What Moves Us

Welcome to the last episode of the season!! Natalie Reina is a dancer, psychologist, and podcast host born and raised in Palmdale, California. Natalie has always loved moving her body and began at a young age playing outside and dancing. Natalie danced throughout high school and college on various teams and companies. After graduating from UCSB in 2015, Natalie danced with a professional dance com...

Garrett Masumiya is a calisthenics and handstand practitioner who was born and raised on the West Side of Los Angeles. Because of his active environment, Garrett has always lived an active lifestyle, which varied from biking around, playing organized sports such as basketball, and going to the gym. After high school, Garrett attended UCI and upon his return to Los Angeles, discovered a huge love f...

Mike Kitchell (he/him) is an experimental acrobat who lives and works in Oakland, California. After growing up in the Midwest and going through a period of life where he felt totally disconnected from his body, Mike discovered yoga after learning about his favorite philosophers’ ideas about achieving the impossible and was intrigued by the pursuit of his handstand. Eventually, Mike found his way t...

Bruno Berastain is a parkour and acrobatics practitioner who was born and raised in San Ramon, California as a first-generation Peruvian American. Growing up, Bruno was heavily involved in sports such as soccer and basketball, before eventually falling in love with hip-hop and rapping (which we did not talk about at all on this episode at all!) Bruno attended UCSB and after graduating, moved back...

Dr. Simon Howard is a dynamic professor, hip-hop artist, and capoeira practitioner based in Miami, Florida. Raised between the deserts of Southern California, and coastal Santa Cruz, he first connected to movement through high school football and track and field. During this time, Simon pushed himself not only physically, but mentally through his self-exploration of race and identity as a young bl...

Maria Simone Rivadeneira Espinosa is a soccer player and runner who began making moves in December 1992. She was born and raised in Long Beach, CA and is the eldest of her parents who immigrated from Ecuador. After an active childhood spent dancing, playing soccer, & running, she attended UCSB, where she had the joy of meeting our esteemed podcast host the fall of their first year and have bee...

today we welcome Nicole Sanchez (she/her) a dancer and fitness enthusiast who was born and raised in Baguio City in the Philippines. Nicole began Filipino folk dancing at a young age but eventually found her way into other forms of dance such as pop, cheer, and eventually hip hop. At around age 19, when Nicole moved to the United States, she attended San Jose State University where she received he...

Eliza Lopez is a queer, Mexican, non-binary artist, dancer, and therapist based in San Diego who grew up in Mexico and moved to a border town in Arizona at around 8 years old. Growing up, Eliza found themselves engaged in all kinds of movement ranging from baile folklorico, to sports such as tennis & karate, and eventually found their way to embodied movement. As Eliza got older, they decided...

Join as we talk to Samantha Matsuda (she/ they), a movement and visual artist currently practicing in Los Angeles, CA. She has a collection of 15 years of studio and competitive dance training &  ventured into a professional career at seventeen years old. Since then she’s competed as a semi-finalist on season 14 of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, coached through Hip Hop International Las Vegas in...

Welcome to the first episode of season 2 of What Moves Us!! We are starting this season off with the incredible Eric Aubrei (he/him). Eric is a multi-passionate, highly talented individual who grew up in the Midwest. At just 10 years old, Eric discovered skateboarding and within a few short years, became a sponsored athlete. After facing some challenges that drew him away from skating, he discover...

In today's episode, I reflect and summarize lessons and themes from the interviews this season! I cannot say it enough, but I am so grateful for everyone's contributions, support and love!!  Throughout the episode, I mention a few studies which you can find listed below. I am not going to list all of them because I looked over quite a few!! I also had to find articles that describe the studies bec...

In today's episode, we sit down with Yummy Stardust, a pole dancer, community leader and sex work advocate to learn about how finding pole dancing changed her relationship with herself and her mental health! Yummy details her experience growing up as an immigrant in Los Angeles, paying her way through college as a 911 operator, finding dance, becoming a mother and eventually discovering pole danci...

In today's episode, we sit down with Natalie Grace, an intuitive dancer, heartrepenuer (heart-centered business owner) and student working towards her Master's of East-West Psychology with a certificate in Spirituality. Join us as we learn about Natalie's transformational experience finding dance and how it has impacted the way she lives her life! You can connect with her at instagram.com/natalieb...

Join us today as we sit with Zachary Simon (he/him) aka Zach, a B- Boy and PsyD candidate, passionate about working with black men and children. Zach shares his experience trying to reconcile his personal and professional life. He opens up about why community is so important to him and what it meant for him growing up. Plus, he details his journey into breaking and how it has impacted him as a cli...

In today's conversation, Nicolas Lyan (he/him) aka Nicky an 8-time world calisthenics champion, talks about finding his way into calisthenics after leaving Beirut, Lebanon in order to create the life he knew that he was destined to live. Additionally, Nicky gets real about his recovery from substance misuse and eventual bicep tear that threatened his calisthenics career. Nicky is real, passionate...

In this episode, we sit down with Manuel Quirola (he/him), an amazing chef, surfer and shuffler. Come along as we learn about his life history, passions and perspectives on how movement has benefitted his mental health. Be sure to check him out at instagram.com/surfmanupch/! Be sure to follow What Moves Us at instagram.com/what_moves_us_podcast/. Thank you!

Today, we are joined by Monique Paul (she/her) aka Mo, an amazing boxer, calisthenics athlete and mover! In today's episode, we learn a little about Mo's background, training mentality and how she connects mental health to movement. Additionally, Mo gets real about her own growth journey and how though it at times has been painful, it is bringing her closer to who she wants to be. Be sure to check...

Come along as we talk to Sandeep Iyer (he/him), a multi-passionate mover who found his most authentic self through communities of movers and people in love with the process of trying! In this conversation, Sandeep shares his journey growing up in Nepal and India, moving to the United States and trusting the universe to get him to who and where he needs to go. Sandeep has a calming, warm and loving...

Today, we are joined by Joseph Kim (he/him) aka Blissful Joey, an incredible dancer, calisthenics athlete and embodiment coach. During this conversation (which spanned over two recordings) Joey discusses his background, the influence of culture on his beliefs, his love of movement and his philosophy on coaching his clients! Be sure to check him out on Instagram at instagram.com/blissfuljoey/

In this episode, we sit down with Giovanni Solano (he/him), an incredibly talented calisthenics athlete who walks us through his history of movement training and how it has impacted his mental health. To see his amazing skills, check him out at instagram.com/driftag/ . I guarantee you've never seen anything like this!