Nadia Natali, author of the
memoir, Stairway
to Paradise: Growing Up Gershwin, published by Rare Bird, Los Angeles,
2015, and The Blue Heron Ranch Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from a Zen
Retreat Center published by North Atlantic Books, Berkeley CA, 2008, is
currently working on a second cookbook titled Zafu Kitchen
Cookbook.
Natali, a clinical
psychotherapist and dance therapist, specializes in trauma release through
somatic work. She earned a master’s degree from Hunter College in New York City
in Dance/Movement Therapy and completed another masters degree in clinical
psychology with an emphasis in somatic psychology at the Santa Barbara Graduate
Institute. Nadia is a registered practitioner of Biodynamic Craniosacral
Therapy (RCST) and is also a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP)
who trained with Peter Levine.
DanceMedicine Workshops is
Natali’s creation where participants move through their trauma with dialogue
and dance. She also offers the Ojai community, DanceMedicine Journeys. In
addition to her private practice, Nadia and her husband offer Zen Retreats at
their center.
Born into a famous family that
was riddled with dysfunction, Nadia Natali made the choice to turn her life
inside out and step away from fame and fortune. Against her parents’ consent
she married an artist and moved to the remote wilderness in California. It was
there that she found grounding as she and her husband raised and homeschooled
their three children and opened a retreat center. As she gathered her own
momentum, she enrolled in a doctorate program finally becoming a clinical
psychotherapist specializing in psychosomatic work. She and her husband live in
Ojai California.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
About the Book:
Growing up as Frankie
Gershwin's daughter, the sister of George and Ira Gershwin, was quite a
challenge. I didn't have the perspective to realize that so much unhappiness in
a family was out of the
ordinary. But I knew something was off. My mother was
often depressed and my father was tyrannical and scary, one never knew when he
would blow up. I learned early on that I had to be the cheery one, the one to
fix the problems. Both sides of my family were famous; the Gershwin side and my
father who invented color film. But even though there was more than enough
recognition, money and parties I understood that wasn't what made people happy.
As a young adult adrift and
depressed I broke from that unsatisfactory life by marrying Enrico Natali, a
photographer, deeply immersed in his own questions about life. We moved into
the wilderness away from what we considered as the dysfunction of society.
That’s when we discovered that life had other kinds of challenges: flood, fire,
rattlesnakes, mountain lions and bears. We lived in a teepee for more than four
years while building a house. Curiously my mother never commented on my life
choice. She must have realized on some level that her own life was less than
satisfactory.
Enrico had developed a serious
meditation practice that had become a kind of ground for him. As for me I
danced. Understanding the somatic, the inner body experience, became my way to
shift the inner story.
We raised and homeschooled our
three children. I taught them to read, Enrico taught them math. The kids ran
free, happy, always engaged, making things, and discovering. We were so sure we
were doing the right thing. However, we didn't have a clue how they would make
the transition to the so-called ‘real world’. The children thrived until they
became teenagers. They then wanted out. Everything fell apart for them and for
Enrico and me. Our lives were turned upside down, our paradise lost. There was
tragedy: our son lost his life while attempting to cross our river during a
fierce storm. Later I was further challenged by advanced breast cancer.
It was during these times that
I delved deeply into the somatic recesses of myself. I began to find my own
voice, a long learning process. I emerged with a profound trust in my own
authority. It became clear that everyone has to find his or her way through
layers of inauthenticity, where a deep knowing can develop. And I came to see
that is the best anyone can offer to the world.
Enrico and I still live in the
wilds of the Lost Padres National Forest, a paradise with many steps going up
and down, a life I would not change.
ORDER YOUR COPY:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Before you started writing your book, what kind of research
did you do to prepare yourself?
Because my book is a memoir my whole life has been a
preparation for it. I have always been introspective and that interest gave me
the ability to observe my journey as a process.
Did you pursue publishers or did you opt to self-pub?
I first self-published, I then sought out a PR agency which has
its own publishing company. I offered to pay for the printing if they were
interested in publishing my book and they took it on.
If self-published, did you hire someone to format the eBook
version for you or did you do it yourself?
Can you tell us what that was like?
I did make an eBook version, but my publisher made another
one for me that was far more inclusive.
If self-published, how did you determine the price?
When I self-published I simply picked a price that was
typical of other books in that genre.
If published by a publisher, what was your deciding
factor in going with them?
I had a relationship with the publisher before as my PR
agency and they agreed to publish my book when I offered to pay for the
printing costs.
If published by a publisher, are you happy with the price
they chose?
Yes, although it was more expensive, the newer book was
hardcover and bigger in size.
Did you purposefully choose a distinct month to release
your book? Why?
No, but it was in the fall and near holiday time. That was
just lucky.
How did you choose your cover?
Someone who was editing my book suggested that the
photograph of me as a young woman would be a good choice for the cover and I
agreed.
Did you write your book, then revise or revise as you went?
I usually revised as I wrote and revised many times after
that.
Did you come up with special swag for your book and how
are you using it to help get the word out about your book?
No, I didn’t use any special swag to promote my book.
Did you consider making or hiring someone to make a book
trailer for your book? If so, what’s the
link?
No.
What’s your opinion on giving your book away to sell
other copies of your book?
I am willing if it will help me sell more books.
What are three of the most important things you believe
an author should do before their book is released?
The only thing I can say is to be willing to do whatever it
takes.
What are three of the most important things you believe
an author should do after their book is released?
I believe social media is the best way to go. I think
finding a good PR person or agency is important, and third, be willing to go on
book tours.
What kind of pre-promotion did you do before the book
came out?
I didn’t do pre-promotion except to have a book signing
party.
Do you have a long-term plan with your book?
I have no long-term plan.
What would you like to say to your readers and fans about
your book?
In writing this book there were three levels that I found I
needed to weave together, but didn’t know it until I finished the book.
The first is the story of me as a young girl caught up in
the life of fame and money in my family and how I leave it behind hoping for a
life with significantly better values.
The second level is the need to become authentic. This part
was not independent from the story, but an ongoing search beneath the surface.
As I eventually found my voice I learned I had to go through more levels of
finding the next truer voice. I learned that there are layers upon layers of
truth.
And lastly, along the way I found my calling as a therapist,
a dance psychotherapist, which evolved independently of the other levels but
had uncanny parallels. My work is somatic, experiencing body sensation as a
message, like a signal as a way inside and a way to help reorganize the nervous
system to heal trauma.
No comments:
Post a Comment