I have had a long and fruitful day today which started off with a 3 1/2 hour meeting today with Lisel Woods, enterpreneur and small business consultant, discussing marketing strategies for my business. Nice that she is a devotee of Seth Godin! It has been so enjoyable meeting with her and getting some fresh perspectives and inspiration in thinking about ways to move forward. One of the ideas that came to me today was to offer 3-day sound immersion workshops for practitioners. They would be very small groups, a true intensive, for no more than 6 people at one time.
I am feeling very inspired but also very tired so tomorrow I will unravel some more of the inspiration that came to me today. I think I need to sleep on it-I feel like I will be able to integrate more of it with eyes closed!
Me resting on the Athena Table- a sound table with speakers built into it made by the Somatron Corporation-
I am actually lying here listening to some great music (Tulku by Jim Wilson),
feeling the vibrations through my whole body!
Woke up with a new devotional ditty in my head this morning. Came down stairs and immediately started singing and playing it on the harmonium. I finally had to stop so I have a voice left for this afternoon when I get to share it in our Mindful Yoga and Sacred Chant class!
Haven't had breakfast, a cup of coffee or my vitamins yet and it's past 2 pm... Singing does take you beyond. I love my job!
Things are revving up and my mind is full. There are so many things I want to write about, to say, to share, about the incredible power of music as a healing salve for the soul that my mind becomes so full I don't know where to begin sometimes. A little while ago I sat down at the computer to write and decided that I would use my alpha tuners (part of the brain tuner set) just to quiet things down enough and see where the next thread of creativity would take me. Well, the tuning forks are sitting on the desk next to me unused. As soon as I opened up my computer this video came up and I found one more poignant, heart-rending story.
Here's Part One:
The comment below the video on Facebook struck an uncomfortable chord in me. "Never judge a book by its cover." I wondered why anyone would assume that a homeless person doesn't have as much talent, brilliance or skill as the next person.
And now... Part Two:
I love this. This video moved me to tears. I love the sound of his voice when he talks about what music means to him- and his awe at being able to sit at a grand piano, his dream. What does it mean, that a homeless person, who may have actually given up their dreams long ago, who will very likely live on the streets for the rest of his life, who is aged far beyond his years, has a dream suddenly come true- not by his own doing but by some grand and strange orchestration of the universe? Or was it by his own doing? Was it the power of his intention? Did his dream still live inside of him, in spite of his outward circumstances, deep within him still living and breathing a quiet life of its own with enough power to create a perfect moment, a manifestation of his heart's desire?
Is it really "a sad reminder that beauty and promise can be found anywhere"? Not to me. It is a happy and glorious reminder. No, his story is not happy but there is such beauty here and it speaks once again to the power of music because it is always where we are in the moment that is important. There is no point in projecting about where we are going to be or what is going to happen- the doomsday prophecy that this moment is not going to last. There may not be another moment. Any moment can be our last. These moments are precious- these moments where we transcend the confines of our life, our beliefs, our dis-ease, of gravity, of whatever is binding us. Music has the power to break these bonds- if only for a moment, but in that moment we know that there is another possibility and another reality. "It's like, you're playing... but, you forget yourself." And that is when you know peace.
Two years ago I taught a class on healing with Himalayan metal singing bowls to a group of women in Sarasota, FL via Skype. At the end of the class they asked me if I could make a recording of the bowls specifically for helping one to go to sleep. I made the recording right away but then didn't know how to actually put it on a CD so I have never done anything with it. Tonight I finally figured out! Really, it was easy- I just had to do it, as it turned out. I am listening to it right now on my good stereo. Up until tonight I had only ever heard it on the computer!
That was about three minutes into the track. After that paragraph I had to go lie down on the floor as I could no longer focus on writing. I disappeared into the sounds. My breathing got very still, as it does in deep meditation. Images came into my mind as in a dream but I don't remember what any of them were.
I had forgotten. I hadn't listened to it in about a year. When I first made it I played it numerous times before going to sleep and I had to conclude that it must work because I never heard the whole thing. Tomorrow I will call a sound tech in Providence and see if he can clean up a few ambient sounds which were caused by me moving around the bowls when I was recording it. Then I can call my friend Nadia and tell her that I will have their CD ready soon!
Tonight I am exhausted but I wanted to do a quick post before I go to bed. I know there is something that wants to be said.
When I was in my early teens I used to "try" to meditate. The big distraction was my breath! If only I could breath totally silently then I was sure I'd be able to meditate. When I got older I learned an amazing mediation technique. Meditate on the sound and the movement of the breath. What a revelation! The one constant as long as I am alive- I am breathing. It was like some major secret had just been revealed to me.
Tomorrow I do a kirtan. Tonight I came up with a very sweet and simple melody for a chant to Lord Shiva. I am looking forward to sharing it. I am grateful that each day I am getting more response to my work up here. It feels good.
I just watched Nick Cave's very myopic movie "20,000 Days on Earth"- I
LOVED it!!! If you don't like Nick Cave you would probably find it
extremely irritating at best. It could be interpreted as narcissistic I
suppose. I was captivated by his music the first time I saw "Wings of
Desire"- not music I would hang out and listen to ordinarily but in a
particular context I find it hypnotizing. When I saw the Leonard Cohen
tribute film "I'm Your Man" I saw a different side of him and found him
not only fascinating as a musician but as a person- eloquent and
thoughtful.
So I was very excited for this film to come out and was deeply disappointed not to be able to see it at the time. I was so happy when I saw tonight that it was on Amazon Prime. My TV is hooked up to a great stereo so it was perfect.
I was so taken by it within the first 30 seconds or so that I grabbed a notebook and began taking notes. It was so meaty and I knew that I would quickly forget much of what struck me.
Some of the things I wrote down (and some slightly adapted for the purpose of this blog): Wonderfully myopic film by/about Nick Cave. I am haunted by his music. His father [said to him after a concert] "You are like an angel." Thoughtful, beautifully eloquent Biggest fear "Losing my memory... because memory is what we are." "Those moments when the gears of the heart really change." He was talking about daredevil stunts they used to do as kids and I thought, My childhood was thwarted by fear. Before you go on stage you don't know how you're going to do it. It seems impossible. Then something happens when you get on the stage. Everything else falls away.
Here is where I have to interject and put in my two cents worth. He is talking about the transformation that happens for the performer and by virtue of that to the audience, and he tells a story about Nina Simone- a concert where he opened up for her and she was raging before the concert- angry and demanding, the impression of someone snarling like an animal and scaring everyone around her. She comes out on stage and she walks up to the edge of the stage and stares the audience down. Then she goes and sits down at the piano, takes her gum out of her mouth, sticks it on top of the piano and pounds on the keys... And then she goes through this total transformation, and she is loving what she is doing. She connects with the audience, they connect with her. Everyone is completely blown away. This is his example of the transformative power of the stage, where everything else disappears and for a little while you can forget who you are.
Here is where I disagree- maybe it's just a matter of semantics. I'm not sure- but my take on this is that, first of all, this is like life. In fact, this is life. So many things that we are faced with- and we say, "Nope, I can't do this one. Too much. Too big. No can do." But it's one of those situations we can't walk away from- whether it's because it's our calling and our vocation, whether it is an obligation that we must fulfill. Doesn't matter. We're there and we have to walk through because we're in it for the long haul. And when we step into it- like stepping on the stage- we remember who we are and why we are here and there is no question that, Yes- I can do this! In fact many times we don't even think about it because there is no choice to be made. We feel the fear, we acknowledge it (or not) and we step up to the plate, and all the other stuff just falls away because we have just met our true calling. Not necessarily in terms of our life's work, nothing so grandiose, but for that moment, for that situation our job is to be present and to handle whatever is in our face. Could be a job interview, could be a sick child, could be a performance... it's whatever our fear is in the moment. Every moment, every choice. That is our life.
This movie is about self-exploration. It's about calling up and honoring the ghosts of the past. Our life doesn't become a story until we tell it. When we are in it, it just seems chaotic and confused. It's in the telling that it becomes a story.
What makes a story worth telling? If it has value to us, then it is a story worth telling. Maybe we just need to find the right person to tell it to. I told my therapist today that I was there to untangle the threads of the past. That's what I feel like this movie is doing and maybe that is why I was so moved by it. That and the fact that the cinematography and the sound- not just his music but the accompanying sound- is absolutely brilliant.
This just popped up on the radar. I have been very busy today sorting out paperwork- aaaaaarghh!- and suddenly here comes this brilliant inspiration about which I am wildly excited! The Sync Project- THESYNCPROJECT.COM- all about researching, understanding and harnessing the healing power of music. In my world it doesn't get much better than that. Please check it out!!!
And while you're at it- watch this video if you haven't already seen it. And of course if you have, then I have no doubt that you will want to watch it again! And then you will absolutely want to watch the movie Alive Inside! So inspiring!
Spent a long time tonight updating events and contact information. should have gone quickly but I added a bunch of pictures to the contact page. Then I had a hard time actually sharing the posts on FB and Twitter so I thought I would write something too!
I always get inspired going through my pictures and revisiting past events, sessions, workshops, pictures of instruments and looking forward to what's coming up. In the end of April I will be going to Holland to teach a workshop. My first trip to Holland was in 2012 and I am so looking forward to going back.
Here are some pics from the last trip to Netherlands.
Wholistic Sound is located in Tiverton, Rhode Island, 30 minutes from
Newport, RI and 30 minutes from Providence. I offer private sound
healing sessions, personalized sound healing retreats for individuals
and couples, healing sound journeys, classes and workshops. I also sell
Himalayan singing bowls, crystal bowls, tuning forks, books, CDs and
other sound healing tools.
Hours are by appointment only.
To set up an appointment for a private session, host a workshop or Healing Sound Journey or find out about our personalized sound healing retreats, please send an email to soundbodycenter@gmail.com or call 727-479-9916.
I am very happy and grateful to be feeling relatively settled in my house so that every day now I get to spend a fair amount of time either playing music or doing something related to sound healing- instead of just unpacking and organizing! One or two days a week I am off to South County to give massage and sound healing treatments to oncology patients, which is really an incredible gift for both them and for me.
Today I spent several hours practicing my harmonium, combining a couple of different chants to Shiva, the transformer, for the yoga and chant class tonight. The icicles are melting, spring is around the corner and with that transformation is in the air! I am starting to figure out the chords with relative ease now which is really a big step. Also, for some reason that I don't really understand, my guitar playing seems to have improved dramatically recently even though it seems like I don't play that much. I feel like it has something to do with the pretty constant immersion in some form of sound that, even though my actual technique isn't nearly as good as it was when I was younger (since I took about a 15 year break from it), my sensitivity to sound has greatly increased and by virtue of that, so has my creativity. Whatever it is- I'm liking it!
Slowly starting to get new clients in my new space. Today someone came for a session who I met almost two years ago at an Expressive Art Therapy training I had taken. Turns out she saved my contact information and last week contacted me to make an appointment for a session. We hadn't had any contact since we had taken the class together.
So interesting to me when you don't have any idea that what you shared at some past time has had an impact on someone. You might not have even known they were listening or remotely interested. I have had people contact me for a session sometimes years after they came to one event that I did.
So, part of the moral of the story is, don't be afraid to share what you do- and don't assume that no one is listening. You never who you might reach- usually just when you least expect it!
A few years ago when I was in St. Petersburg I taught a class for the Florida State Massage Therapy Association. It was an opportunity for me to network and reach a fairly broad audience and for Licensed Massage Therapists to get a few of their necessary continuing education credits. About three years later I got a call from a woman who had been at that meeting. I had played a crystal bowl and she told me she had never forgotten the sound of that bowl and had wanted one ever since. She was just waiting until she could afford it. She came to the center later that week and bought her first crystal bowl.
And this is the other part of the moral of the story. That is how sound is. Sometimes it just penetrates through all the other clutter and chaos and you know when it strikes you. You know that it just changed you- or brought you back home in a way that nothing else could in such a brief instant.
I am very tired tonight and my mind is rather pleasantly empty. When I thought about what to write- my commitment to shipping something every day- this beautiful kirtan by Jai Uttal came into my mind. It was a very lovely evening in Miami about four years ago, at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, without a doubt one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in. The scene, with the lights changing from reds to blues to purples, the angels behind them, the ethereal painting on the ceiling and the sweet beautiful music, was something out of this world.
Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati (Ramamurti S. Mishra, MD) my teacher's guru
My beloved teacher, Swami Sivananda Sarasvati
Reasons for learning Sanskrit through chanting, according to Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati:
You learn Sanskrit naturally and
effortlessly.
You enter your being through
discipline of meditation, relaxation and concentration.
You experience natural unity and
integrity with the world.
You receive natural and holistic
healing, unifying body, mind and spirit.
By the radiation of natural health
on all levels you help others in the same direction.
You experience the integrity of
all world languages through the vibration of Sanskrit language with
chanting.
You enter into meditation in a
natural way.
You experience natural and
spontaneous revelation of freedom and enlightenment, the light of
natural awareness.
The Sanskrit language, known as “The
mother of all tongues” is one of the oldest known languages, if not the oldest, on our planet.
The written alphabet is called “devanāgari”.
It is said that the language derived from the cities of the devas,
“the shining ones” (“nagar” is the word for city). Each
letter was derived from an icon of one of the many diverse Goddesses.
The great Devi created 50 subforms of herself, the mātrikas
or “little mothers” whose names are still recited daily by devout
shakti worshippers. Each letter has its own meditative quality and
vṛtti (perturbation of the
natural mind) associated with it.
Because
each phenome in the Sanskrit language has its own vibrational
quality, with the proper pronunciation one can attain states of
mastery- theoretically even
if you did not know the actual meaning of the words!
This idea has another level of importance, because if the language is
mispronounced one can inadvertently be bringing in unwanted vibratory
energies. For example, “the pigeon”... rājakapotāsana...
the
word “rāja” means king or sovereign. Leave off the long “a”
and the word becomes “raja”- which translates as either pollen of
flowers or menstrual excrement! Properly pronounced it really
translates as “the royal pigeon pose”. When one is teaching [yoga] one
can be adding to this energy of excellence through the correct
pronunciation of Sanskrit.
In 1786 Sir William Jones, one of the first people to seriously study the language outside of India had this to say about it:
The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin,
and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a
stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of
grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong,
indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists.
My personal experience of studying and chanting Sanskrit is that it charges the brain, balances the nervous system, creates new neural pathways and improves memory.
This short video is from an introductory Sanskrit class for yoga teachers that I taught at Living Room Yoga in St. Petersburg, FL several years ago. The actual devanagari letters are below so you can chant along.
Here are just a few of my favorite movies about the power of sound and music to unite and to heal:
Genghis Blues- The story of
blind Chicago-based bluesman Paul Pena, his personal discovery of Tuvan
throat-singing and his ensuing visit to the Republic of Tuva, a tiny
country on the northern edge of Mongolia.
Tuvan shaman dancing near Kyzyl
1 Giant Leap: In short, watch the video below. This is one short excerpt- absolutely exquisite. Musical duo Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto traveled to Asia, Africa and India recording tracks on their laptops and then having other brilliant musicians from around the world laying more tracks over them and interviewing fascinating minds such as Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, Dennis Hopper and many others- a blend of philosophy and music. Music unites individuals, cultures and minds. Music brings out people's inner innate joy. Watch the movie and clear the room so you can dance your way through it, because you will want to!
The Story of the Weeping Camel: A most surprising and
fascinating documentary. A nomadic Mongolian family's newest camel colt
is rejected by its mother. As a last resort, after trying everything
they could to get the mother to accept her newborn, the family brings in
a musician to perform a very special ritual.
If you've already seen all three of these films contact me- there are many more I can recommend! What am I going to do tonight? Get out my flute and my drum, clear some space in my living room and watch 1 Giant Leap again!
I ran across an interesting article yesterday discussing how ADHD is not actually a "disease". http://themindunleashed.org/2014/10/adhd-real-disease-says-leading-neuroscientist.html. It is a subject of great interest to me. It seems to me that there are inherent problems in our general environment and the way that kids are taught in school these days- and not just "these days" but for many, many years. Our schools and our society do not nurture the way that kids minds and bodies naturally operate- which is pretty much to be full of energy and, to some extent, all over the place due to their rabid curiosity about the world! Kids minds are so expansive, open and free and from the minute they walk into their first day of school, with few exceptions (the great progressive schools and alternative learning environments), they begin to be constricted and stuffed into one box or another. Also, there is so much mental and auditory stimulus directed at them (and at all of us) through today's technology as well as serious EMF pollution that it's a wonder any of us can think straight!
Personally I think there are numerous contributing factors to the disproportionate rise of so-called ADHD. One obvious one is diet- we have to make a concerted effort seek out food with good nutritional value and we are limited by time. If a growing body is not being given good whole food it will impact the development of the brain. The brain is part of the body- hello. We live in a fast-food society- not necessarily just the food we ingest in our bodies but also how we feed our minds. We have kids (and adults) that are addicted to video games, cell phones and computers. It is easier these days to find out about whatever bit of trivia- or important information- we need at any given moment by googling or reading a quick summary on Wikipedia than by actually reading a book.
Multitasking was once the job of computers. It has fallen into our language as a desired "skill" which does not encourage focusing on one task until it is completed. I know people who take pride in their ability to multitask. If we can talk on the phone at the same time as we are doing research on the computer, eat lunch at our desk, watch a webcast while making a necklace, or listen in on a call while we are out for a run, we have just collapsed time a little bit more and bought ourselves a few extra minutes. I had a massage client once who wanted to be on a conference call while she was receiving her massage! I told her no, if she wanted to have a massage with me at that time she had to forgo the phone call. I suppose for some people that is part of their "normal". It is definitely not how I work though, as a healer. When the mind is under that much pressure, to be constantly busy, how can it learn to relax and let go? It is being pushed to the max.
Julian Treasure's talk on sound health also brings up a point which seems very relevant to this topic. He talks about "schizophonia"- the dislocation between what we see and what we hear. I am in my kitchen but I am talking to my sister in Arizona. How much attention am I paying to my present space- or am I present at all? This issue has become very pervasive because today we have the opportunity at all times to be connecting with those who are not present with us- who are not in our space, in our house, in our time zone. On one level I believe that this is one of the gifts of the internet- and in fact I actually think that it is the higher purpose of the internet. On the flip side I feel that it can be very damaging to our sense of self and to our sense of place in time. It may be even more so to young people because they have barely begun to develop a strong sense of self and they are actually being encouraged by our technology to split off from it. We must vigilant about how we use our technology and, in some sense, "protect" our minds.
And how does this relate to sound healing? (It better relate because I have a whole chapter on it in my book!) Sound has the ability to bring us fully into the present literally in a matter of seconds and sometimes in less than an instant. One of the simplest ways to do this, when you feel you are scattered, disconnected or not fully available to the person or the task before you is simply to pull your attention back to your breath. Stop- and listen to the sound of your breath with your very next inhale. Where are you now?
Singing a Nina Hagen devotional tonight at a kirtan in Newport brought to mind this amazing kirtan- in my opinion one of the best ever recorded! About once a year I have to revisit it.
Things are starting to heat up a bit around here- people calling for sessions, chanting groups and wanting to organize group sound healing meditations. I'm ready!
We can jump into anything and wing it if we are feeling so moved and have enough information, knowledge, experience or background at our disposal... but when we prepare for the task, the event, the talk- what a difference that can make to the outcome. Spontaneity is a wonderful thing. We shouldn't leave it out of the equation. Being open and having the ability to making a change in the moment as the circumstances, situation or mood guide us, is important and may also lead to results beyond what we might have hoped for or imagined.
A few years ago I heard somewhere that Sting always has his band do an hour of yoga before a concert. Last week a friend of mine and I started teaching a class on Mindful Yoga & Sacred Chant. The effect of chanting after doing an hour of yoga is profound! An hour of yoga is plenty enough to balance the mind and body, open up the lungs and prepare one for a luscious round of chanting or singing.
Tonight we taught our second class in a series of five. I had been practicing a particular chant all week. It was new to me and I am not very good on the harmonium so I needed a lot of practice to feel comfortable. Every day this week I sat down with it and practiced, but I didn't always spend a lot of time actually preparing myself to chant. I would do a little breathing and a bit of warm up vocals but I tend to be impatient so I would often jump right into singing or chanting without being fully warmed up.
Both last week and this week in our class I was amazed at the difference when I opened my mouth to sing after doing a full hour of yoga first. My body was relaxed. I had more lung capacity and my whole being felt really open, allowing my voice to expand with an unusual fullness and strength. Very exciting.
And can't we apply this to any endeavor? Preparation must become part of the practice.
Sister Dang Nhiem with her beautiful teachings of the bells and the breath has been in my mind all day. The teaching is simple and beautiful. There is nothing I can add to it.
I did the above drawing in a workshop after we had done a vocal meditation on the chakra tones. I was playing a singing bowl at the same time and this was how I felt at the end of the meditation. It was a revelation about the balance of energy.
The goddess Sarasvati is the Hindu deity of learning, creativity and knowledge- the goddess who revealed language and writing to man. She is the consort of Lord Brahma, the creator in the Hindu trinity. In the Vedas, Sarasvati is personified as a river goddess. At one time the Sarasvati River was the greatest river in India, originating in the Himalayas. The goddess Sarasvati is "She Who Flows." All of the creative endeavors that flow through us are through the grace of Sarasvati. When we begin any creative project it is helpful to invoke the Mother Goddess of art, music, language, learning, literature, science. Her flowing energy purifies our mind and provides the stream of inspiration just as the water cleanses and purifies the earth and our bodies. She is also called "She who dwells in sound."
Today I spent the afternoon practicing the harmonium, singing sargam, and practicing a Sarasvati chant in the "bilawal thaat"- which, in Indian music, is the equivalent to the Western major scale.
Here is a beautiful Sarasvati raga by my teacher Silvia Nakkach. Enjoy!
Licensed Massage Therapist
Wholistic Sound is located in Tiverton, Rhode Island, 30 minutes from
Newport, RI and 30 minutes from Providence. I offer private sound
healing sessions, personalized sound healing retreats for individuals
and couples, healing sound journeys, classes and workshops. I also sell
Himalayan singing bowls, crystal bowls, tuning forks, books, CDs and
other sound healing tools.
Today I spent several hours practicing my harmonium, combining a couple of different chants to Shiva, the transformer, for the yoga and chant class tonight. The icicles are melting, spring is around the corner and with that transformation is in the air! I am starting to figure out the chords with relative ease now which is really a big step. Also, for some reason that I don't really understand, my guitar playing seems to have improved dramatically recently even though it seems like I don't play that much. I feel like it has something to do with the pretty constant immersion in some form of sound that, even though my actual technique isn't nearly as good as it was when I was younger (since I took about a 15 year break from it), my sensitivity to sound has greatly increased and by virtue of that, so has my creativity. Whatever it is- I'm liking it!
