Disaster is probably my most significant artistic accomplishment. It’s a 35 foot long hand-painted illustration of the final voyage of the Royal Tar presented in a vintage wooden shipping crate. There are knobs on the top of the box that enable the viewer to crank through the scroll which is illuminated from the rear of the box and framed in a vintage gold and black viewing window. Inked images depict the devastating true story of the vessel named the Royal Tar which was transporting a circus from Canada to Portland, Maine when it burned and sank in Penobscot Bay in 1836. 

Truthfully though, I think my most significant accomplishment has been to keep maintaining a creative practice. It is so easy to get side-tracked and be extremely tough on yourself when you work alone in a studio. Continuing to show up and do the work feels like a big accomplishment.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

My days tend to vary quite a bit. I work best from about 9am-11am and then again from 1pm-3pm. Some days are productive, some less so. I strive for 3-4 hours of actual painting a day, which is usually flanked by all the other things that come with representing yourself as an artist, like marketing, writing proposals for grants. residencies, and doing research for upcoming projects.

When you work, what is your choice for music?

Classical music or alpha waves are my go to studio music choices. 

What are the foods that you eat every day?

Breakfast is usually leftovers, salad with egg on top, or banana and peanut butter. Oh, and coffee! For lunch and dinner I eat a lot of beans and rice, vegetables, and canned fish, like sardines and herring. Cheap and healthy is my jam.

What do you do on your days off?

When I take time off I like to get outside and play! I hike in the Camden Hills, swim in the ocean, and occasionally go sailing. There are always home chores to get done, too, and I enjoy the satisfaction of keeping things in order.

Are there any physical activities that you enjoy or that you feel compliment your art making?

Expressive movement (like dance) and cardio activities (like running and swimming) are ways that I help maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. I often find that creative ideas will come to me while I’m out on a long run, too. Recently I have started a sitting meditation practice before I begin a big painting. I’ve noticed a looser, more expressive painting quality emerge since I started meditating. 

When you hit a creative block what’s your strategy to get through it?

Practicing patience, getting outdoors, exercising, reading or talking to other artists is the most effective strategy for me.

What books or authors do you recommend to your friends most often?

I love The Art Spirit by Robert Henri, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, and Orion magazine.

See more of Annie's work on her website or follow her on instagram.

Tight Tissue Tuesday At Stone Coast Wellness!

Now that we're back from our October break, we're trying something new at Stone Coast Wellness: massage ALL DAY, from 6:30a to 6:30p, on the first and third Tuesdays of November and December. Sign up at SCW or contact us directly to reserve your 15, 30, or 45 minutes on either Jessica or Jonathan's table!

We Make We Move Wednesday

The Art Of Movement / 20" x 30" / oil on panel by Jessica Lee Ives / 2017

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Wednesday We Make We Move posts bring together the art of movement, and the movement of art.

The fine motor movements made by painters, writers, and musicians are not unlike the full-bodied exertions of runners, climbers, and swimmers; both express kinesthetic intelligence. Human movement is a privilege and a wonder to experience. It is how we make. It is how we move. It is how we live in this world. And it is how we make this world livable.