Introductions and Invitations

Welcome to the SBC blog! Shall we start off with some introductions?

However you found us, you probably learned something about Jay along the way. Jay is the founder of Singing Body Clinic, an empath and all-around wonderful guy who can run marathons, do one-handed push-ups (probably, I’m just guessing), and blend a mean smoothie. He has an undergraduate degree in voice performance and (this is not a guess) is a gorgeous singer.

I am Jeni, sharer of musings. I dabble in bodywork alongside opera singing, cooking, and tree-admiring. Recent reviews say that I am “an excellent piano player” (my mom) and “a likable colleague” (my husband). If I could choose how I’d be described upon my death, I would wish to be called a good friend.

Jay and Jeni

So what are we doing here in the blogosphere?

I’m planning to share some thoughts about singing and moving and living in a body. Bodywork feels quite philosophical to me these days, as if the question “Why am I here?” can only be fully explored through the physical realm.

As Rainer Maria Rilke writes in his most famous letter to a young poet, “Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”

Jay and I are engaged in the work of living the questions about having a body, breathing into it, finding its hidden nooks and crannies, understanding anatomy and science in order to gain a deeper awareness of our own mortal shells, and sharing stuff we discover along the way.

Perhaps you want to join us in this endeavor. Come along! Ask questions, share thoughts, ponder the poetry* of existing in a body.

All bodies and minds are welcome and celebrated and esteemed. Our goals have nothing to do with looking a certain way or following a regimented exercise routine recommended by experts. We are all unique and individual, and the core of this journey in a body is finding the things that feel best day by day and growing in the ways that make You feel more like You.

I recently decided that my personal goal related to bodywork is for my body to feel good (which means different things on different days) and for me to feel good in my body. It is an ongoing process of recognizing that I am whole and complete at my core and therefore trusting myself to know what to do in any given moment for my body and my whole being. Much like with singing, which I have worked on for countless hours over many years, I know that I will never achieve perfection - but spending time with myself in my body is somehow perfect on its own.

*For a lovely example of a poem on this topic, check out this Joyce Sutphen piece