Brian Andreas + Fia Skye

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Brian Andreas is a master storyteller and

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

creator of Story People, and Fiaschi is a teaching artist and founder of 100 Ways North.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Thanks for coming in today.

Brian Andreas:

Yeah, thanks for having us.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've both come to Maine relatively recently, I believe.

Fia Skye:

Yes, we had a workshop at the Telling Room last September in 2017, and we found a place to rent and we were here by October 1st.

Brian Andreas:

Yeah, well, we've been looking for two years, we've been driving all over the country, country looking for a. A place to call home. And we had such fun here, and it was such a gorgeous fall that we assumed that that's what weather would be like all the time.

Fia Skye:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So now do you feel like the joke's on you?

Brian Andreas:

Is that the way? No, it was interesting. It was an interesting transition.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So why storytelling? What is it about that particular genre that has appealed to you?

Brian Andreas:

You want to take that?

Fia Skye:

Yeah. Well, for me, it's very, you know, I've spent the last 20 years balancing life as a professional actor and then teaching in academia, and I just recently left to go ahead and freelance and do all of that. Take all of those skill sets that you use in performance about communication and story and body and voice, and take it into daily life because it's really useful. And so the thing that we focus on is this idea of how your story about things can actually move the tissues in your body, because there's no separation between your mind and body. And so the stories that you believe not only anchor your mind, but they actually affect the way you move. And they can age you or they can completely free you up in this. And so we look at story. That's part of what we do, is we look at story and how it affects your actual physiology.

Brian Andreas:

Well, and then there's that other aspect of storytelling, which is that once upon a time thing that so often as adults we become, oh, this is real. Oh, this is how it is. This is the truth. And everything that we know about brain science and everything that we know about storytelling is that it's true when you say it's true. And so stories are incredibly powerful. Working with Thea and how. How it affects the body, I come at it more from the sheer lilt of being able to create on an ongoing basis. So I've been telling stories for forever. Partly. I grew up with a bunch of Lutherans who love to tell stories, so I come by it naturally.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Is it because they're a Lutheran that they like to tell stories? I didn't realize that was a connection.

Brian Andreas:

No, I don't. You know, it's funny, I'm not sure that it is. It's just my. In my particular experience, I have. I come out of a Norwegian Lutheran background, the whole Garrison Keiller kind of thing. And. And I had a bunch of. Of relatives who were inveterate. Well, I was about to say liars, but they're really good storytellers. So. So it was always something that thrilled me to hear what my, you know, my Uncle August would tell me about the invention of blood or how to, you know, like how to tame a rattlesnake or, you know, those things. We go, wow, that is. I don't know if it's true, but it's really cool.

Fia Skye:

So, yeah, it's just stories are really powerful. They locate us and they guide us, and they also. They keep us in a place, too. Yeah, in a way, you know, they give you this protection and this security, and you take a lot of stock in it, and that can hold you sometimes. So you shift one element. I mean, it happens all the time. Your day is going in a certain way. A piece of information will fly in at you, and it changes the entire context. And so that's how story happens. And so we look at it and you think, okay, how can you not get so anchored in space by what you think is true and by these stories that you believe? And then what are some really creative ways you can play with that so it doesn't get into this really bogged down self help kind of thing that is, nobody's really interested.

Brian Andreas:

Yeah, I mean, the thing that I think we love to play with a lot is that stories are fluid. And yet the things that, as Fia says, that hold us, contain us, like this is a space, an intimate space that we live in, lovely. But when we stop moving that, stop remembering that we can make a different story, we lose our own ability to function in the moment. And that's where we love to play with it, is stories constantly being flowed. And in response to what's going on, like, you know, Fia saying, a piece of information comes in, you know, like, like suddenly this person you've been having difficulties with for months, all of a sudden you see them as the child they are and how that they're. They're really doing the best they can and you have a completely different story about them and you treat them differently because of it. So it's intriguing. We, we both love stories. So

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I'm interested in this in a large, in, in large part because of all the time I've spent as a doctor and knowing that people's. I mean, what you're saying is absolutely true, that people's stories really impact their health, they really impact their bodies. When someone stays stuck in the way they frame something for maybe decades, it can negatively impact so much of their inner and outer lives and the people around them. And it's been really interesting to see when something shifts and they come in and all of a sudden things are so much better for them. And when you parse it out, it often is because either they've gotten a new piece of information, as you've said, or they've reframed the way that they've dealt with it.

Fia Skye:

Right. And it can happen quickly. That's the exciting thing, is that, I mean, you can do this today. It's not as if this is like a 12 step program that's going to cost you so much, blah, blah, blah. And this much time, it really is just like flipping a switch and saying, what if, what if this is also true? Or what if, you know, what are these ways that you can really basically get beyond your opinion of something and look at, we kind of play with it again. This comes from, you know, he's been writing for years and drawing and an Artist. And so he comes at story and this really beautifully visual way. And I come at it through words as a text coach. And so I look at it and I think, well, you know, what are the non negotiables? Well, okay, well, the day, whatever day is, that's a non negotiable. Although in another country it might be into another day. So even that gets a little hairy.

Brian Andreas:

I would totally argue with you because, you know, how often do we just as an example, how often do you go, you know, you'll be in a checkout line and you go, what day is it? What day is it? And someone will go, it's Thursday. And they go, I totally thought it was Tuesday. So no, the day is a negotiable as well, right?

Fia Skye:

Kind of, sort of. Or we can say that, yes, we're in Portland, Maine, you know, so there is that, but then there's. But even when you get into a relationship and you say, well, this is my husband and this means this is not true, really, you can say, okay, yes, they were married on this date and this is when. Whatever, you know. But then beyond that, everything is really opinion and it's all shades of code. So there's a lot of. See, I think it's fascinating too, because as soon as you get locked into this idea of what a habit is, which is just simply choosing the same thing over and over and then creating myelin and then the body memory of something like that. And so when you introduce something new, it's like a whole world opens up. And that can happen at any age, in any relationship, even with your job and everything. And so it's. And the thing that's really fabulous about it is that it's empowering because you're the only one that can do it, you know, it's because you're the only one that can really. Because your mind, you know, because the mind and body are linked, as you well know. You can't lie to yourself if you're not. You can have all the mantras you want all over your walls, but if you're not actually behind it, your body knows it. And so there's this, this chaos and this stress.

Brian Andreas:

Well, what's the thing that you. That you had said that you're. When we, when you were first starting the Alexander work going, oh, I had a different sense of muscle and skeletal relationships. And so my body was trying to do that, even though it's not possible.

Fia Skye:

Right.

Brian Andreas:

So you get attention in there when we have an idea of how things are and it's not actually the reality of it. Your body's going to do its best to try and to back you up, even if it's not possible. And so you're, you know, you're carrying tension, like in some weird ways because you've said, well, this is, this is how I function best in the world. It's like, that is not true.

Fia Skye:

So there's a balance between how the body actually works and then what you do in life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about the Alexander work that you're doing.

Fia Skye:

I'm in the process of certifying in this particular technique. F.M. alexander was an actor, Australian actor, orator at that time. And he kept losing his voice on stage and he was trying to figure out why. And he went to doctors and he tried all of these different things and it didn't stop it. And so he went into this lifelong inquiry that basically the way you use your body affects the overall quality of function of living. And so he looks specifically at the spine and head skull relationship, so that if there's any sort of pressure, it impacts the whole rest of the body. And that affects the way that you function, not just with grace and flexibility and adaptability, but because the mind is connected to it. I could have a thought that has tension that's going to ripple all the way through my tissues. And so it's really about not just ease and grace and moving the way that you are originally designed to move, but it's also keeping a flexible, flexible space and flexible thoughts at the same time. So it's very much psychophysical work is what it is. A lot of people use it for performance. A lot of musicians, dancers, you know. So you get a dancer that says, oh, I should be able to move like this. And you look at the actual structure of the body and you think, your body's not going to move that way, no matter how much you want it to. This is where it is, you know.

Brian Andreas:

But I have a vision. I have a vision about what can happen. It's like, yeah, right.

Fia Skye:

But what I love is when I'm walking up the stairs and I think, well, how many times do I walk up this three flight of stairs? This house we live right now. And I think, you know, over time, if I'm not doing that with my physiology in mind, that's going to impact my joints, especially over years. And so we find that these daily moments are kind of like connective tissue in between the big extraordinary events. But we don't always think about these little moments between the hallway, between here and here, or getting from work, home, and those in between moments really make up the bulk of a life. And so if you can be in those with grace and awareness, you know, it changes the way you are. And when you're more balanced, you feel good, you're kinder, you can adapt more. And it's just, it's a lot. I don't know. I think it's a secret to world peace.

Brian Andreas:

Well, and then, and I would also throw in the thing that you just said that we, our stories tend to focus on the, you know, like the, the dramatic lightning bolt moment, like let's now suddenly understand everything. And yet the majority of our life is those quiet moments. So why wouldn't we orient our stories around the beauty of those moments and so that we're actually in our story regularly as opposed to waiting for that moment at which our life really starts? You know, how often do we get stuck in that? Well, my real life is going to start when I do this or when I do this, then I'm going to be able to do that. Like right now we're sitting here where, I mean, it's lovely simply sitting here and you can just feel the being here. Why wouldn't we have a story about that? So that's the intersection of some of the things we do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Is there a story that the two of you could share with people who are listening now

Brian Andreas:

about, I'm not telling you my story. You could use it against me.

Fia Skye:

About what? About in terms of just as a

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

good example of the type of work that you do when you are doing a workshop, for example, do you actually use a story and say, let's pick this apart a little bit?

Brian Andreas:

Well, the thing that comes to mind isn't actually something that we did in a workshop, but I was at a seminar a while back and a woman got up and said, I come from a family where I wasn't loved. Everyone ignored me all the time. Absolutely. All the time. And now my mother, after 20 years, has been contacting me saying that she wants me to come to Christmas and I'm not going to go to Christmas where they're just going to simply ignore. Ignore me and not love me just like they always did. And we kind of walked through that. And, and so my friend said, doers, so your mother is asking you to come specifically to come so that she can see what you're up to and she can tell you all the ways she loves you and misses you. And she said, yeah, but I'm not going to fall for that. I'm not going to fall for that at all. And so he went through a little bit more, a little bit more. And finally it's. He said, so what do you think? He says, I think my mom loves me, and I haven't seen it for a very long time. And you could see the change in her body, because instead of that compression of being, I'm not loved, and no one, you know, it's like suddenly you're not carrying that anymore. So that's a way that stories work.

Fia Skye:

And I would say, in terms of a workshop, you know, there are a lot of creativity workshops out there right now that work a lot with imagination. But what we also look at is how are you holding the pen and how are you sitting, and where is the actual flow in your body? Is your whole body riding? Because anytime you breathe, your spine is moving, you know, and if your whole body, rather than. I just have to get my mind, you know, and my mind. And even when I do that, it scrunches my spine and I get a little close to my screen, or I curl up. And you think, wow, wow. What if you open all of this up and then start writing? What part of you physiologically actually needs to just really. The tip needs to hit the page and create little scratches that then later we'll look at as language and words and thoughts. So how can we stop pressing in? We have this thing with our relationship with our cell phones that really closes us in and forward and down. And so, you know, you look at these habits when we're creating things, when we're cooking, when we're having really important conversations with people we care about, and we're actually physically making ourselves smaller. So one of the things we do in our workshop is we kind of pit you into that, actually. We pit you into your habit. And then we say, hey, what if? What. How else can this look. How else can this physically. Can we physically offer something. Other possibilities in this moment that then you can choose from?

Brian Andreas:

She does something called ghosting, where she'll move through the workshop, and while people are doing what they're doing, we'll just like, touch them lightly and go, well, you know, what about that? I mean, it can be really irksome, too, because, like, when I'm typing, you know, when I'm typing and I'm going and pounding the key, she'll go, you know, you could simply just touch the key. It's like, yeah, you don't understand what I'm writing right now.

Fia Skye:

But it changes the. What you write. I think. I think that it's all connected. And I'm just curious of like, oh, okay, wait, if I read that email, can I open up more? What happens when, in a moment when I want to close. What happens if I, if I just allow the whole, the whole thing to be in the space with me and remember I've got three dimensional space and all of that. So much of it you already know how to do, it's just reminding you that's it.

Brian Andreas:

And it's a practice. It's the thing that we've both seen is that you can get the information all you want, but if you don't practice, it's not doing you any good. So we really do focus on. Let's get you into a practice for you. Not like, oh, do these five steps and your, you know, your life will suddenly open up and you know, there'll be butterflies everywhere and bluebirds. Like a Disney film. No, it's a, it's what's the thing that you feel, feel good right now when you do it and continue to do that? And how do you remember that? So pretty simple.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Is it also that telling the story in the first place has power that maybe people don't recognize? Because there are times when I have been with people who have a story that's locked so deeply inside of them that they don't even recognize how much of an impact it's having. And when they start to write it down or when they start to talk about it, something really shifts in the way that they interact with the world.

Fia Skye:

Yeah, that's a great point. It is a great point. Because, you know, I don't know how many times we hear, oh, it's just the way it is, it's just the way it is. And you think, well, it's going to continue to be that way as long as we say that. I mean, we're speaking it, we are creating existence, we're creating history with every choice we make and then all of a sudden wondering why that's our history. So. But there's absolutely. You hang the words in space and you can see them, but there's also.

Brian Andreas:

It's there. You. It also sounds like you were saying that sometimes people aren't even addressing the fact that there's a story so they have to speak it first. Is that there is no one size fits all on the story. But there is a. I think there is a being in relation to, let's see, how do you say that? None overly abstract, but it's being in the now of your life. So if you've Never spoken your story. A good place to start is speaking your story, but after you've spoken that story a few times, a good place to be is, is that story even true? But you can't be at that place, is that story even true if you've never ever spoken the story? So, and at the point where, I mean, we're at. I make up stories constantly just to try it out because, oh, well, what's this? What if I. What, what if my story is I'm actually 8ft tall, but I'm in a 5 foot 10 body, so, you know, I'll play so you can play with that. It's not true. I know it's not true, but I recognize stories are completely fluid. So I'm at a different place in story. I wouldn't expect somebody who's never, you know, has had some sort of. Had trauma or assault, who's never ever said anything. I wouldn't expect them to be in the same place or own story that I am.

Fia Skye:

Right. And sometimes creating a little bit of distance, like you take a universal story, you take someone else's story and you say, well, let's just look at this. And that extra bit of distance, there's enough of a gap where someone can navigate their own space between. So it just kind of depends on the workshop. And you know, as you know, it depends on who you're working with, who comes into the room, about which doorway you take. But it's all the same room. Basically.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As we've been talking, I was thinking, I don't know why this came up in my mind, but about watching specifically young women who are maybe asked to come up on a stage to accept an award. And the way that so many of them. And I have two young daughters, well, they're not young anymore, I guess one's 22 and one's 17. But I've watched them as young women.

Brian Andreas:

Oh, that's still pretty young.

Fia Skye:

It's youngish.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yes, exactly. But I watched them through their very young stage to their young women stage, and I saw this over and over again, that young women tend to hunch down. They try to make themselves smaller, especially the tall women, tall girls. And as a tall woman, I've done this myself, where you figure if you just hunch over, then maybe you won't take up so much space. So what you're saying about the way that we even arrange our bodies in the world is going to change the way that we interface with it and really change the way that other people interface with us.

Fia Skye:

It's Remarkable. The other thing that happens, look how many photos there are with women with their head tilted where they're still making themselves smaller. It's just to the side, a little bit to the side, you know. So you have what I think of as physical corporations qualifiers in the same way that we say, well, I just, I was like, you know, and it's just less direct and it's a bit of an apology and it makes you a little bit what you think is nicer or kinder, a little bit more able to be dealt with, but it's not altogether true. And there's a squish in the spine and a little bit of a tightening and I think of as a filter. And I don't think we need them. I don't think we need them because I think over time, you know, as a doctor, you know, over time that patterning begins to grow and it, and it actually, you know, it changes your bones, it moves your bones. So you think, what if there's another way? But yeah, absolutely. I see that with young, young women all the time. I think I hear, you know, baby girl voices when I talk, you know, where I think, wow, do you know you've got a two octave range naturally. And just what if you use that every single day? What would that be like? How would that be different for you? And what might that feel like? And how might you move through the world and what kind of permission might that inspire in someone else? So I think it really, really matters. And this weirdness about gender identity right now too, in terms of what strength looks like and what it sounds like. I think we're in a really fabulous place to explore a whole new way of being with all of this. A great striation of generations right now. So it's a, it's an incredible place

Brian Andreas:

of possibility from, and you know, from a young male standpoint, different, different things happen, but still the same thing. It's like trying to ways of being less direct about what's going on. But you know, young males tend to be, be more. What is it? Your, your third, your first, second.

Fia Skye:

Well, there's a sense of, you know, where women tend to cave. Young men. This is totally a gross generalization. It's not true of all the time, but sometimes there's that puff up, right? There's that buildup of the pectoral muscles so that there's a, there's almost like a shield.

Brian Andreas:

It is a shield from a, from an experience of male. It is, it's where your shield.

Fia Skye:

Right. And so what that does physically is you're. You're physically less flexible. And so again, the mind, body, if you're physically less flexible, chance is a really good chance that you might emotionally or mentally be less flexible. And so what is this idea of being. Vulnerability is a scary word, but really it's just available to be influenced, being willing to be in the space, in a place of equality.

Brian Andreas:

Fia often talks about wanting to work with young women, though they're watching. We'll see someone or like when we went to TED and see the way young women will present. And just like, it's frustrating because it is in some ways it's very simple. When you catch someone doing something with their body, you go, oh, we can unwind that thread. We can follow that and, and go, where is that? Where's the story you're carrying about that? That. That is a solution, because that's one of the Alexander things is like, there's nothing wrong. It's all a solution to how you see the, you know, the situation at the moment. So you're solving something. Are you solving what's in the space or are you solving something that you're carrying from 10 years ago, though? That's the question.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have done a workshop with the Telling Room.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What is next in your.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What's in your life plan?

Fia Skye:

Well, he's. He's working on a couple different books here, some in the genre of Story People and also a novel, I mean, which you can talk about.

Brian Andreas:

If I talk about it. I'm not talking about it.

Fia Skye:

Okay, so you're writing. You're writing?

Brian Andreas:

No, no, I'm. Yeah, I've been doing a lot of writing and. And I guess the easiest explanation is that I'm listening for where I'm headed, because I don't know yet. It would be lovely. I've never been one of those people who have the idea and then go and execute it. It's like the idea is an excuse to start figuring out what the real thing is. So I'm in the middle of figuring out what that thing is. And then as far as workshops, we. We had been setting up some around the country, but then Thea decided that she was going to have her hip hip operated off.

Fia Skye:

I've been having some. Yeah, yeah. But. But it's great. I just spoke with a woman in Charlotte and we're just. I'm setting up something down there in April for that that weaves together silent narratives and some of this work. And then we're going to talk to some Celine, actually, about offering something else in the tailing room, perhaps here in the spring, a three day workshop on story and body. So we're navigating that within the next, hopefully two weeks we'll have those up on the site ready to go.

Brian Andreas:

The thing that, I would say that even as we were driving over, we like to do the thing that is really intriguing to us. So we're not really all that good at going well now this is what we're known for. So we should do know 12 of those next year. It's like we're not really all that interested in that. Let's say what are we interested in then? Let's do something on that.

Fia Skye:

Well, there's a bigger conversation about what's happening in the world. And so what's, what are the spaces? You know, that's, that's one thing. I was speaking with this woman who's at a yoga studio and you know, we were just talking about who are the women that are coming into the room and what are the questions they're having and what kind of classes are they signing up for and what seems to be in the space. And you know, you read the newspapers all over the country and say, what are the dialogues that are happening and saying what kind of spaces do we

Brian Andreas:

need to hold and what are the conversations that aren't happening.

Fia Skye:

Yeah. That we want to have. Right. So that it's, we're not trying to repair anything. We're actually moving forward. And so there's a lot of listening right now and saying, what do we want to be talking about and what are the words we want to be using and how do we want to be inspirational space together and how can we facilitate a space where that can happen? And so it's a little hard right now to get ahead. Too far ahead. Because every day there's a big title in the newspaper that changes piece of information flies in and it just shifts things a little bit. So, so yeah, we're.

Brian Andreas:

So we. The short answer is we have no idea.

Fia Skye:

Yeah, we're, we're in motion. We're in motion. But yeah, we have them listed. We'll have them listed in the, on the site though.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was it about Maine that caused you to really dramatically change the way you decided to live?

Fia Skye:

It was the people, the people that we met that were really. I mean, it's beautiful, there's no question about it. But there are lots of places across the country that are extraordinary in terms of the wild spaces. But you know, the people that we met on the week that we were here, there's a really great directness and,

Brian Andreas:

and we were coming out of the Midwest where directness is not a value.

Fia Skye:

There's a bit of a sheen and we're both from the Midwest, so we feel like we can say that.

Brian Andreas:

Norwegian Lutheran from the Midwest.

Fia Skye:

Yeah, there's just a real, there's a real directness and a real sense of care. And Maine is not an easy state to live in, you know, always it's so there's a, so there's a sense of people that, that live here, here. It feels like they chose to be here. And that's a really working together that is amazing that you just don't see

Brian Andreas:

in all the community and that thing. I think it's, it really is hard to overestimate the value of, of choosing a place. I mean like when you choose whether you choose an aspect of your life or the, the moment that you're in, you have a different relationship to it. So it's like the culture here is very, it's interesting that way. We like it quite a bit.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Brian Andreas, who is a master storyteller and creator of

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Story People, and with Fiaschi, who is a teaching artist and founder of 100 Ways North.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I look forward to, I guess, seeing and hearing what you where your path takes you. I really appreciate this conversation today. Thank you for the work you're doing.

Fia Skye:

Thank you very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Dr. Zach Mazzoni do created Dayspring Integrative Wellness and Back Main with the belief that true health comes from building healthy relationships with your community, with your doctor and with yourself. As a board certified family and integrative medicine physician, Dr. Mazzoni and the whole staff at DaySpring are committed to supporting your wellness journey by providing integrative family medical care, osteopathic manipulation, herbal and lifestyle consultations, counseling and wave therapy. DaySpring offers an innovative membership based model of healthcare that gives you time together with Dr. Pazoni to build a personalized wellness plan based on your health goals. Daily access for acute appointments is available and you can even schedule a secure video conference call in the privacy of your own home. I know Dr. Zak and his family and I believe strongly in the personalized whole person approach to health that he provides.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is why I am encouraging you

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

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