Today we talk about Primordial yogic Movement, a book by Susan Blackwood Reynolds published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Susan Blackwood Reynolds, to get to know her better, where she found the inspiration to write her book Primordial yogic Movement, as well as how her significant life experiences here told.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where and when did you find the inspiration to write your book?
My inspiration was given impetus by a personal search for truth and wisdom in the Taoism, the Vedas, Upanishads and other texts in Eastern knowledge. It was fueled by the fact that there was no experiential or concrete way for most of us, with the knowledge that we as a species are endangering the planet, to help affect the changes that are necessary to occur for a healthy planet. Mahatma Gandhi poignantly points out, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world” I guess I thought: use what you know and go with the flow. Another inspirational source I used at the beginning of the book was in thinking of my audience which I planted in my mind as those incarcerated individuals in solitary confinement. It is one of the cruelest things we can do to someone’s mind. So many creature forms are stretches and movements that can be modified in small spaces, a bed or narrow room. They are meant to help connect the reader not only physio-psychologically, but to the world outside the body.
- What is the message you want to convey to your readers?
There are many messages, perhaps too many in the book. To give you a sample: the more we know of ourselves – the easier it is to control our behaviours; knowing and emulating other species brings one closer to those species which, in turn, makes it less likely for us to hurt them; listening to your body and how it moves to express thoughts and emotions is healthy and truly beneficial psychosomatically; adding space will widen our perspectives on everything from moments of emotional stress and tension to more balance and nuance in the appropriate handling decisions in life; we are not just individuals but living systems ourselves, a collective of cells and a result largely of cooperative techniques worked out billions of years ago; not only does biodiversity matter for the health of the planet but as part living systems; and finally, and finally, that our species has much to learn from Natural Law.
- What significant life experiences find expression in your book?
Not to regress here but much inspiration with regards to the interconnecting principles and suggested progressions originated from trips to the Sierra Nevada Mountain range with friends and kayaking trips on the Colorado River. There, as a hominin, I’ll never be as fleet and surefooted as a big-horned sheep or mountain goat, never soar as a turkey vulture or use ground effect as a cormorant, or even accurately sing the descending tones of the canyon swallows, but I learned what I could. In other words, being in the powerful presence of the natural world carried much inspiration in the book. For me, the physical thrill of discovering fluid buoyancy in water, or in walking up the long narrow, carved red sand canyons from the desert river and showering in a warm hot spring-fed waterfall cave of algae and ferns were life experiences expressed directly. Primordial yogic Movement teaches how to witness life even when not immediately engaged in it.
- What sensations did you feel by ‘reading’ your life on the pages of your book?
Sensations? Definitely. In the 7th chapter of the book sensing and sensations figure prominently. As a multicellular hominin, we use not only our senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch but our perceptive senses of proprioception and interoception to interact in the physical world around us. It is important to understand how they transmit sensations that travel up from the body to the sensory mapping centers in the cortex of the brain to confer and direct action to move connective tissues and muscles. There is even a nod to the sensations from changes in homeostatic states in the chapter. In Primordial yogic Movement practice, I mention that the sensations in modifying some of the exercises to better fit with what is possible does not have to diminish because it is one’s visualized understanding that is the true carrier of intent in the movements. I also address sensations of nervousness when dancing in public, which involves trust.
- Are you working on a new writing project, you can tell us about?
Well, currently I am doing a little research and blogging on topics that interest me such as cell biology, health and factors of longevity, and culture. I am thinking of writing a follow-up book to Primordial yogic Movement because the practice I devised has modified my personal exercise routines and movements into other uses. It is doing for me what I hope it will be for everyone, that is – take what strikes you in the book and apply it to other interests. PyM can influence our thinking beyond its initial scope to guide expression in any number of new projects. For me modifying my personal practice has largely involved a transitioned return to research on how single cells organisms move, and how the fascia, lymphatic system and bone marrow all benefit from cell health. The initialism for Primordial yogic Movement is PyM, what do you think my next book, if initialed FLM, would stand for?
Europe Books thanks the author, Susan Blackwood Reynolds, once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside her on the editorial path that led to the publication of her book Primordial yogic Movement. We wish her the best of luck for her future works.
To you, my readers, I wish that you can grasp the many messages in this book which concern the importance of correctly listening to our body, analyzing our behaviors, managing our emotions and life decisions both as individuals and as part of a broader living system of which we are part.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!