Nirmala Seshadri
July 16, 2020
Who would ever have thought we would spend 2020 confined to our homes and struggling to just exist? The suffering all over the world is unimaginable, with many denied the privilege of being safely ensconced within the four walls called home. Covid-19 is forcing into the spotlight the ills and injustices of many countries. It is pushing us to recognise that the world as we have known it is flawed. Moreover, it is a world we will not be able to return to.
Covid-19 urges us to pause, rethink and reimagine the world and our place in it. The time has come to radically change the way we live and to practice deep care - for oneself, for others and for the planet.
How we breathe, eat, think, feel, move, speak and act - each of these has an impact on how we collectively cope with the challenges that face us and our existence. Now more than ever, we must focus on holistic and mindful living so as to fortify ourselves as much as we can against the enemy, the coronavirus. Have we ever been called upon to live this mindfully? From washing our hands conscientiously, ensuring that we adorn ourselves with the mask every time we step out, maintaining social distancing and self-isolating when we travel or experience any symptoms - we are ever alert.
Internally too, we need to protect our bodies and raise immunity levels through proper nutrition, adequate sleep as well as through mindbody practices. Evidence shows that in addition to helping in managing chronic conditions as well as alleviating stress, pain and mental issues, mindbody practices also help strengthen the immune system and resist infection.
There is a range of mindbody practices that can be adopted in one’s ritual of self-care. These include Yoga, Meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Qi and here let me introduce Antarika.
After decades of engagement with the Indian dance form bharatanatyam, yoga, meditation, research, writing, teaching and most recently the Japanese dance theatre form butoh, 2016 saw it all coming together as Antarika - a therapeutic breath and movement system.
A combination of breathwork, mindfulness practices, restorative yoga, conscious breathing techniques, multisensorial stimulation and spontaneous movement exploration, Antarika helps improve emotional, mental and physiological well being.
"The Vanishing Point?" (2015), Choreography: Nirmala Seshadri for Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Image: Jeff Low
I have to say the Antarika seed was planted at least 16 years ago years ago when I began to learn the Krishnamacharya style of yoga in Chennai. It was fascinating for me, as a dancer, to begin moving with a total focus on breathing.
Dance and yoga began to converge and my practice, choreography, teaching and performance shifted dramatically.
A few years later I was invited to teach the Asian Mind-Body Practices module at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts here in Singapore, and I realised that a new movement system was emerging. My postgraduate studies in 2012 included fieldwork in butoh, a form that I drew into my movement practice, research and teaching.
In March 2017, I was invited to conduct a workshop for groups of women in Phuket. It was time to encapsulate the movement system and lifestyle experience in a name. Antarika in Sanskrit means "inward" or "in between". Tari is "dance" in Malay, a language that is also very close to my heart. By August, Antarika received her trademark certification.
Over these few years, people from diverse ages and backgrounds have been experiencing Antarika. "Confidence", "Respect", "Acceptance", 'Calm", "Present", "Awakening", 'Alignment", "Harmony"... are some of the words they use to describe their experience. One of my clients has called Antarika “the gift that keeps giving”. As for myself, I feel "blessed". It's one thing to have danced for many years, but something else to help nudge others into conscious breathing and moving in a spirit of self-acceptance and ahimsa (non-violence) to the body.
Today, some of my clients are mature women who have been trained in forms such as bharatanatyam since childhood. It moves me to tears to work with them and watch them rediscover their dance, on their own terms. And there are others who begin by telling me they have “two left feet”. Gradually they begin to discover and embrace their unique movement. Totally absorbed in the moment, they dance ... as if softly, each foot is “kissing the earth" (Thich Nhat Hanh). So powerful.
I firmly believe that each individual is a very unique creation and has a special contribution to make to society. Each of us needs support to realise and recognise this. The world would be a very different place if we could focus on one another's inclinations and strengths, and help to kindle that unique spark that exists in every individual.
At this stage, it is CARE in every sense of the word, that we need to integrate into our lives. I welcome to Antarika, every person who would like to tread this path and embrace a new way of being.
Nirmala Seshadri is a breath & movement expert, dance artist and researcher. She is the creator of the ANTARIKA® therapeutic movement system.