Sight Osteen | Quest for a Meaningful Life

Sight Osteen attends both Kung Fu and Tai Chi classes at Body Balance Academy.  His young son, Ocean, is also in Kung Fu.

Sight began to practice Shaolin martial arts 25 years ago.He's studied with several Shih Fu's.

“I’m into health and healing”, he says.

Sight studied Ayurveda for 2 years on the East Coast before moving to California where he studied for 2 more years at the California College of Ayurveda in Grass Valley.

  

Sight is also a hip hop DJ and music producer.He goes by the musical moniker ‘dwnsampla’.

“I’ve been making music for a really long time.”

He says he toured the East Coast with a reggae band, but his West Coast music is different. He describes it as “bass heavy electronic music rooted in hip hop.”

“My music now is harder and really soulful. Big hard beats with a lot of bass. It’s really martial. I got that from listening to hip hop at martial arts studios. They play Wu Tang Clan.”

Sight says the iconic rap group is his main musical influence. He takes “a ton of inspiration” from New York culture, too.

Sight and two other producers run one of Nevada County’s only record labels.  Full Crate Records started in 2011. It features electronic artists with big bass sound.  There are free downloads at fullcraterecords.com 

Or pick up a CD at Füdenjuce in Nevada City.

You can find Sight’s music on his Facebook page or on SoundCloud.

What do martial arts, Ayurvedic healing and hip hop have in common?

Sight says “It’s just that quest for a meaningful life. You can find meaning in anything.”

dwnsampla's website bio ends with a description that might have come from a hip hop version of the Tao Te Ching:

"...Dwnsampla continues to innovatively travel into the fray of the electronic universe."

Xie xie and happy trails DS.

Thanks to Sight Osteen for telling his story to Shih Fu Catherine.    We've noticed that Body Balance students are resourceful, caring, connected people who cultivate chi wherever they go. We want to tell your story, too. Let us know if you have a story to tell. Look for these stories each week on our blog Streaming Chi.

Liz Ekblad Playing Harp at Hospice

Liz Ekblad began playing the harp three years ago. That was about year after she became a Tai Chi student at Body Balance Academy.

“I’ve always thought the harp would be a really nice thing to play. When I went through cancer treatment, I found out the Cancer Support Center at the hospital has a harp group. So I joined. Lisa Stein, the instructor, starts beginners with a little harp. It has 22 strings and you can carry it.”

Liz had played piano as a child. When she asked Lisa about learning to play, Lisa told her the harp is just like a piano standing on end. 

“It really is,” says Liz. 

“Then as you start playing you want to have a bigger one for the deeper sounds.  There’s a 25-string harp and a 34-string size. I ended up buying 2 harps. I can play the same songs. But more strings mean more bass notes.”

Every Tuesday morning Liz sets up her harp in the hallway at the Compassionate Care Home at Hospice of the Foothills. She plays just outside of the rooms, moving her 30 pound harp from one spot in the hallway to another.  Sometimes people ask her to come in and play. But that is unusual.

“People are involved in caring for a friend or spouse. (I) make a peaceful, quiet, comfortable sound, playing songs that they wouldn’t know. I use my Tai Chi in preparing to play (focusing on) what’s going to happen, who’s going to be there, what can I do.”

Liz uses the Qigong for preparation. Her goal is to relax and let the music flow.

“I try not to think ‘What if this is the last sound they hear?’ I try not to think about it.”

Liz says, “Instead of focusing on death, I keep my focus on moving on. It feels like something that is very useful to do. And I want to do things that are useful. I love it.” But she admits that sometimes she does think, “…if I were lying in bed dying what would I want to hear?”

Some of her favorite songs to play are Amazing Grace, Shenandoah and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.

She loves the sound of the harp. And she also loves that when she plays at Hospice, it doesn’t feel like a performance to her.  She describes it as “Making beautiful music in a quiet space.”

Liz retired from social work, but never imagined she could do Hospice work.  After a couple of friends began to volunteer, Liz went to a training session. Now, in addition to playing the harp, she also volunteers for Dying Vigil.

“If family wants someone there, there’s a volunteer who comes and stays a bit. It’s way beyond anything I’d ever thought I want to do or could do. It’s very meaningful work.”

In fact, she says, “It gives meaning to my life at this point. If we have families, we’re all going to have to do it. It’s doing what I feel is important to do with my life. I got through raising the kids, did my work. And now I’m retired. I can do whatever I want to do with my time. This is what I want to do.”

Thanks to Liz Ekblad for telling her story to Shih Fu Catherine.    We've noticed that Body Balance students are resourceful, caring, connected people who cultivate chi wherever they go. We want to tell your story, too. Let us know if you have a story to tell. Look for these stories each week on our blog Streaming Chi.

What the Lotus Study Group is reading this fall

Staying Healthy With The Seasons 

by Elson M. Haas, MD

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In the Chinese system, the Metal element is associated with the lungs and large intestine, and the autumn season. This is a good time to work at keeping these organs strong and healthy.

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Hello friends, welcome to autumn.  This is the season of the harvest, the fruition of all the growth of spring and summer. This is true for us as well, as we receive the benefits from our work and projects, our relationships, and our health from all the energy we put into these areas during the last six months. The seeds we have sown, now shall we reap.

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Shih Fu Eileen writes, "Embody the awareness of the human relationship to the presence of the five elements and the role they play within the four seasons and the seasonal transitions. Learn and experience the tools to influence energetic components of the nature of our beings and moving toward maintaining equilibrium between our internal and external environment. In essence, here we develop a mutually beneficial relationship between our inner and our outer world (surrounding environment)."

From the Haas Health Online website: "A classic in integrated medicine, now in its 30th printing! This book demonstrates a balanced blend of Eastern and Western medicines, nutrition, herbology, exercise and a wealth of other health topics. It makes this book one the strongest texts on health and preventive medicine ever written, with a clear and concise introduction to the applications of traditional Chinese medical theory and the five elements."