Circles, Cycles and Sound in the Time of Covid

For the past 3 days I have been immersed in the Sound Healing Global Summit online. Two days left. I had an idea that I couldn’t stand online workshops but in the time of Covid I am finding myself incredibly grateful for them. I dipped my toe in when I was in the Philippines- initially to attend a Weight Watchers meeting that I used to go to every Saturday morning when I was at home in Rhode Island. It was so wonderful to see familiar faces and feel the connection from 12000 miles away! After that I started joining in on Jai Uttal’s Friday evening kirtans and Gina Sala’s Monday Mantra class, which for me, being 15 hours ahead, were a perfect way for me to start my Saturday and Tuesday mornings- with joyful sound and meditation- and to dive into practices that otherwise were completely inaccessible to me where I was, especially once we were in lockdown.

So back to the Sound Healing Summit…

FAST FORWARD!!! I started writing this on August 5. It is now October 17. My life has made such a wide and clear circle in a year. One year ago today I was getting ready to drive to North Carolina to help my dear friend and former partner Henry navigate his way through a health procedure. Sadly he died on October 18 while I was still on the road. Two days later my sister Jenny died. Henry’s death hit me like a sledgehammer and I spent a year moving through layers of grief around that. Now, a full year later, I find myself in North Carolina living in the house where he spent the last year of his life which he had helped one of our very close friends to build.

Last week, on October 11, we had a Celebration of Life on Zoom for my sister Jenny, and I found myself processing a lot of untapped grief around that. It was a beautiful event and I am so grateful that it was a full year later so that I could be fully present for it and not held captive by the feelings I had been dealing with around Henry’s death.

So… transition, changes, travel, lockdown, Philippines, music, sound and healing…

The Sound Healing Summit was an inspiration. At some point well into my stay in the Philippines, after being on what turned out to be a major sabbatical that went on much longer than I anticipated, I realized I could not make a plan as to what would be next. And I knew that I would know what the next step was to be quite simply whenever it came to me. Clarity came within the first hour of my tuning into the Sound Summit. I have a lot to process and won’t get into much detail here but it centers around creating a Wholistic Sound Certification Program. Nothing will begin to happen until at least the spring. I am spending the winter here in North Carolina brainstorming, formulating a plan, and writing.

When I went to the Philippines I brought one small (but mighty!) Himalayan singing bowl with me. I had an idea about doing short meditations and making some videos. Unfortunately there was never a strong enough signal to post them so now I am posting one short video I made one beautiful morning on Camiguin. The sound is not great as there was a ton of background noise- the people of the little fishing village mending their nets right behind me- and I was really just experimenting. Unfortunately since it turned out to be impossible to upload anything I never refined the process!

IMG_3551.JPG

Late Night Groove

Have not yet un-jetlagged from 12 days in Hawaii. Staying up late at night and shaking myself loose in the morning. Tonight spent a couple of hours integrating ukulele chords and tunes into my nervous system, then fell into the deep soundscape of Himalayan singing bowls as I was organizing and packing them for my upcoming road trip. Next up, decided to write a short post on my blog. Opened up computer, caught a glimpse of Facebook and a few words about the devil-in-chief which set my heart a-pounding! This song suddenly came into my mind which I haven't thought about in years. At one time- more than 40 years ago?- yikes!- one of my very favorite songs by Fairport Convention.

"Just a roll, just a roll
Just a roll on your drum
Just a roll, just a roll
And the war has begun."

It's not really my thing to be a negative Nellie, but I pray DT doesn't get us in too deep before we can get him out.

Meanwhile, turn your speakers up loud. It's a great song. It's serious sound therapy!

Creating Clarity


Demo with tuning fork after a sound journey at Women & Infants Hospital
Besides giving treatments at Integrative Care and doing Sound Journeys at the hospital I have been crazy busy getting ready for trip to FL- compiling instruments, going through paperwork, feeling inspired and full of new tools and ideas to bring to the workshops.

I also want to include here the link for the Providence Journal article which finally ran in last Sunday's paper and again, the link to the video.

http://www.providencejournal.com/special/20160124/in-ri-hospitals-program-tuning-forks-and-didgeridoos-help-you-heal

http://videos.providencejournal.com/providencejournal/vljjcu?v=default&e=default&opn=below_article_ticker

I have also gotten another shipment of amazing singing bowls and a 30" gong which is quite extraordinary. Unfortunately I haven't uploaded the pictures onto my computer yet but I will soon. Have been doing lots of reorganizing, opening space in my healing room as well as the rest of my house. Feel like I'm shifting some energy for greater clarity and openness as I step into this new year.

Arguing the Case for Sound (A Sound Argument!)

Thinking about all the ways that sound plays into our experience... 

These pictures are from the app "Frequency", one of my favorites. I use it to measure the tones of Himalayan singing bowls. What I love, of course, is that it shows the sound waves.

I love all the different ways we can think about sound- the word, the meaning, the experience. Ideas and people resonate with us- or not! A word, a phrase, a title, an image, rings a bell. I especially like the idea of sound as an adjective that implies stability and strength- such as a sound building... or a sound argument.

Stop, hey, what's that sound?

I don't know. I didn't hear it. I was sound asleep!


"Sound" can be used as a noun, a verb or an adjective. The following is from www.thefreedictionary.com.

sound 1

 (sound)
n.
1.
a. Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing.
b. Transmitted vibrations of any frequency.
c. The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such vibrations in the air or other medium.
d. Such sensations considered as a group.
2. A distinctive noise: a hollow sound.
3. The distance over which something can be heard: within sound of my voice.
4. Linguistics
a. An articulation made by the vocal apparatus: a vowel sound.
b. The distinctive character of such an articulation: The words bear and bare have the same sound.
5. A mental impression; an implication: didn't like the sound of the invitation.
6. Auditory material that is recorded, as for a movie.
7. Meaningless noise.
8. Music A distinctive style, as of an orchestra or singer.
9. Archaic Rumor; report.
v. sound·ed, sound·ing, sounds
v.intr.
1.
a. To make or give forth a sound: The siren sounded.
b. To be given forth as a sound: The fanfare sounded.
2. To present a particular impression: That argument sounds reasonable.
v.tr.
1. To cause to give forth or produce a sound: sounded the gong.
2. To summon, announce, or signal by a sound: sound a warning.
3. Linguistics To articulate; pronounce: sound a vowel.
4. To make known; celebrate: "Nations unborn your mighty names shall sound" (Alexander Pope).
5. To examine (a body organ or part) by causing to emit sound; auscultate.
Phrasal Verb:
sound off
1. To express one's views vigorously: was always sounding off about higher taxes.
2. To count cadence when marching in military formation.
[Middle English soun, from Old French son, from Latin sonus; see swen- in Indo-European roots.]

sound 2

 (sound)
adj. sound·er, sound·est
1. Free from defect, decay, or damage; in good condition: Is the bridge sound?
2. Free from disease or injury. See Synonyms at healthy.
3.
a. Marked by or showing common sense and good judgment; levelheaded: a sound approach to the problem.
b. Based on valid reasoning; having no logical flaws: a sound conclusion; sound reasoning. See Synonyms at valid.
c. Logic Of or relating to an argument in which all the premises are true and the conclusion follows from the premises.
4.
a. Secure or stable: a partnership that started on a sound footing.
b. Financially secure or safe: a sound economy.
5. Thorough; complete: gave their rivals a sound thrashing.
6. Deep and unbroken; undisturbed: a sound sleep.
7. Compatible with an accepted point of view; orthodox: sound doctrine.
adv.
Thoroughly; deeply: sound asleep.
[Middle English, from Old English gesund.]
sound′ly adv.
sound′ness n.

sound 3

 (sound)
n.
1. Abbr. Sd.
a. A long, relatively wide body of water, larger than a strait or a channel, connecting larger bodies of water.
b. A long, wide ocean inlet.
2. Archaic The swim bladder of a fish.
[Middle English, from Old English sund, swimming, sea.]

sound 4

 (sound)
v. sound·ed, sound·ing, sounds
v.tr.
1. To measure the depth of (water), especially by means of a weighted line; fathom.
2. To try to learn the attitudes or opinions of: sounded out her feelings.
3. To probe (a body cavity) with a sound.
v.intr.
1. To measure depth.
2. To dive swiftly downward. Used of a marine mammal or a fish.
3. To look into a possibility; investigate.
n.
An instrument used to examine or explore body cavities, as for foreign bodies or other abnormalities, or to dilate strictures in them.
[Middle English sounden, from Old French sonder, from sonde, sounding line, probably of Germanic origin.]

A Sound Experience

This past week a woman came up here from New Jersey to train with me from Monday through Thursday. We had a great connection pretty much instantly- she was relaxed, easygoing and very receptive- so it was really was a very enjoyable experience on my end. While she was here I gave four sessions- one to her, two which she observed and one in which she assisted by doing reiki while I was working on the person.

I wanted her to have as wide a range of experience as possible for her first time here so I ended up having a kirtan the second evening she was here. My friends Lynn Carol and George Henderson were here also, visiting from Florida, so there were four of us already! I invited a handful of people at the last minute and got a great response so we had a really nice group and very sweet kirtan here on Tuesday evening.

I also gave her a session with a set of Himalayan singing bowls she had tentatively picked out for herself. My thought was that if she was going to use them for healing she should experience what it would be like to actually receive a treatment with them!
One morning we went over to my friend Lynda Loranger's beautiful sound studio in Little Compton and experienced a sound bath with her gongs and Himalayan bowls. That was really wonderful- and nice for me also to be able to receive that day!

On her last evening we watched the movie Touch the Sound- a brilliant documentary by Thomas Reidelsheimer about Dame Evelyn Glennie, a solo percussionist who is quite deaf in that she lost her ability to hear through her ears by the time she was 12 years old, but has made up for that by learning to hear with her whole body. Watching and listening to her play it is clear that she is profoundly sensitive to sound. The way that she talks about and shares sound is a revelation.

Clearly Thomas Reidelsheimer is a deeply sensitive individual as well. Fifteen years ago he made the movie Rivers and Tides about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, which is pure poetry and then followed it up with this extraordinary film in which he illustrates his subject with his own incredible perception of sound and movement that is reflected in every frame of the film. I have watched it at least 5 times and am stunned by its beauty every time.

This is all to say that we had a great three and a half days together, filled with sound experience. It was nice for me to be able to focus so much energy on one person who wanted to engage in all that I had to offer in a short window of time. There is much more and I think we are both looking forward to her return in the fall. I know I am! I am also looking forward to doing other one on one trainings and sound healing retreats for individuals and being able to tailor the time for their own individual process and practice.

Sound Immersion

Looking forward to the next three days. I have someone coming to do a Sound Immersion with me tomorrow, staying for three nights. I spent a few hours preparing food so we won't have to spend too much time with that while she is here. There is so much ground to cover! She asked if she could apprentice with me and come up perhaps three different times between now and the end of the summer. Sound Immersion is what I am choosing to call it- it just came to me when I sat down to write. It leaves it open without expectations and I don't have to rename what is happening any time anyone wants to study with me or come for a sound healing retreat for a few days.
At the same time, my friends Lynn Carol and George Henderson are going to be here as well for two or three days, so it is going to be very full!

I have had the idea of individual personalized sound healing retreats for a while so I am excited that this is finally coming to fruition. This is not quite that- the emphasis of course will be more on  education and practice and there will be less time for receiving and reflection. She will very likely get a session each day that she is here however and that in itself is worth the price of admission! I also have several people coming over for sessions during the time that she is here.
We will be discussing and working with the voice, first and foremost and then dip into VibroAcoustic Therapy, tuning forks and Himalayan singing bowls. When she comes back we will explore more deeply the singing bowls and tuning forks and who knows what else? It depends on how much she wants. We can go into mantra, Sanskrit, chanting, crystal bowls, Healing Sound Journeys and more.
If it was you, what would you want for your Sound Immersion? Would you want to learn to heal others with sound? Yourself? How to incorporate an instrument you already play into your healing practice? Would you simply want receive and have time to process with Expressive Art Therapy? Or maybe after each sound healing session you would just want to go over to the beach and take a nice long walk!


Your Sound Immersion is for you- you get to design it the way you want it!








5 Exquisite Singing Bowls

I can't believe that after three years of not being able to upload videos from my computer to YouTube, it is so easy from my phone!
So here's what we have tonight- a few days ago I got a shipment of Himalayan singing bowls. This is a grouping of five of them that sound absolutely gorgeous together. I find myself haunted by the sound. Every time I walk by them I have to hear them and even thinking about them does something indescribable to my mind. I find them completely intoxicating.




Click here to find out about the upcoming workshop on Toning, Tuning Forks and Singing Bowls on August 1-2 in St. Petersburg, FL.

Sound Spiral


Very excited that I was able to easily upload videos from my iPhone to YouTube. Why can't I do that with my MacBookPro? Whatever...
I got some new Himalayan singing bowls yesterday and spent hours this afternoon and evening setting them up to create a visual and auditory spiral of sound.
In the second video I refined it a bit more by eliminating a couple of bowls.

Sound Around

Very busy last few days. After doing sound journey for a group of bankers the day before yesterday I had someone call and ask if I could give her son a treatment who has been going through a personal crisis. The session went so well and I hope he will continue for a while. The beauty of sound is that it can cut through the story...

Next Wednesday I am going to be offering demo sessions for the Rhode Island Cancer Summit in Warwick. I will be using tuning forks and singing bowls. The opportunity came through the Integrative Care Program at Women & Infants Hospital where I give treatments to oncology patients 1-2 days a week. The money is not great but the blessings are many and the fact that a hospital is paying anything for alternative treatments is pretty remarkable. I absolutely love the work and the amazing people I get to meet through the program- women who are grateful to be alive and
so proactive about their health, caregivers who need some nurturing for themselves- people who are empowered because they have made the choice to care for themselves in a challenging situation. It is pretty phenomenal.

Today I got a beautiful shipment of Himalayan singing bowls in and I know I will be getting more in about 3 weeks. I am very excited about that!

God Is Not Throwing Dice

It was a toss-up between this and "My Body is a Cage." I have had a full day of music and a certain amount of catharsis due to the songs my friend Paul was choosing for me this morning. Three in a row by Peter Gabriel- this one, then "I Grieve" and finally "My Body is a Cage". I finally told him I needed a break and couldn't spend the whole day catharting!

So, after that we did some ordinary mundane stuff, I cooked dinner and tonight I set up instruments for tomorrow's workshop on Expressive Arts Therapy and Sound Healing. I took a picture but sadly can't seem to upload it onto here. I have a friend I met the last time I was here who is also a sound healer and has a nice collection of instruments- some beautiful Himalayan singing bowls, rattles and flutes plus I brought a few bowls and a bunch of tuning forks and a couple of other small things. Paul and Jane have a Freenote they brought from me years ago and some other exotic instruemnts as well.
At the end of the day I had a very nice assortment of instruments that all sound really well together.

(My apologies that I can only post old pictures from this blog right now.)
 After getting all that organized Paul put me on their Somatron sound table, which he and Jane bought from me 15 years ago when they hosted me in Canada, and played "My Body is a Cage". Totally amazing and so nice to have someone give me a mini-treatment on the table. It has been a long time.

Oh, and one more crazy piece of synchronicity- someone called Paul today to make reservation for tomorrow to stay here via Airbnb. It turned out upon talking to him that he is a sound therapist and has a sound healing center in Rumania! He is coming here with his wife and child tomorrow and bringing a bunch of instruments with him! What are the odds that there would be two of us here at the same time? He was as blown away as we were when Paul told him that I was here and said that when these things happen it is clear, as Albert Einstein said, that God is not throwing dice.

That on top of the question Paul and I have been discussing about why I am really here, since no one was signed up for any of the workshops before I got here. Paul has said several times that obviously I am here for a reason- we just don't know what it is yet. Now people are slowly starting to come out of the woodwork!