Meditation, Inspiration, Restoration

It’s Sunday. Supposed to be a day of rest- which it was. But it also was a day of creative ideas and the inspiration to start something new. It’s easy to mark the time when I begin anew on a Sunday. I received the inspiration in my meditation yesterday to begin a self-guided restorative retreat today. Minimum 28 days but may go to 40 days. What I’m getting is that the retreat itself will be 28 days but I am going to do a 40-day yoga practice. I have been around people almost constantly for the past 3 months and have hardly been at home at all. In the past few days I am beginning to get reacclimated to being in my own space… by myself. The first two days I was totally exhausted from all I have been doing over the past 3 months and didn’t feel like doing anything, plus there was some personal family stuff going on that was taking quite a bit of my time and attention.

I made some good soups a couple of days ago because I had been traveling and there are so many cases of breakthrough Covid. I wanted to be ready in case I got it so I bought some chicken and made a beautiful batch of bone broth yesterday as well as some delicious cauliflower vichyssoise.

And now it’s Monday… I am looking back at yesterday- my inspiration and activity. It felt like I did so much stuff on Day One of my Restorative Retreat! Here are some of the things that are to be included in my retreat and the forms they have taken thus far. A creative activity- yesterday it was painting. Plus playing guitar, piano and drumming- all of which also fall into the soundwork category which is to be included each day. Healthy food, cleanse, diet plan… am presently preparing to do a liver flush in a few days so eating lightly- although meals are always a creative endeavor for me to some degree- and drinking a quart of organic apple juice each day for a minimum of 6 days to prepare for flush. (I will probably do 9 days.) I also made two short videos- one of me playing the piano which was just for my brother who gave me his old keyboard and a two minute video of me playing the Himalayan singing bowls just before bed- a little kiss goodnight to my friends.

I spent hours looking at some old videos from the Sound Body Center last night and posted one on YouTube, which isn’t really ready for viewing til I put the follow-up ones on there- they’re basically a sort of triptych. They’ll go together in 3 parts. I did about 45 minutes of kundalini yoga and some meditation and photographed butterflies. One of my sons gave me a beautiful digital Nikon camera a few years ago and I have had major trouble getting the settings right. I gave up on it for a long time but I’m back, slowly figuring out how to get the best out of it- another project which I am determined to succeed at.

Today I created a designated workspace for myself, did some more photography, am in the midst of uploading another video to YouTube, played the piano and have been writing. I intend by the end of the day to also have done my yoga practice and worked on my painting.

I also received the inspiration of a body prayer yesterday- combining sound and movement. Once I have completed the video of it I will share it here. It is called The Embodiment of Sound.

Meanwhile, while I have been sitting here writing I have uploaded the other two videos I mentioned from the days of the Sound Body Center. As I said before there are 3 parts to it. I didn’t post the very first one but you can find it on my YouTube channel- the caveat is that the first three minutes are a lot of talk and not much drumming so you may want to skip over some of it! I find it entertaining but you might not! The first one posted here has some great drumming with Fred Johnson and Jay Klein and the second one is Fred and I jamming together. They’re fun. So nice to revisit the sonic space of love and connection that was created there!

Sound Therapy at Women & Infants Hospital

A while back I was contacted by the Marketing Director of Women & Infants Hospital saying she would like to do an article on the sound therapy being offered at the hospital. I suggested that the best way for her to understand it would be for her to experience it for herself, so we set up a Sound Journey for a group of patients and staff at the hospital. This is the article that was inspired by that event.

Not long after that, the Providence Journal contacted me through the Integrative Care Program at the hospital. They were also interested in doing an article so I performed another Sound Journey there about two weeks ago, which was not only photographed but videotaped as well! I am told it will run on Sunday, January 17, 2016 in the "Thrive" section of the paper- there should also be some footage online. 

So this is all very exciting! 


Sound Therapy at Women & Infants Hospital 
by Susan McDonald

Women & Infants offers sound therapy for cancer patients and survivors

In a dimly lit room, lying on yoga mats with pillows and blankets for comfort, a handful of women were listening. So were their bodies.

Eyes closed, the sounds flowed over them – the deep tone of the Aboriginal didgeridoo wind instrument; the sonic reverberations of the Tibetan singing bowls; the whistling of air passing over the two reeds in the drone flute; the aquatic sounds of fingers rubbed along the top of the dolphin bowl.

This day in the Integrative Care Center at the Program in Women’s Oncology, the sounds were the therapy, offering a unique feeling of wellness to the women, all of whom have battled, or continue to battle, cancer.

“I thought I was relaxed at one point, then another part of my body would go down,” says Dori Gerhardt of North Kingstown after the session.

That was music to Rosie Warburton’s ears.

“When you feel the sound resonate in your body, it’s definitely having an effect. When the frequency of the bowl is the same as the body part, it vibrates and vibrates and vibrates until the body lets it go,” explains Warburton (pictured here), a licensed massage therapist and sound therapist who has started conducting sessions at the Integrative Care Center.

Holistic sound, she continues, is a non-invasive blend of healing modalities using sound, music and frequency to restore balance and harmony to the physical, mental and emotional bodies.

For the sound therapy group session, Warburton sat for a bit surrounded by the tools of her trade – bowls of metal and crystal, flutes, and a Freenote xylophone that operates on the pentatonic scale so there’s no wrong note. During the session, she walks quietly and slowly among the women, often standing before each to create various sounds ranging from high-pitched to lower and more primal. Periodically, she offers soft words encouraging the journey.

The goal is to release tension and even pain, balance the body’s energy and calm the spirit.

“Sound just does it. You can go so deep in a short amount of time,” she says simply. “Take the didgeridoo. It stills the thoughts and when your thoughts come back, it’s connecting you to your feelings. You feel more grounded. And, as it’s grounding you, it’s taking you out of your body at the same time.”

Different sounds speak to different parts of the body because of their frequency. If she knocks a tuning fork against the palm of her hand, for example, she can place it on joints, muscles and various acupuncture points to render relief from aches. It worked for Roxanne Lucas of Providence, who has neuropathy in both of her feet. Placing the vibrating tuning fork on the joints in each foot brought her instant relief. Minutes later, Gerhardt was experiencing the same relief when the tuning fork was placed on her wrist, which requires a brace for the effects of her Lyme Disease.

“I can feel it tingling down in all of my fingers. That’s great!” she exclaims.

Warburton smiles as she works on helping people understand the healing powers of sound.

“All matter has a resonant frequency it will vibrate at, including the bones, organs and other parts of the body. When you can find that frequency, you can release trauma from the body,” Warburton explains. “One tuning fork has the same resonant frequency as nitric oxide, and therefore stimulates the relaxation response, increasing oxygen flow, activating the parasympathetic system, and decreasing pain, stress and anxiety.”

In addition to the group sessions, Warburton also offers private sessions at the Integrative Care Center, using a combination of tuning forks, massage and craniosacral therapy. The results are “incredibly relaxing” and can help to increase range of motion while decreasing inflammation in the client. She also visits with women hospitalized with cancer at Women & Infants to help ease their discomfort.

Anyone interested in group or individual sound therapy sessions through the Integrative Care Program at Women & Infants, integrative therapies are offered in Providence, Middletown, and South County, RI, and Fall River, MA. For appointments in Providence, call (401) 274-1122, ext. 7143; in South County or Middletown, call (401) 846-0042; or in Fall River, call (508) 235-3500.

Be Large- In Thought, In Word, In Deed

In October of 2004 I was living in St. Petersburg, FL and looking for an office to work out of. A series of hurricanes had caused too much water damage to our house and I could no longer use my healing room there. I was driving down the street one day and saw what looked like a residential building with a sign out front that said "Office for Rent." It was set back with a nice front yard, lots of shrubs and masses of azaleas in bloom.

I called the landlord and made an appointment to see it, thinking it was what the sign said- an office, one room. When I called him he told me the whole building was for rent- 6 rooms- a conference room, a small kitchenette, a large front room and 3 smaller rooms. I only needed one so I knew I would not be renting this place but I thought I should really get a feeling for what was available in my area so I went to see it and to meet him.

He and his wife, a lovely Peruvian couple, met me there. He was a retired doctor and she was a potter- of all things!  Clearly we had a connection. I had not been in the building more than 2 minutes when I suddenly realized it would be the perfect place for a sound healing center- which I had not, up til that moment, had any thought about starting. It was all perfect- a front room for gatherings, groups, meditations, classes, three treatment rooms for other sound healing practitioners, a reception/waiting room area, a kitchenette which would be available to all practitioners and to students when we had classes and workshops, plus a good-sized office away from the other treatment rooms with its own entrance for me and my clients.

Up to this point I had always worked out of my home- first as a potter and then for another 10 years as a sound therapist so this was really a stretch for me. The vision was so strong though that I couldn't turn my back on it. I immediately shared with Elias and Maria, the owners, my inspiration and vision and they loved the idea. A while later I left them and got in my car to go back home and think it over. When I drove away I burst out crying- not because I was upset but because the the vision and the excitement was so strong that I knew I couldn't walk away from it. I had no idea how I would make it happen as I had no working capital at all but I knew I had to do it.

There was no decision to make- only a commitment driven by intention. Up to this point I had been very good at staying under the radar. If I wanted this business to succeed that was not going to be an option. I was going to have to step up to the plate.

A few days later I made an another appointment to meet with Elias as I knew I would need three months to get the space ready to open. I told him there were some things I needed to discuss with him before I could sign the lease. I made a list of requests of what I needed from him in order to be able to move forward- changing out the carpet in some or all of the rooms, negotiating on the first 3 months rent since I wouldn't be opening til January 15, spreading out the payments for the security deposit, etc., etc. I don't remember what all was on the list but there were several other things and I was very nervous about presenting this it to him. Elias agreed to meet me and if we were in agreement I could sign the lease at the same time.

The morning of our meeting I was so nervous! I told Henry, my live-in boyfriend/partner of many years, how I was feeling. He said, "Why? Are you afraid he'll say no?" I said, "No- I'm afraid he'll say yes...[more tears] and then I'll really have to be big. I won't be able to hide. I will have to totally put myself out there to make this thing work."

On October 15, 2004 Elias left me a key so that I could go to the building before him. I told him I wanted to just sit in the space and feel it for a while so that I could be really sure that this was the right thing. This was a huge process for me. I decided before I went to the meeting to take a walk on the beach and clear my head. I had my list (of what I perceived to be unreasonable requests) with me. On the way to the beach I kept going over "The List" in my mind, having imaginary conversations with him, what I would say and how he would answer ("no, no and no"). I knew on some level that even if he said no to everything I would somehow find a way to do it anyway- because I had to. It wasn't about what I wanted- to hide and play safe. It was about something much bigger than me. It was simply the next right thing to do- or as Seth Godin would say, it was my turn.

So... I'm driving to the beach, nervous, projecting, tearful and suddenly I see a marquee in front of the Pass-A-Grille Women's League that says:

         BE LARGE
         IN THOUGHT
         IN WORD
         IN DEED

Whoa- doubletake! Did I really just see that? If ever there was a message that was meant for me... that was just crazy! I never saw that sign before and I have never seen it since.

I drove to the beach with an even greater sense of purpose, took a long walk, went to the building, sat down on the floor and started another list that was entitled "If I were queen..." Then I went into each room and envisioned what it would become, how it would be painted, decorated and used and put it on the list. After an hour or so Elias showed up by which time I was thoroughly inspired. I told him what I had been doing since I had gotten there and he loved it.

What kind of a man was this who thought it was simply brilliant that I had made a list with such a title? He said it reminded him of the Knights of the Round Table. How or why I am not exactly sure but we had a wonderful meeting that ranged from the Arthurian legend to the physics of sound. Then we discussed my other list- the scary one- and yes, he agreed to everything. We signed the lease on October 15, 2004 and on January 15, 2005, one week after my 50th birthday I opened the Sound Body Wholistic Health Center.

I ran the center for the next seven years. Elias and Maria were my angels. They believed in me and supported me through thick and thin. Sometimes I joked with them asking if their wings were hidden underneath their clothes. I believe they were. A huge community grew out of and around the center. It was an oasis of sacred sound and healing for that period of time. I gained many dear friends, met some amazing practitioners and had the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience of the healing power of sound with a great many people.

When something is meant to be there is just no getting around it.