A.C. Seiple

Sep 17

12 min read ⭑

“There are so many unhelpful messages we can receive — and that I have personally received — that focus on our thoughts and behavior, reducing us down to just one sliver of who we are: our thinking brains. But … if we want to work with what’s happening inside us, we’ve got to know that terrain, the whole of who we are, not just our thinking patterns or behavior.”

Anna Christine Seiple — although she prefers to be called “A.C.” — isn’t afraid to step into the complexities of trauma. As a therapist, she walks individuals, including those who are neurodivergent, through how to tune into what’s going on inside so they can get unstuck and discover wholeness. A self-described “neurospicy” person herself, A.C. is passionate about connecting with every part of her being — her thinking brain, her body, her emotions — to experience life with God in a fuller, freer way. She explores this theme in her latest book, The Sacred Art of Slowing Down.

In today’s interview, she’s opening up about how life with autoimmune disease shapes her relationship with food and community, how dancing awakens something playful and restful within her and how she’s breaking free from the molds of how things “should” be done, even in writing a book.

QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?

Many places have been home across my life, and go-to meals have slowly transformed as I’ve needed to make shifts in dietary restrictions as a result of Celiac disease and a number of other autoimmune diseases.

I remember the days of walking into a restaurant, looking over the entire menu and simply ordering whatever sounded good. Those days left me over a decade ago, and slowly, my favorite meals and restaurants have become the places where, for that meal, I feel free. When medical restrictions on what you eat limit you to generally one — or, if you’re lucky, two — options on a menu, it’s not a situation where you’re talking about your favorite meal.

In those equations, I don’t have a choice, and there’s a disconnect with those around me who are free to order whatever they want and apologize as they enjoy their meal, witnessing how different my experience is. But when I go to a restaurant like BimBeriBon in Asheville (may she rest in peace — closed during COVID) or Southern Squeeze in Chattanooga (she’s still alive and well!), I can share in the experience of feasting with those around me. When I can look over an entire menu of options and excitedly order whatever I’d like, I get to partake in the joy of savoring something special and rich with those at the table with me. And in this type of equation, my favorite meal is a gluten-free, plant-based, no-refined-sugar waffle that’s topped with a homemade fruit compote and vanilla cashew crème.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?

When I step into a dance studio, I come alive in unique ways. My body — and the bodies around me — all start to move and play. Our feet anchor into the ground beneath us. We stretch, turn and jump, exploring shapes and lines in concert with rhythm.

In a dance studio, I don’t need to be anywhere else — the time doesn’t matter, what’s on my to-do list doesn’t matter, and I’m not performing or trying to produce something. Instead, I’m simply existing, more connected to my body and the whole of who I am than I am anywhere else — except the mountains, maybe. I feel my toes, my ankles, my calves, my knees (sometimes in pain!), my hips, my core, back, arms, wrists, fingers, spine and neck. I am my toes, my ankles, my calves, my knees (sometimes in pain!), my hips, my core, back, arms, wrists, fingers, spine and neck.

I ebb and flow between focusing on moving my body in a certain way and also letting my body lead me in movement that makes everything else fade away, sinking into and swaying with the present moment. I laugh and smile like a child having fun. I see the faces of others who are having just as much fun, connecting with each other so much deeper than words can facilitate. Our bodies know each other and know what it is to be in this space together, to move in this space together — to be present, to be witnessed and to play.

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you confront its power?

My kryptonite is ignoring what I know to be true. This might play out when I’m tired and know that getting off my screens an hour before I go to bed will help me wind down more naturally. But I stay on my laptop for 15 more minutes to just finish those emails that I want off my to-do list — only to be frustrated with myself an hour later when my brain won’t shut off as my head rests on my pillow.

It can also play out when I interact with others and have a gut sense that someone isn’t safe, that something is off. But rather than listening to the wisdom within, I ignore it, going with the flow to not seem strange or “difficult” by making whatever adjustments I would need to in those interactions or relationships to feel most comfortable. And then, time and time again, I wonder, when will I listen to what I know? Why do I doubt myself? How and why have I learned not to trust myself? What might it look like to live out trusting myself?

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been playing with the idea of what it might look like to work with what’s happening inside instead of against our own selves. And I think we get stuck here because we fundamentally misunderstand who we are. There are so many unhelpful messages we can receive — and that I have personally received — that focus on our thoughts and behavior, reducing us down to just one sliver of who we are: our thinking brains. But we’re a lot more than our thinking brains (our prefrontal cortex, just one aspect of our brains/bodies). And if we want to work with what’s happening inside us, we’ve got to know that terrain, the whole of who we are, not just our thinking patterns or behavior.

So my curiosity is a holistic formation, whether that’s thought of as spiritual formation or simply personal formation in our growth and development, and how we engage the whole of us in that, getting to know parts of us that we might be used to ignoring or dismissing. For me, this has come out of years of stepping deeper into connecting with my body and the parts of me I’ve seen as problems over the years.

This has been the core of my professional work as a therapist, as well as my work in my personal life, and they are woven together in my book “The Sacred Art of Slowing Down.” When we understand how we’re wired and how the things we’ve walked through have also shaped us, there’s so much room to play with what it might look like to move through life differently and more freely, in ways that aren’t just wholehearted but are also whole-bodied.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?

For me, God electrifies my creativity not just in thought but also in body. I know that God is flowing through me and my work when I’m creating not just from my thinking brain but the whole of who I am. The first drafts of “The Sacred Art of Slowing Down” would have made a good book, but it was crafted by my thinking brain, from a place of what I thought I “should” write, a place that was disconnected from my body. It felt more controlled and safe, but I was the one restricting it.

I realized this alongside what felt like an invitation from God, an invitation to write instead from my gut, from what God had been teaching me and still was teaching me. Writing from that vulnerable place instead. And so I started to rewrite my drafts, often crying as I wrote, knowing that those tears indicated where this writing was flowing from and that this was not something I could cultivate on my own. Those words were flowing from the most tender depths of me, not the shiny, have-it-all-together parts of me that knew the right Sunday school answers. They came from the beyond-words (and before-words!) parts of me that were translating their longings, griefs, hopes, joys and pains into the words that formed the stories and invitations on each page.

It was not what I anticipated or planned. It felt scary and risky, but it turned out so incredibly beautiful. It had God’s fingerprints all over it.

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?

Slowing down into simple contemplation in creation has been, and continues to be, one of the sweetest ways I commune with God.

Even in the midst of not having answers to painful questions or not being able to connect with other spiritual practices, there’s something about creation that speaks to my soul, that holds all the both-ands that characterize my faith right now.

I can’t make sense of mysteries that frustrate me and seem to make no sense, and also, when I stand beneath a tree with the wind blowing against my skin, I feel God’s presence there. I might feel like God isn’t answering my prayers and not see God “showing up,” and also, I feel the warmth of his smile in the pitter-patter of little creations running around a tree. I might feel exhausted, overwhelmed and all alone, and also, I feel the earth beneath me holding me, supporting my every step, sturdy and strong.

The intactness, playfulness, beauty and creativity of creation never cease to amaze me, drawing me in to simply be and experience awe. And it’s in those spaces of simple, sacred awe that the unanswered questions and open wounds are held and soothed in ways I can’t really describe in words, like a taste of wholeness, a respite of home, a glimpse of all things being made new and right. Oh, and the newness of creation — again and again, brings so much hope.

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?

I can only choose three? This is cruel!

1. Marva Dawn’s book “My Soul Waits.” This book had a massive impact on me. I ate up seeing an author draw from her own tender vulnerability and be a boss digging into the Hebrew behind our English translations of the Psalms. It stood out to me as such a rare example of honoring both our pain and our faith tradition, not needing to sacrifice or minimize either of them but holding them both so firmly, tenderly and wisely. Her both-and-ness in this book is what inspired me to pursue a degree to become a therapist while simultaneously pursuing a degree in biblical languages.

2. This might not seem specific, but it is (I promise!), and I’ll give examples. Songs that give voice to the depths of my soul and invite them to cry out. While this might seem nonspecific, it is something you recognize when it happens, when the words and melody hit just right and tap into pain, longing, joy or heartache that is hard to express otherwise. These songs have carried me, spoken to me and opened my voice across my entire faith journey, including the moment of my faith conversion, which happened while singing a song (that’s a wild story for another time). I’m thinking of songs like “Reason to Sing” by All Sons and Daughters, “Out of Hiding” by Steffany Gretzinger and “Are You Listening” by United Pursuit.

3. This last one is a tie between the work of Chuck DeGroat (especially “When Narcissism Comes to Church”) and the work of Hillary McBride (especially her “HolyHurt” podcast). Both of these humans are so wise and dig so deep into spaces that are not always comfortable — dark places that have done so much damage for so long. They use their voices to bring light to spaces that need attention and tender care.

Certain things can be godsends, helping us survive, even thrive, in our fast-paced world. Does technology ever help you this way? Has an app ever boosted your spiritual growth? If so, how?

I’m going to go with the “abstaining from tech” angle here. I think technology can be used to help in so many ways, but with the way I’m wired, I pretty much always see the greatest benefit in unplugging.

For me, this is really clear when I consider the fact that I never regret unplugging from screens, and I often regret time on screens. When we look at a screen, we’re giving our presence there, and I’d argue that even if a screen draws us into some element of spiritual growth, it’s also drawing us away from being fully present to that moment. And when we’re not fully present, we’re limited in how much we can connect with God and others — and our own embodied selves! While it’s so tempting to give our presence to screens for most of the day, it’s much more satisfying to be alive to who God created us to be and to all that he created in others and in the world around us — in my humble opinion.

So what does that look like in my life? One of the biggest ways is putting my phone away about 45-90 minutes before I go to bed. Ideally, this would be a solid two hours, but as I already noted in an earlier answer, this often gets cut down to 45 minutes or so as I’m trying to do just one more thing on a screen. That space allows me to settle as I wind down, reflection, giving gratitude, praying and simply being still with God in ways that wouldn’t be possible on a screen. I also like to practice locking myself out of my phone or not bringing my phone with me to certain places (e.g., hikes, time outside, time with others).

QUESTION #8: dream

God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been learning more about neurodivergence and neurodiversity — first in my own life, but also as a mental health clinician. These categories have helped me better understand how I’m wired, giving me missing puzzle pieces that I couldn’t quite find when trying to make sense of who I am through traditional therapy or trauma lenses — lenses that are great and that I love but are just incomplete.

With this, there are two things stirring within me. Firstly, I’m playing with what it might look like to create space for people to understand how their brains and bodies are wired within the larger landscape of neurodiversity. Perhaps simply understanding the difference between the terms neurodivergence and neurodiversity or maybe starting with what these terms each mean!

Secondly, while I play with this, along with some other projects that are brewing, I’m considering what it might look like to explore writing and creating in ways that feel most authentic to how my brain and body are wired rather than trying to figure out and fit into some sort of preexisting formula that’s seen as typical or a norm. Now, this isn’t easy, as publishers often want books written in a certain format, and I understand there are good intentions behind this. But also, I love thinking, dreaming and playing outside the box, and I want to explore how I might press into this, basically practicing what I preach!

Around 10-20% of people around the world are neurodivergent, which means their brains operate or develop differently than what’s widely considered “typical.” However, most spaces — including church settings and the specific disciplines they teach — aren’t designed with neurodivergent needs in mind. This means that as many as 1 in 5 Christians may struggle with feeling like they don’t fit in, can’t measure up or simply don’t resonate with the traditions passed down to them.

That’s why some individuals, like A.C., are calling for a change in the church — to affirm that truly anyone can connect with Jesus and live out his Word, even if the tactical methods look a little different from person to person.

Like listening to Scripture aloud instead of reading it silently. Or journaling through pictures instead of words. Or praying while walking instead of sitting still and quiet. Because following Jesus has never been about fitting a mold. It’s about abiding in him.

Anna Christine (A.C.) Seiple is a licensed counselor, retreat leader and researcher. She loves integrating neuroscience with spirituality, honoring the entirety of our created being. She holds two master’s degrees — one in clinical mental health counseling and one in biblical studies — and is currently a postgraduate researcher at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, exploring conversations between ancient Christian contemplation and present-day therapeutic interventions. She loves good food, a good laugh, quality time with loved ones and finding ways to playfully move through each day. Connect with A.C. on Instagram @a.c.seiple and find her guided meditations here.