E5 S2 | Movement Teacher Amber Ryan of The 360 Emergence Shares the Shifts That Happen When Practicing Embodied Movement, and How Dance Can Assist with Moving People Away from Numbness and Back into Connection With Their Body

Welcome to Episode 5, Season 2 of the Sick and Seeking Podcast!

In this episode, I chat with Amber Ryan, a movement teacher and mentor, and co-founder of The 360 Emergence—a spirit-driven movement practice that combines embodiment, personal growth, and a strong ethic of care and justice.

Amber beautifully captures our shared passion for embodied movement with this quote:

“And numbing is also one of those vibrations that the movement practice can help assist moving people away from. Whether it's stuffing something down or feeling overwhelmed, numbing can arise for many reasons. Through movement, we can begin to warm that freeze and bring people back into their bodies.” - Amber Ryan

Join us as we explore how movement can be a pathway to reconnecting with the body and embracing the full spectrum of life’s experiences.

Conversation Highlights:

• Energy Flow: How stagnant energy in the body can be shifted through movement to invite vitality.
• Mindful Breathing: Utilizing breath as a tool for deeper presence and self-awareness.
• 5 Rhythms Influence: Amber discusses how Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms ecstatic dance method helped her establish healthier patterns in support of her body.
• Breath's Power: The profound changes that occur with a full, deep breath.
• Embodied Movement Benefits: Participants often experience feelings of freedom, connection, rejuvenation, and stress release.
• Raw Emotion Expression: Dance creates space for authentic emotional expression and movement of energy.
• Community Support: Movement can offer solidarity for those facing illness or chronic pain.
• Healing Through Tears: Amber discusses how crying can serve as a softening and healing release.

Connect with Amber:
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Resources:
The 360 Emergence: Remember Center (Free!)
Calm Your Nervous System
Amber’s Sound Cloud Music and Mixes That Inspire Movement

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🔥 CLICK HERE for details 🔥

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Transcript

Leslie (00:00.915)

Hello and welcome to the Sick and Seeking podcast. I'm super excited today because I have Amber Ryan with me from the 360 Emergence. Welcome, welcome Amber. I'm so happy to have you with us today.

Amber Ryan (00:14.602)

Thanks so much, Leslie. It is a joy to be here tuning in with you about something that's really near and dear to my heart. So thanks so much for having me on.

Leslie (00:23.511)

I mean, this is a dream because I reached out to you, Amber does not know me, however, I've been following her. I figured it out since January of last year because I am all about movement. I'm all about getting back into the body. And this is, as my listeners will know, is a deep passion of mine, an exploration, and a journey that I'm still on and will always be on. And I wanna know more about it. Plus, I wanna invite people like you, Amber, on to come and speak about your experience and what you know about how movement.

can be such an important, impactful, healing part of our lives. So with that, I mean, we're gonna go in all the directions. Amber, tell me about you, your work, your story. I'd love to hear it.

Amber Ryan (01:07.798)

Well, thank you. You know, when I scan back and look back at my life from the very beginnings of what I can remember, dance and movement was always, always something that brought me great joy. And as I grew up and...

got into high school and those moments in my life where emotions were more high. I also used dance as an outlet to be able to move my emotional world as well. So I was a trained dancer, but the aspects of being able to tune in with my emotions and move in some sort of raw, real, authentic, uncoreographed way has always been a part of

of kind of how I roll in the world and kind of how I interface with the world. I would say that movement for me is more of my...

We could say mother tongue, if you've heard that phrase before, like my first language movement is more of my first language than articulating, uh, with actual words. Um, and, and so, yeah, it's always been a way that I've oriented and throughout time, me having my own injuries, me having my own.

different shades of illnesses. I had an eating disorder in high school and in my early adulthood. And having movement as a way of literally moving the energy. Yeah, because all of this is energy. And sometimes when we're tuning into the realm of not being well, sometimes just a matter of understanding where stagnant energy is in the body and how to move it, how to move that,

Amber Ryan (02:55.196)

in more flow and therefore more vitality to our lives. So yeah, there's lots of places that we can go and explore together during this hour and I'm so happy to be here with you and I want to say for your audience, our audience, one of the reasons why I said yes is because I absolutely love the title of this podcast.

Leslie (03:02.494)

Hahaha!

Leslie (03:21.695)

Thank you.

Amber Ryan (03:22.202)

sick and seeking. The name itself says so much and I also as an embodiment teacher, as a meditation movement, meditation teacher, I do work with folks one-on-one as well. And there's some folks that I work with that live and walk.

You know, they're every day with chronic pain. And so to have this opportunity to come in and share a little bit of what it is that I've learned along the way is a real honor and a real pleasure. So thanks so much.

Leslie (03:55.943)

Mmm. Oh my gosh, you're right. Where do we go from there? I mean, I was like I just first off it's Just I'm just having a moment personally because these conversations are really nourishing for me. So thank you It's nice to hear people speak in a language of my own experience with movement That I have very personally felt and now someone sort of sitting here saying yes me too so I really appreciate that it's sort of

It transcends time and space, right? All of us are having these amazing experiences with moving our bodies. And I like what you said about just that it doesn't have to be what we call dance. It doesn't have to be like step one, step two, step three. And it can be that. And I've had incredible experiences doing that kind of movement practice. But as I got older and as things shifted and changed in my life, I was able to find a free form type of movement.

And I didn't really know what it was. It was kind of weird at first, like anything. You're like, what is this? What do you mean? You just want me to... And I move with my eyes closed. I suspect you might have that part of the practices that you teach and work with. And you're kind of like, what am I doing? Like anything. You're like, what is this? Why do I have my eyes closed? This feels weird. Are people looking at me? Why do you, you know, why do you want me to move all the ways? But then things happen. And then we get to experience all these incredible feelings, emotions.

Amber Ryan (04:53.614)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Leslie (05:19.007)

Tell me more about how you work with people in the space with movement. I'm sure you've done a lot of things over the years, but I'm curious to hear about your philosophy and how you guide people.

Amber Ryan (05:30.642)

Well, the first most important thing for any movement experience is for folks to be able to contextualize, to have an understanding of what it is they're arriving with. Because when we understand what it is that we're arriving with, whether it's frustration, or

Feeling a lot of heart energy, you know, or a lot of anger or grief when we can contextualize that then I can locate myself And I know where to start Okay, because when we're moving in this kind of way as you've already mentioned, it's not about my toe being here How well can I do that turn? It's actually about what's going on with me? And how do I start to put that in motion now?

the beginner is not gonna know how to do that. And that's where I come in. So we start really simply, especially when, you know, we're always tracking the rooms and knowing, oh, okay, there's some new faces here tonight. And so with that, really simple cues can come in. We'll do a few right here, right now, so that everyone can see how actually simple it is. So let's all take a breath because that's always a good idea.

Leslie (06:36.978)

Yeah.

Leslie (06:44.191)

Ah, yes!

Amber Ryan (06:45.219)

Exactly. I had a feeling you were going to let that breath out with an exhale. So let's all do that. And if you can sound again, allow your exhale to be audible. Let's all do that. So breath in.

Leslie (06:56.38)

you

Leslie (07:00.182)

Ah.

Amber Ryan (07:01.514)

Yeah, and that right there already starts to change something, right? First of all, I've just taken a full deep breath into my body, which usually always feels good. And on that exhale, I have the ability to release some things that I might be carrying that actually aren't essential. Some stress, some anxiety, some physical holdings. Let's go ahead and take another breath in together. And this time, when you breathe in, pull your shoulders up by your ears.

And on the exhale, gently let the shoulders go down towards the earth. Oh yeah. And now let's all feel the part of our body that's either touching the seat or if your feet are on the ground, feel your feet on the earth. Now I just made a shift there to actually put my feet on the earth. And with that, my posture has changed. Good, so let's take one more breath, this time right into your belly.

Leslie (07:34.355)

Ahhhh

Amber Ryan (07:59.026)

And when the exhale happens, let's allow for a sense of relaxation to emerge.

Leslie (08:03.935)

Thanks for watching!

Amber Ryan (08:08.054)

So those types of really simple cues is usually how we begin. And immediately everybody, oh, yeah, I can do that. It might feel a little weird at first to share an exhale or to make a sigh. But humans, we learn through repetition. We refine through repetition. So after a few cycles of doing that, it's like, oh, everybody else is doing the same thing too. Actually.

Nobody else is watching me, right? So I actually can start to cultivate a sense of safety, even in a group field, to explore in a way that feels good to me.

Leslie (08:36.743)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (08:46.998)

So we start simply. Breath is always a key. You know, in my studies throughout a few decades, especially in the conscious dance world, or we could say the ecstatic dance world.

Leslie (08:47.388)

Mm... Yeah.

Amber Ryan (09:03.426)

For me, if the breath isn't part of the situation, then there's a shallowness that's happening or a lack of transformation that is possible to happen. So another way to say that is when we practice in being a people who breathe, being people who are conscious of...

Leslie (09:17.96)

I don't know.

Amber Ryan (09:28.414)

allowing ourselves to be filled with breath, which is life force. I mean, talk about healing. That's it right there. If I can learn and get more confident with really drawing life, life force air, the air around me, especially if it's healthy, yummy, good air into my whole body, there's a sense of healing that can come just right there. And so breath, it's the first thing that comes in after we're born.

Right? And it's the ally, the friend that's with us all the way to the end. Right? And so if I can start to utilize that as an ally, as a tool, then those places where I desire to have shifts and changes in my life actually expand in their possibility of that change and transformation to take place. The breath is such a key.

Leslie (09:56.039)

Yeah.

Leslie (10:00.732)

Yes.

Leslie (10:22.639)

Ooh, I'm so happy you spoke about the breath. You know, and someone was pointing out in different, I don't know, workshop I was in, she was like, even breath moves your body. The natural taking in of the air and letting it go. Our bodies are always in motion and moving. And what a natural thing that we do, yes, like you said, from birth to death, we're breathing.

Amber Ryan (10:34.283)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (10:44.736)

Yep.

Leslie (10:46.695)

I want to shift before we maybe continue talking about the movement practice and all the different parts of it. I kind of want to go back to your story a little bit. I know you spoke about your eating disorder when you were younger and having to move through that in our conversation before now you spoke about how the movement really supported you. And I...

Amber Ryan (10:55.512)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (11:08.871)

Sure, there's people out there who might be going through something similar, who are listening, or they know someone who is, and I'd love to connect those two together and hear about how the dance and the movement was for you and how maybe it connected to what you were going through.

Amber Ryan (11:22.446)

Great, thank you, thank you. Yeah, well, there's a few different, we could say teachers that have come into my life in the form of not desirable moments, right? So physical injury, I was a competitive dancer, I was a cheerleader, I was very active in school and in high school. And with that, I had a few injuries come in. And, you know, as I mentioned,

Leslie (11:36.185)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (11:53.28)

earlier, dance and movement was always my way. It was always my way of connection and connectivity and so when those injuries started to happen, you know, I would say probably that's when some depression started to come in as well because I didn't have my outlet in the same way. I mean, I spent my junior year of high school in a cast, not the whole year, but good enough to where the things that were really...

Leslie (11:57.279)

Yeah.

Leslie (12:14.419)

Hmm

Amber Ryan (12:20.426)

kind of like breathing to me, which was dance and movement at that time, had to cease, had to stop to a big degree. So there's that layer.

Leslie (12:29.823)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (12:31.606)

that came in and then with the depression and whatever else I was grappling with in my life, in my home life and all of that, an eating disorder also emerged. And you know, there's different kinds of eating disorders, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time like going into that specifically, but part of what I'm going to do is to start to paint the picture of how movement both helped me to do what it is that I loved in a way that was not harmful.

Leslie (12:32.292)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (12:44.885)

Hmm.

Amber Ryan (13:02.undefined)

my body because you know one of the things that I've learned through this process is even with loving a movement practice like I do and even with having a movement practice that allows me to be more awake and aware in my body there are ways that those of us who have

Leslie (13:03.293)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (13:25.014)

let's say self-harming tendencies, we can still self-harm in things that we love, like the dance. So I remember one night, I was performing at Arkansas Repertory Theater as a dancer in a show, and it was a very physical show. Mia Michaels had choreographed it. You know, Mia Michaels, you know it's gonna be hardcore. And so I had this move every night where I would run and I would put my hand on a rail and I would fly up as high as I could in the air, and then I would have to land.

Leslie (13:32.027)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (13:53.706)

And this one night I was really pissed off. I was really angry. And so I remember the moment where I flew up in the air and I decided to self-harm on that landing. And so choices like that, having a lot of emotion and not having a healthy way.

Leslie (13:54.021)

and

Leslie (14:05.967)

Wow.

Amber Ryan (14:16.214)

to have an outlet, that was part of my learning, part of my growing up, part of me becoming more of a mature human being. So when I found Gabrielle Roth's work, so Gabrielle Roth was the founder, is the founder, she's not alive anymore, but she is still the founder of the Five Rhythms. One of my acting teachers, I was in theater school.

Leslie (14:26.635)

Hmm.

Leslie (14:36.647)

Yep.

Amber Ryan (14:40.946)

you know, I ended up as life would have it, I ended up after not listening to all the messages that, you know, life was showing me, you need to go in this direction. I still got cast as a dancer in a show and the night before we were opening this show, I broke my foot walking to the car after the rehearsal. So it was a directive from whatever you call God, the universe, God as creator.

Leslie (14:52.115)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (15:01.286)

Mm.

Amber Ryan (15:07.786)

All of that, a directive that was saying, you're not listening, Amber. So in that process, in my healing process, one of my very wise, wonderful, intuitive teachers handed me one of Gabrielle's books and said, I think you should read this. And so when I received this book, and I literally, page one, I knew this human being was gonna be my teacher. And so that clarity.

Leslie (15:09.459)

Yeah.

Leslie (15:23.268)

Yes.

Leslie (15:33.225)

Ugh.

Amber Ryan (15:36.194)

was an absolute soul driven, that's where I'm going. And through learning the five rhythms with Gabrielle, I learned, I started to learn how to repattern so many different ways in which I was self harming. So many different ways in which I was being really aggressive with myself in movement and on the dance floor. And through the practice of movement meditation, which is in its simple form, bringing more attention and awareness.

Leslie (15:40.479)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (16:06.802)

in life itself, but through the physical body, I started to understand the moves, the dance moves, the physical moves that I was doing that actually was still perpetuating harm in my body. Could be a walking pattern, could be a turn or a leap that I was doing even on the authentic dance floor because it felt so good, you know?

Leslie (16:07.303)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (16:28.769)

Ah, wow.

Amber Ryan (16:28.934)

And so going through my dance and with this new found awareness, discovering and uncovering the places in which I wasn't being as kind and supportive to my body or my heart, as actually was required to be a healthy, vibrant human being, the repatterning started.

And then, you know, let's go ahead and just weave in the eating disorder there and my discoveries around that. You know, I can't speak for everyone. I won't even try to, of course, but in my own experience, eating disorder is a lack of connection in some way. For some people, it's a lack of connection with spirit, you know. For some people, it's a lack of connection with a

Leslie (17:00.969)

Yeah.

Leslie (17:12.231)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (17:16.562)

a parent figure, you know, but there's some, there's some void that is wanting to be filled for a lot of folks. And so what I started to...

experience is that when I was moving in a way that was authentic to me, then I was literally touching in on the parts of myself in a somatic way that needed to be met, that needed to be touched. And sometimes that could have been just a...

physical sensation, right? Other times it's literally a connection. I'm having a dance with someone with you and I'm moving and I'm feeling this energy exchange between the two of us and therefore that's giving me the connection that I'm craving. So these pieces became vital for my healing. One, moving in a way that is supportive to me and beginning to understand the ways that we're not supportive.

Okay? And then stepping into a practice and what I do is a practice, it's a practice because we choose to step in X amount of times a week. You know, for some people, you know, steep in daily practice, whether it's three minutes, five minutes, you know, whatever the rhythm is, that's up to you.

Leslie (18:16.796)

you

Leslie (18:30.268)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (18:38.69)

But in this kind of embodiment practice, movement practice, it is that it's a repetition of showing up again and again. And like in any practice, you're gonna have those days where you feel uninspired, where you feel like, oh, really, do I have to do this thing? Yes, I'm still gonna show up and do it anyways. And even on the days that are more challenging to step in, what I know is that...

Leslie (18:50.959)

Yes.

Amber Ryan (19:04.194)

When I step into my practice, I'm going to feel more free at the end. I'm going to feel more awake at the end. I'm going to be connected also to the goodness of life. I'm going to, if I started the practice in a way that feels really weighted and heavy, there's going to be a lightening up that happens. And for sure, because I'm committed to my breath practice, my whole being is going to feel more vital and alive and rejuvenated. And...

Leslie (19:07.595)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (19:22.596)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (19:33.802)

my nervous system is going to feel more relaxed. Because when I'm doing a movement practice, there's got to be a lot of exhales in there, right? It's not just about the inhale. It's also about that exhale, right? So when we exhale, oh my gosh, that's where the stress, the tension, all of that can start to leave our bodies because we do hold.

Leslie (19:40.397)

Hahaha! Yeah!

Amber Ryan (19:53.882)

onto things and in practices like this we learn how to let them cycle through, to move, and eventually to surrender and let go.

Amber Ryan (20:06.794)

Yeah. Mm. Ha ha ha.

Leslie (20:06.828)

Mm, mm. She speaks the truth, everybody. If you didn't know before, this is it. This is, I can say it deep in my bones. I've had all these experiences and gosh, I love what you talk about. Okay, so I have interviewed someone else about movement and the emotional part, but I gotta just keep going in there because.

Amber Ryan (20:30.091)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (20:30.747)

You talk about that cycling through, you talk about an outlet for emotions, and for me particularly, I experienced that, I saw that. It was working, they were working with someone, my teacher named Erin Pace, who she was the one who helped me really see that there was more there, there was more to work through, the holding that was happening, particularly with emotions that I didn't want to feel or experience.

And yeah, and it's been beautiful to have that ability to expand and like you said, cycle through, let them all go through. And I'd love for you to talk more about the emotional side and the cycling through if you can.

Amber Ryan (21:01.195)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (21:08.571)

Okay, yeah, good. In our work in the 360, this part of our work is called feelings. Feelings. So one of my teachers gave this definition of emotion, that emotion is sensation mixed with memory. I was like, well, that's...

Leslie (21:10.225)

Hahaha

Leslie (21:18.511)

Mmm

Leslie (21:35.172)

Oooooooooh!

Amber Ryan (21:36.598)

That's fascinating. How interesting, how interesting, how fascinating. Okay, okay. Well, here's where I am in a couple of decades into this type of practice. Now, as I mentioned, there was the raw, untrained part of myself that would just turn on a song and put it on in my bedroom and move to it. And that's wonderful.

Leslie (21:39.355)

Oh!

Amber Ryan (22:01.834)

That's wonderful. It's part of why we love music, because when that song comes on that just brings you to tears, it gives a place and a space and a permission for you to go into those feelings, those sensations, those emotions, and move them. It's part of why we love, I mean, Elton John, oh my gosh, that's why we call it the blues. Thank you, Elton John.

Leslie (22:19.76)

Yes.

Leslie (22:23.931)

Hahaha!

Amber Ryan (22:28.338)

So there's that type of just pure raw, let's get in there, let's sing this song, let's feel it. And through doing that, through doing that, we get to tap into our emotional realm. Okay, so that's wonderful. We're gonna, we're gonna put that over here for a second. In the movement practice, when we're entering into these types of...

Leslie (22:40.322)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (22:44.412)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (22:50.902)

focuses we can say because you know when you have a practice called the 360 there's all different avenues that we practice right now we're going to talk about the feelings after you've moved for a little while uh you know you get the energy moving you feel that sense of connection that sense of a freedom if you're going to any place of

Leslie (22:59.007)

Hmm.

Amber Ryan (23:14.578)

of depth, let's say, there's going to be a moment when grief arise. There's going to be a moment when sadness comes up or anger. And it's quite natural for folks in the beginning to not know what to do with that. Wait, I'm in a room of 40 people right now and tears are coming. What do what do I do? Can I cry? Is it OK? What if someone hears me? Is that OK? Like all these things start coming through. What's acceptable here?

Leslie (23:18.399)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (23:30.899)

Yep.

Leslie (23:34.62)

Yeah?

Amber Ryan (23:42.622)

So part of what we love to do in this type of movement practice is to give space for people to be in the raw, real expression. Let's use that word consciously. Expression of emotion. Okay. So if I am constantly walking around the world resentful of that thing that my best friend said.

last week that I wasn't able to express, but I'm still feeling resentment, what happens? We start to stuff it down. We try to stuff it down, but then we're going to start to notice the jaw gets tight or the hands start to clench. There starts with resentment. Let's just use it as an example. There starts to be a somatic response. We can say a somatic response to that feeling.

that emotion going underground and not having expression. We can use our imagination, or maybe someone in our life, or someone that we've seen, where we can see the emotional burden of a lifetime that did not have the opportunity to be expressed. It literally begins to shape the body. And when we're looking at wellness, the polarity between.

Leslie (24:45.624)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (24:55.913)

Yeah.

Leslie (25:02.544)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (25:08.834)

being sick or being well, part of what we want to learn how to do is how to cycle, how to allow emotions to move as they rise. Now, when I said that, me and at least a few other people who are listening just went, but anger, I don't want to be angry in a way that's irresponsible. I don't want to, I don't want to use my emotions in a way that do harm to other people.

Leslie (25:11.103)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (25:37.491)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (25:37.514)

And that's really where we are in the exploration in the 360. It's not anymore just about giving ourselves permission to express those emotions. That's one part of it. And to have that opportunity to, in a non-verbal way, to express, to move, to move that energy.

Leslie (25:52.488)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (26:05.554)

in a way that nobody even knows what storyline you're talking about. They don't know. They don't know if you're angry at your mother or your brother or whatever. It's just here's some energy that's being moved. And so in the group context, we create environments, safe yet brave environments, where moving that type of energy is the thing and it's absolutely accessible and encouraged. Now, let's talk about the next step.

Leslie (26:08.731)

Hahaha! Yeah!

Leslie (26:23.076)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (26:30.227)

Yeah.

Leslie (26:35.529)

Okay, yes, yes!

Amber Ryan (26:36.066)

Yeah, yes, because of what I just said, you know, we want to be responsible with our feelings. We don't want to do harm with our feelings. So where is the I am in this exploration? There's this term in Buddhism and none of this is, you know, dogmatic or religious, but we do pull on different teachings to express different things. But there's this there's this word in Buddhism called Shenpa.

Okay, and what Shenpa is, is it's the sensation that happens before the emotion ever takes place. And so with me as a meditator, with me devoting myself and my life to wanting to keep rising, expanding into consciousness, this is where I'm practicing right now. I want my shoulder to tell me before I get...

absolutely freaked out being nervous like, oh, my shoulder has just risen all the way up to my ear. That is an indication that something is off. What is it? Okay, first of all, I'm going to take a breath. I'm gonna let that shoulder descend down my back. I'm gonna let my jaw relax and I'm gonna close my eyes for a moment. Go with it.

Leslie (27:38.62)

Yeah.

Leslie (27:42.978)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (27:58.354)

If I have the luxury to be able to do that, because sometimes we can't do that. We're in the middle of the moment, it's all happening. But I'm gonna take that moment to become aware that something's off. I'm gonna ask myself what it is. And with that awareness, there brings a pause, there brings a space in between the feeling sensation and the reaction. And so if I can get to that place where I'm noticing the sensations that are happening

that those sensations are giving me information, then I have more choice with how it is that I'm going to share the emotion, or I might even interrupt it before I even get to that full-on emotion. So these are different layers that after years of practicing, that I'm coming to, of wanting to be even more responsible with the embodiment practice and go like, yeah.

Leslie (28:37.032)

Mmm.

Leslie (28:41.873)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (28:54.25)

We're gonna move that anger, we're gonna express it, yeah? But in day to day, if I just walked around expressing my anger all over the place, I know I'm not being a very effective society member, right? So it's kind of like the both and. Is that helpful at all in painting a little picture of the emotional realm?

Leslie (29:07.507)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (29:14.839)

Yeah, I could talk about this all day long because I have so much curiosity and I hope that everyone else is enjoying it too. Particularly like you said earlier that you were saying that there's just no places to feel or let it out and in a way that is probably a healthier expression. But like you're saying through movement, you get the opportunity to touch upon these emotions, these feelings, these sensations and sort of get to know them a little bit more. And like you said, not shouting at people or...

Amber Ryan (29:32.727)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (29:44.379)

or all the things, but you having a little dance with them. But there is one I wanna know a little bit more about. And I'm doing this from a very, from a very, I guess, what's the word, when you're being all about yourself. Well, a little bit for me. Tears, I wanna talk about the tears because that one's been huge in my practice. And I know it probably connects to a lot of like tenderness and grief and sadness and loss and all the things. I'm curious how you weave that in for people who say they are.

Amber Ryan (29:47.488)

Yeah.

Tell me, tell me.

Amber Ryan (30:01.918)

Yeah.

Leslie (30:14.419)

coming to a movement experience with you and they find that they are just a sobbing, teary mess. Talk to me about how that works in a room with others. Cause again, I was the sobbing, teary mess, but I found my way through and I had great instructors and teachers to help me through it. I'm just curious about how you manage that.

Amber Ryan (30:33.942)

Thank you. That's a beautiful question. Ah, well first of all, thank goodness for tears. You know, because they're like tears when we're crying, they're a nectar. They're a nectar of the body and certainly the tears are...

Leslie (30:40.589)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (30:53.026)

coming on the outside and on the face, if we're not washing them away, wiping them away. But then there's something that I feel in my own grief and my own sadness, it's almost like those tears are going inside and nourishing and nurturing those places within that need to be touched and nourished. So I just want to presence that as we enter into this more tender part of our conversation together.

So on the very surface level, tears are a release, you know, they're a release of what we've been holding or holding on to.

And I find because of that tears are so incredibly healing. They're so incredibly healing. They soften us. They soften us where we've been hard. And sometimes we can be hard in our minds, right? It's not necessarily always hard in the physical body or hard in our hearts. Like, oh my gosh, even letting go or softening a mind construct, like, oh my goodness, look how self-harming I've been with my thoughts. Oh my goodness.

can also soothe those more mental places within us as well. So there's a softening, there's a release, and so there's a healing.

Leslie (32:05.954)

you

Leslie (32:12.563)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (32:12.714)

that happens with tears as well. So let's go for a moment into what our kind of, maybe our worst fears are with tears. And I'm gonna project a little bit, but I imagine, you know, if we might start to think, oh my goodness, I'm crying. I'm actually crying in a way that people around me can hear. Is that acceptable? Is that okay?

The thing that we are here to practice, I think not only on the dance floor, but in life itself, is how to really honor and respect our humanity. And so I would be more, I'll just use the word alarmed by someone who never cries.

Leslie (32:51.387)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (33:03.702)

Right? Because then it's like, what are all the things that you're holding, holding onto? Is that a state of wellness? You know? So, so if we can as, and this is why community is so important, as a community, if we can come together and give space for the person who is grieving tonight, just, you know, alongside the person who's celebrating.

Leslie (33:28.002)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (33:28.682)

You know, because in any kind of movement space like that, you're gonna have the whole spectrum. Unless something has happened globally that day where we're all pretty much in the same place, which obviously is happening on the planet these days, you know, but otherwise there's usually big fluctuations in what people are bringing. It goes back to the beginning. What am I arriving with? What am I bringing in today? Oh, wow, I have a heavy heart today. So...

Leslie (33:33.223)

Yes.

Leslie (33:43.183)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (33:54.907)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (33:56.15)

Being able to learn, and this is a muscle just like any other, that sharing some of my vulnerability in this space is actually me healing, and it's also giving other permission for others to heal, and to be in that state of collective grief. The people that, there are people that are real grief teachers, and.

The people that I've read a book or whatever, the people who are real great grief teachers, the collective.

grief rituals are super important. They're super important. So if that only comes in the way every once in a while of someone having a big cry or emotional release on the floor, how wonderful, what a wonderful offering and gift to the community. However, someone that might know that they're really full and it's gonna come and they haven't had that experience before, it's all gonna happen in its right time.

Leslie (34:45.288)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (34:52.145)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (34:56.283)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (34:56.894)

you know, and so it might be that the most courageous act.

within someone stepping in, what I like to say, belonging themselves on the dance floor that night is to step in knowing that grief is there and it might come or it might not and still having the courage to do so. That's a hugely courageous act, yeah? And then, you know, just like when we were talking before, once you get going, like once you have those tears, you're gonna recognize one, there's probably actually a lot more support in the field than you even imagined.

Leslie (35:15.179)

Mmm.

Leslie (35:24.39)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (35:31.644)

Okay, so there's that. Now, we could go to the absolute opposite of that and go, okay, now there's someone that's coming in and wailing every single time. Now, that's a whole other thing, right? And we're not talking about that. If that were the case, then the facilitator would probably, you know, eventually be, you know, tune in a little bit more with what's going on with that human being. But most of the time, you know, and then we have we have people that are that are more criers than others.

Leslie (35:32.175)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (35:39.413)

Yeah.

Leslie (35:45.976)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (36:02.284)

It's all okay. I love to look at this as communal learning as well, like individual and communal healing, individual and communal learning.

Leslie (36:03.99)

Yeah.

Leslie (36:07.752)

Yeah.

Leslie (36:13.407)

Oh, yes. I'm the crier, by the way. I'll come any moment, any time. So if you ever need one in a group when you're in LA, I'm here for you. Thank you for sharing that because I have so much curiosity personally about the tears. Yes, it was my selfish moment because this is an area I'm just, I'm like, tell me more about your experience and your thoughts. So thank you for sharing that with me.

Amber Ryan (36:18.769)

Thank you, thank you!

Amber Ryan (36:24.85)

Okay, great. Thank you.

Leslie (36:40.739)

I want to go back to maybe the work that you do with people who maybe have, as I say, things going on in their bodies that maybe they wish were not happening. Whether that's a body system that's not functioning how they would like, whether it's something going on in the mental space that they're really having to move through. I moved through a very deep depression for a while. And interestingly, someone finally broke down the word in just a way I'd never thought about that. And I just want to...

Amber Ryan (36:50.645)

Yeah.

Leslie (37:10.391)

say it because I feel like I need to. They took the word depressed and they just said, doesn't that sound so much like deep rest? And if I think about my time when I was depressed and really moving through that time, not only was it the movement practice that helped me kind of come back to myself in some ways, because I was in almost a period of deep rest, I couldn't quite...

get off the couch, I couldn't, there was a numbness that was going on. It was almost like my body and myself and my spirit powered down. And that was also obviously very concerning because I was like, what the heck is going on with me? But it was so nice to hear someone explain it as a deep rest period for me. But so that's something I move through the depression, all the things I have going on. I have chronic kidney disease, which Amber, you don't know that, but I have low functioning kidneys. So that's something my listeners have probably heard me say. I-

would like to share more about it. I've been very quiet in sharing my own personal story on the podcast, but there's still time. So my low functioning kidneys has always drawn me into looking into more of all the things we can't understand because how can I have such low functioning kidneys and not need a transplant or dialysis when 99% of the people already would have at my point. But anyway, why am I saying all this? It's really to talk back about the body and moving with people who have these.

Amber Ryan (38:20.829)

Mm.

Leslie (38:30.055)

things going in their bodies and then, you know, all the different components that come in with that. I'd love to hear more about your experience with working with people, like you said, with chronic pain or anything else.

Amber Ryan (38:42.258)

Yeah, thank you. Well, it's a big question, and I want to preface by saying I am not an expert. Though I have had, I've had a few clients, like I mentioned, who move with chronic pain every day. And some of those, you know, I don't know the statistics, but some of these folks,

Leslie (38:50.081)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (39:10.454)

The doctors can't even figure out really why. So there's such a frustration that comes in with that of not being able to crack the code, not to be able to find just the thing that the body or the psyche or the mind needs in order for it to heal itself, yet feeling that like 100% commitment to it. So one of the things that I...

Leslie (39:16.123)

Yes.

Leslie (39:27.814)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (39:39.378)

I have heard and you know through my own vows with physical pain and healing and all of that is the frustration. You know there can be a real frustration that comes in and so boom here we go right into the movement practice right there. If I can have a place where I can

Leslie (39:48.837)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (40:00.874)

move those types of things because another aspect that I know is when people are moving with a lot of illness for a lot of periods of time, they, we can start to feel that we're a burden on our friends and our family because I'm telling you the same story that I just said yesterday and the day before and the day before and it's, you know, nobody wants to be a downer but everybody wants to feel support.

And so all of these types of things come in. It could be for the most part like a physical thing that's going on, but we're human. So then all this other emotional stuff starts to come in as well. And so, you know, one of the things, I even don't like saying what I'm about to say. It's this.

Leslie (40:26.182)

Yeah.

Leslie (40:39.655)

Yes.

Leslie (40:46.689)

Hahaha

Amber Ryan (40:50.454)

And I want to use this word very carefully because the word that I'm about to drop in, it's not about, it's not about settling. Okay. It's not about settling. But how is it that in this moment I can start where I am and I'm going to use the word acceptance. That in this moment, if I can just accept that right now, this is how it is, then I stop this battle.

Leslie (40:58.458)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (41:07.551)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (41:18.614)

this battle of separation and by accepting, I can actually be with.

I can be with the reality of what is. Okay? Now, you brought up depression, and I love that deep rest. We're going to talk about that deep rest in a moment. You brought up depression, and you brought up a word that I had actually jotted down that we hadn't gotten to yet. So I'm really grateful that you brought up the word numb, numbing.

Leslie (41:29.151)

Hmm

Leslie (41:38.006)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (41:48.755)

Hmm yeah. Yeah.

Amber Ryan (41:52.566)

This is a big deal. And numbing is also one of those vibrations that the movement practice can help assist moving people away from. Because numbing comes in for different reasons, whether it's we're stuffing something down, or I just can't even anymore. I've gone on overload. It's too much. Lots of different reasons for how numbing can come in. But yeah.

Leslie (42:03.687)

Yes.

Leslie (42:14.413)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (42:21.22)

go numb, like if I were to just drop into the vibration of numb, one of the things that we know is we start to come into this state where nothing's going in and nothing's going out and that is not inspiring. Okay, so let's use the word inspire for a moment. That is definitely not inspiring and let's take the word inspiring turn it into breath, breath to in-spire to intake. So even when we're when we're numbing in a way we've stopped.

Leslie (42:35.071)

I don't know.

Leslie (42:45.043)

Hmm

Amber Ryan (42:50.082)

taking in the vital force of life, right? If I just take that deep breath in, then the parts of me that have been frozen, the parts of me that have gone really small or really contained, they start to move, okay? So the movement practice by its nature is a way of helping to exaggerate the state of numb because what a lot of people will do if they are numbers, they will start

Leslie (42:50.407)

Yes.

Leslie (42:54.047)

Yeah.

Leslie (43:02.152)

Yep.

Amber Ryan (43:19.65)

fully pausing and vacating. Like you can see as a facilitator, I can see like people just drift off. It's almost like their body is still in the room, but the rest of them is not. And so through the movement practice, we can start to warm that freeze, or we can start to draw and bring people back into the body.

Leslie (43:22.407)

Mmm.

Leslie (43:31.391)

Yeah.

Leslie (43:40.479)

Hmm.

Amber Ryan (43:42.082)

I'm gonna just take a breath there, because that's a lot of words. Yeah.

Leslie (43:44.687)

Yeah, no. And it's interesting because I didn't really realize I was numb. I didn't know what it was. You know, it was such a new feeling to feeling a life of vibrancy and doing things. And I was in New York City and I was very busy and I loved the job that I had. And then everything imploded for various reasons and the pandemic and all the things. And it's like, yeah, the stillness that came in, I didn't even realize that it was numbness. Now I look back.

Amber Ryan (44:06.38)

Hmm. Mm-hmm.

Leslie (44:13.663)

and I realized it was numbness. But there was a part of me that knew, stay with your movement practice, keep doing it, and keep showing up for yourself there, because it seemed to be doing something. And the biggest thing it was doing was releasing a lot of tears and helping me feel again and feel the different emotions and be okay with all them, because they were the really...

Amber Ryan (44:14.674)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Amber Ryan (44:20.36)

Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Amber Ryan (44:26.242)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (44:36.007)

We could call them the darker ones, the heavier ones, which we all have, we have the full spectrum, but I was very much in the darker spectrum and kind of stuck there for a while. But the movement practice helped me probably just to feel the ones that I never wanted to felt. I'm from the family and a culture that's like, oh, everything's fine, put on the smile. You know, we've got things to do, be productive, get on with it, right? You know, build a bridge, get over it, right? So the expansion that happened.

Amber Ryan (44:43.802)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Amber Ryan (44:48.971)

Yeah.

Right?

Leslie (45:02.579)

But yeah, not even knowing I was numb was a big deal. So I appreciate you sharing that.

Amber Ryan (45:07.218)

Yeah, and that's how, you know, in the movement practice, we come in and learn. When we're in a circle of people, it could even come through to you in a way of, of seeing someone else go through that process. And, oh, wow, just like me, just like me, this person's having a hard time right now, just like me, that person's pissed off right now, whatever it is, right? So there becomes this universality that when we step into community, no matter

Leslie (45:18.803)

Hmm

Leslie (45:31.209)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (45:37.072)

what kind of community is. There are these reflector points that come back in, or these mirrors that come up that help us to get more clues for our own path. So yeah, moving the emotions. You mentioned the word stuck. So some of us, probably all of us, I don't know anyone that hasn't gotten stuck, we get in these loops.

Leslie (45:43.571)

Yeah.

Leslie (45:47.263)

Hmm

Amber Ryan (46:03.69)

Right, we get in these loops. On the dance floor, it might come through in this movement that always comes through and say, oh, there it is again. Oh yeah, this feels so good. This feels good. I love the way this movement feels. This repetition, it's so simple. It's so wonderful. And then we might hit those pockets where there's something more deeper or darker, as you said, or more shadowy or a part of ourselves that we don't.

Leslie (46:04.085)

Yeah.

Leslie (46:12.935)

Hahaha

Amber Ryan (46:29.718)

really want people to know about ourselves, maybe just because of our conditioning.

or our families, where we come from, oh, that part of me is not accepted here, right? And so part of what we start to see in the movement practice and other similar communities where the more shadowy aspects or the darker aspects of humanity are allowed to come in, in a good way, you know, in a responsible way, they're allowed to come in so that again, we can learn and grow together and we don't have to, you know, push these, you know, we don't have

Leslie (46:35.399)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (47:05.42)

happening because you know what is a what is what does a meaningful life mean to you to me to each of us as individuals you know for me I don't want to have to hide a whole huge part of myself in the dark and shame myself for it you know I I'm the type of person I want to be in connection and be in community in good measure even when it's scary you know even when it might be you know a little bit more scary to allow those parts of myself that I push away

Leslie (47:06.655)

Yeah.

Leslie (47:19.697)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (47:35.74)

to come through. So depression, that's real, you know? I mean, some people have experienced it, you know, in a more extreme way than others. But we know there's so much challenge in our world. I think having moments of depression, little periods of depression is normal and natural

Leslie (47:37.831)

Mmm. Mm-hmm.

Leslie (48:04.191)

Hmm.

Amber Ryan (48:05.44)

we go into winter seasons, even though I'm from Florida and I try not to have winter, I have come to know that having those spaces and places in my annual cycle where I actually do give myself permission to fully go inward and go into the cocoon and allow for less productivity, that's actually natural. That's actually natural. And so if we're not doing that, we're actually fighting

Leslie (48:13.095)

Yes.

Leslie (48:27.78)

Yes.

Amber Ryan (48:34.8)

producing and then we're setting ourselves up to be self-deprecating during those and to go into fuller forms of depression rather than really honoring the natural ebb and flow of life. So, there's that.

Leslie (48:47.84)

Oh my gosh, let's just drop in the cyclical nature of everything that no one was basically sort of pointed out or taught growing up. At least I wasn't, but I'm hoping that's shifting and changing, especially as women. We go through a cycle every single month. Our seasons go through cycles. Nature with the season goes through cycles. I'm so glad you brought that up because...

Amber Ryan (49:02.785)

you

Amber Ryan (49:12.314)

Mm-hmm.

Leslie (49:12.679)

that's just been a big piece of also unlearning for me and recognizing that it's okay that I can't always be 100% or like you said, I'm gonna show up today for my practice and might be feeling a little lethargic and kind of like a funk or whatever, but I know when I leave and this is what I always talk about, I tend to feel very different. Doesn't mean the funk could still be there somewhere, but there was so much more underneath. There's so many more layers of experience.

Amber Ryan (49:19.585)

Yeah.

Amber Ryan (49:35.159)

Yeah.

Leslie (49:40.743)

when you go in and you tap in and you make that a practice to do that and get curious about what's there. And, um, I just, I don't even know where to go next. I just wanted to just ask if there's anything else that you're feeling deeply called to share about your work or about your life. I'm, I'm just want to give you a moment. Anything else?

Amber Ryan (50:02.658)

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean, the one thing I want to touch upon that you brought up that I think is well worth mentioning is this deep rest. So it's kind of like a perfect segue from where we were into where I feel we're going and growing also in society.

Leslie (50:12.112)

Mm.

Amber Ryan (50:22.41)

We need more time to integrate than ever because life is so fast. Life is happening so fast. So when we tune into the cyclical nature of things, what many of us teachers, facilitators are tuning into more and more is that one people, humans, groups, we need more integration time. Okay. So what does that look like for you? You know, we want to tend to these things, not only on the monthly or the weekly, but also in the daily. How do you integrate?

Leslie (50:24.777)

Mmm.

Leslie (50:28.392)

Yes.

Leslie (50:42.024)

Yes.

Amber Ryan (50:52.324)

each day, what are those simple practices that can set you up for being able to integrate just the volume of what it is that we do? Some people take baths, some people take walks, some people dance, some people just sit and listen. So many different practices that we can take in that way, we can direct ourselves with. One of my newer most favorite practices is the practice of yoga nidra.

Leslie (51:05.919)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Amber Ryan (51:22.224)

Some teachers call it enlightened sleep or radiant rest, I think is what Tracy Stanley calls it. And those places where we really learn and practice to give ourselves that reset, especially those of us who've been programmed to do, go, go. This practice for me has really changed my life and it's changing a lot of...

Leslie (51:25.096)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (51:47.014)

people who are practicing in the 360 because what we know about our 360 movement practices is highly dynamic and Physical and even though you're moving with the pulse of your own energy It's still physical and then the yoga nidra which we bring into a lot of our emergence retreats Sometimes even our online offerings We bring that nidra in as a way to balance and as a way to open up a different type of journey and

Leslie (51:59.103)

Mm-hmm.

Amber Ryan (52:16.728)

takes people into deep states of healing, let me tell you takes people into deep states of healing, right? While you're resting, and I find people that have chronic pain or discomfort in their body, or illness, disease, unwellness, yoga, nidra is a way that you can really practice and direct your energy in a way that's healing, self healing, self

Leslie (52:20.284)

Mmm.

Leslie (52:25.864)

Yeah.

Leslie (52:43.604)

Mm-hmm, yeah.

Amber Ryan (52:46.608)

Okay, so, so yeah, in, you know, we'll see when all the viewers get to listeners get to receive this and take this in. But there are some offerings that I do that couple movement meditation and yoga nidra and bring those practices together. So we're going to be doing that in January of 2024. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. It's right around the corner. We're coming up. Here we go.

Leslie (52:47.336)

Yeah.

Leslie (53:10.163)

24. Yes.

Amber Ryan (53:16.648)

again. Yeah, but you can find me on our website, the 360emergence.com. You've got to put that T-H-E in there. Also, I'm on IG, I'm on social media, I'm there, so I'm easy to find. But for some folks, they prefer to start one-on-one.

Leslie (53:27.515)

Okay.

Amber Ryan (53:37.806)

Some folks prefer to start in a group field. So there's lots of different entry ways that can be taken into a movement practice. With the 360, we also have trained our first facilitators in different parts of the globe. So even if you might not be able to practice with me or my co-founder, Kate Schella, you might be in LA and able to practice with Aaron Rose Ward or in Boulder, with Harwood, Columbia, Argentina, all different, Austria, different locations.

around the globe. Some people prefer to be in person.

Yeah, and other people love the refuge of being able to practice in their own homes. And so we have a weekly online gathering called Sunday Soul for those that just want to come in for an hour, be there in your own space, turn on the music, close your doors, and do a practice that's going to help set you up for the week ahead. So those are some different ways in which you can you can find the 360 Emergence, you can find me. And again, I just want to thank you so much,

Leslie (54:13.978)

Mmm.

Amber Ryan (54:43.672)

up this really important topic and bringing people together who might not be feeling 100% in their bodies, in their minds, in their hearts, and that there is a place and a space and a community for folks to come together to talk, to learn, and to grow together. So thank you so much.

Leslie (55:00.199)

Oh my gosh, Amber, thank you. This has been such a pleasure. I don't quite have the words. I could dance it for you. I could move it through my body for you really well. I don't quite have the words to really express, um, just, uh, so much of the beauty and the gifts and of what your knowledge and what you know, what you're sharing with the world and who you are. I'm so grateful that you said yes to be on the sick and seeking podcast. So thank you.

Amber Ryan (55:06.951)

Ha ha!

Amber Ryan (55:24.118)

Thank you, my pleasure.