Origin Wild Co. is proud and humbled to work with some amazing practitioners across Taiwan. These individuals align with the values we hold as a responsible tour operator and global citizens trying to make a positive impact. From sustainability to regenerating communities and cultures to healing our bodies and minds; we want to give our partners a chance to share their stories with our readers and guests.
For all of our tours, we will feature a short Q&A session with these experts to help get to know a little bit more about who there are. Thanks for reading.
For our 1-day Into the Earth-Body retreat, we are collaborating with Gabriele Seewald and Carol Hsu. We’ve put together a few questions for these experts and have shared their answers below.
1. While many here have read our practitioner’s webpage of you both (hint: if you haven’t, click that link), what is one thing about yourself that would surprise our readers?
Carol (C): I am a big advocate for eating whole, organic, sustainable food as part of the wellness lifestyle, so it might come as a big surprise that I once supported GMO as a young adult. Biochemical engineering was my study in college, and I used to believe that GMO was the solution to end famine. I guess aging and time was needed to gain certain wisdom in life.
Gabriele (G): That I am a coffee addict. 😉
2. You’ve both spent time at the Fulong Gongnan Temple. It’s a special place, but as I can personally attest, it’s hard for people who have never been there to understand. Can you share something that you think will surprise people who have never been there?
C: The Fulong Gongnan Temple sits on the mountain overlooking the ocean. It is very special because it holds two realms of deep meditative states represented by the mountain and the ocean. There is an old Chinese idiom “The benevolent man enjoys the mountains, the wise man enjoys the water”. It implies that a meditator who radiates an energy of benevolence, nonjudgemental kindness, and grounding is just like a mountain; a meditator who holds stability and inner calmness regardless of the outer interferences is just like water.
G: For me, it’s not about understanding this place, but being there and feeling and experiencing it. Then, you will truly understand and you will understand yourself better and your connection with place and nature. Fun fact though: Kung Fu Temple Master Zhang used to be a personal Bodyguard of Chiang Chin-Guo and trained with the Navy Seals in Hawaii. He is now in his 80s and with him you can see what Chi-Cultivation-Practice can do for your body and spirit.
3. Can you tell us a bit about your professional journey in fields such as of Zen Meditation, Breath-work and Yoga?
C: I was given the title of a yoga teacher at Sivananda Ashram in Kerala, India. Kerala is a beautiful place to be initiated on the yogic path as it is also the home of ayurveda science. Yoga brings union to the body and mind while ayurveda supports the body-mind under transformation. The bridge between the body and mind is ‘prana’ in Sanskrit, ‘chi’ in Chinese, or ‘energy’ in bioenergetic terms. Yogic pranayama cultivates the prana and controls the flow through the body in a certain way to express life force.
Through my own healing from physical and emotional trauma, I have found that working with energy is transformative. I continued my self-exploration journey with Osho Pulsation and Osho Diamond Breath and received certification from both at the Osho Commune in Tuscany, Italy. Breath-work goes into an uncontrolled breathing pattern that unlocks certain blockages in the muscles’ memories.
Both pranayama and breath-work affect brain activities. Pranayama strengthens heart and lungs, purifies blood and aids circulation. Breath-work supports healing and transformation. They are amazing tools for meditation and a direct path to understand oneself.
G: My professional and personal life journeys are totally interconnected: I got introduced to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chi Practice, Zen Meditation because of a severe accident to my nervous system that I suffered during a surgery more than 10 years ago.
4. How has practicing these impacted your personal life journey?
C: I have experienced a tremendous transformation from the practice. Not only have I healed my Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), I have also experienced more aliveness, more expression and joy. I also feel younger than I was 10 years ago!
G: These practices together with connecting with the healing energies of Earth, helped me to completely regenerate my nervous system and even transform and deeply settle it and able to self-regulate it, which is a key for moving from suffering to healing and into a state of being where we become joyful co-creators with life. This can then move us from survival mode into thriving mode, transforming and growing with the Earth.
5. What are you most excited to share with those guests who attend the Into the Earth-Body retreat?Come rejuvenate, celebrate, and shine your vitality!
C: Come for celebration and rejuvenation! Into the Earth-Body retreat for self reflection and connection is a wonderful science backed tool to optimize our lives for success, joy, and caring.
G: How ALIVE everything there is.
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