I came across this video first thing this morning when I opened up Facebook. By the end I was so happy that I had tears streaming down my face. What a simple beautiful thing. I feel like if I was ever feeling sad or depressed or worried I could just watch this video and get happy again.
Fall Sound Travels to Florida
Hey my friends! In less than two months I will be headed to Florida for my semi-annual Sound Journey and teaching trip. I will be teaching workshops in Tallahassee, Seminole and Sarasota and doing Sound Journeys in all of these cities as well. My schedule, thus far, is as follows: October 27- 30: Abundance Wellness Center, 325 John Knox Road, Building T, Suite 1, Tallahassee, Florida 32303 October 27: Healing Sound Journey 7- 8:30 pm October 28: Healing Sound Journey 7- 8:30 pm October 29-30: Workshop- Healing Protocols With Pythagorean Tuning Forks- 12 CEUs for FL LMTs- 9:30- 4:30 both days ~And I will be there at least another two days giving private sessions. Please contact me if you would like to set up an appointment~
November 4- 6: Yoga 4 All, 8836 Seminole Blvd., Seminole, FL 33772 November 4- 6: Workshop- Healing With Tibetan Singing Bowls Hours: Friday, November 4, 7- 9 pm Saturday, November 5, 11- 6 pm Sunday, November 6, 1-5 pm November 4: Healing Sound Journey featuring Tibetan Singing Bowls, 7- 8:30 pm. (included as part of workshop for all Tibetan Bowl workshop students)
November 12- 13: Whole Person Healing, 1435 S Osprey Ave., Suite 200 Sarasota, FL 34239 November 12: Healing Sound Journey 4:30- 6 pm November 13: Workshop- Simple Tools For Massage & Healing
For details on all workshops and to preregister, please go to my website: www.rosemary-warburton.squarespace.com/new-events/ Please spread the word to anyone you think will be interested. Thank you so much. I don’t have the links posted yet for the sound journeys but they will be up soon. Can’t wait to see you all again! Blessings, Rosie Warburton
Coffee with Birds... Perfection
My life is full of sound- of course yours is too. I just happen to be acutely aware of it, maybe a bit more so than many people. Sometimes when it is quiet and an unexpected sound cuts through the ambient noise I feel it in my body- my ears, my scalp and my skin have an instant response to it- much like the way an animals ears perk up when they hear something. It is an involuntary and fascinating reaction that I have only become aware of within the last 5-6 years, although I suspect it has always occurred. Does that happen for everyone I wonder?
I had a reading from someone a few years ago who had never met me prior to the reading via Skype and knew nothing about me or my profession. He said to me at one point, "You have very big ears." Actually physically my ears are pretty tiny (I was told by someone once that my ears were like little dimes!) so that was not what he was referring to. It was the way in which I hear, which he said is similar the way a cat listens/hears- they are aware of all the sounds around them. Actually voices are what I have the most trouble with in a way. I am so acutely aware of all the other sounds around me that it is often hard to stay focused when someone is talking to me.
Self Portrait??? I didn't realize it when I did it but of course it is... Me, loving sound. |
Preciousness- Forest Dweller's Melody by Jai Uttal
Ran across this tonight. It was so sweet and precious I had to post it.
Sweet subtle breathtaking beauty... Thank you Jai Uttal.
The world is a river of sound.
Nada brahma...
Sisters and Sounds
It was a beautiful ride on a perfect day and the sound journey went well and was very well received. I recorded it with my iPhone as I always do. I've listened to the sound journey several times since and have been enjoying it which somehow surprises me- not that I enjoy it, because of course I love what I do! That's why I do it- but I must admit to being surprised that I want to listen to it over and over.
The weather in Rockport has gone from perfect and sunny to perfect and foggy and remains consistently beautiful with the sounds of surf, birds and insects and very little else other than the chatter of three sisters- a different sort of sound journey! We had a good rain this morning which has let up. I'm hoping there won't be any more until after I'm all done with tonight's sound journey so I won't have to unload instruments in the pouring rain!
I have had the great good fortune of receiving several new shipments of Himalayan singing bowls recently which I think have really added to the powerful dynamic of the sound journey. I brought some bowls with me to Green Acre that I had never used before and they were quite amazing. I continue lately to be happily surprised at the effect of the sound journey, finding it so calming and restorative.
Carolyn Cruikshank, her daughter Anne and I at Green Acre after the Sound Journey at Green Acre. |
A Perfect Embrace
I can't say much about this. Only that I have loved Abdul-Baha since I was first introduced to him- I don't even know what that means. When I lived in Florida I used to sometimes play during the devotionals at the Baha'i Center in St. Pete and always loved the community and the energy there.
Most of all I loved the huge picture of Abdul-Baha. I would often walk over to it while I was playing my flute and just stand in front it and play while he looked at me with those loving eyes. I always felt that he was playing through me, inspiring and loving me while I held the flute up to my lips.
All I can say is that I am honored and excited. My tendency is to say/think that I am a bit nervous but as I sit with myself, I don't think that's true. The truth is that I feel that all the events and connections in my life have led me to this and it feels absolutely perfect. I know that I will be in an environment where I will be totally loved and embraced and I do not need to fear not being good enough, making a mistake or whatever things I could dream up about being less than perfect. It is all already perfect and therefore so am I.
And my kindergarten teacher and dear friend Carolyn Cruikshank, who is a Baha'i will be there and whom I am so excited to see again!
I am feeling embraced.
Left: Summer camp at High Rise (then called North Hollow) in Rochester, VT (visiting Fort Ticonderoga on this particular day) with my former kindergarten teacher Carolyn Cruikshank. Circa 1963?
And... 50 years later, together again at High Rise, summer 2013.
Doubt, Guilt and the Benefit of Confidence (inspired by Seth Godin)
The benefit of the doubt
Someone faced with doubt rarely brings her best self to the table. Doubt undermines confidence, it casts aspersions, it assumes untruths.
Yes, of course you need to qualify your leads. And yes, we know that you need to protect against risk and to not waste your time.
But... if you're going to spend five minutes or five hours with someone, what happens if you begin with, "the benefit of confidence" instead? What if you begin by believing, by seeking to understand, by rooting for the other person to share their best stories, their vision and their hopes?
Perhaps you can manipulate someone by scowling, by negging, by putting on airs. But if you do that, you end up with people who have been manipulated, who are wounded and not ready to soar.
The problem with qualifying leads is that all the obvious ones are already taken.
The challenge with assuming that someone is completely imperfect is that you'll almost certainly be right.
There's plenty of room for doubt later, isn't there?
I love this. "The benefit of confidence." Of course... we see what we want to see- or, we see what we believe. It may not be what we think we want to see and of course we are constantly projecting. We see others ultimately as we see ourselves or the parts of ourselves we choose to deny and disown. I'd much rather see that needy aspect in someone else than to own it! But, what if that neediness is just a mistaken belief about myself? And what if I let go of the all the doubts I have about myself and about all the supposed "ugliness" that I am constantly trying to hide? What if I made it all up? Can I change my mind and reveal my hidden (and deeply rooted) beliefs about myself? Can I make a deliberate choice on how I see another rather than simply casting out the old projections and assumptions? When I approach another with the "benefit of the doubt", how am I approaching myself? Can I approach myself with the "benefit of confidence"?
This is a powerful possibility for healing our minds on a very deep level.
A few days ago something came across the internet while I was online- a website where you can find out all kinds of personal information about pretty much anyone. The suggestion by a few people who had done it was to put in your own name so you can see how much information is really out there about you. So I did. It took quite a while. It kept running through more and more information searching for different addresses, criminal records, financial records, etc., etc. I watched my level of anxiety rise. What would they find out about me? What awful things have I done or gotten in trouble for that I have forgotten about? What things am I being accused of that I didn't do? What terrible things are people that I don't even know thinking, believing about me?
It ran through the whole program- which took quite a while- and when it got to the end I was informed that I could now access the file for the mere sum of $27.95. Should I go for it, after hanging out for an hour waiting for it to finish doing its thing and unearthing every scrap of dirt about me? Yes, because there is bound to be something awful in there and I need to know what it is. Yes, Paypal. Boom.
There was nothing there. A few old addresses where I had lived over the past 30 years (and one where I hadn't lived- the address of my mother's lawyer). My educational background- not much information there!
What I did discover was my own deeply rooted belief that I must be guilty even if I don't know/remember what terrible sins I have committed. So, this turned out to be an incredibly powerful and revealing process for me. I saw a depth of fear and belief in my own guilt that I was not consciously aware of up to that point.
A Course in Miracles tells us, “When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself. Whenever two Sons of God meet they are given another chance at salvation. Do not leave anyone without giving salvation to him and receiving it yourself. For I am always there with you, in remembrance of you.”
Over the past twenty plus years as a sound healing practitioner, I have played this song many hundreds of times for people who were moving through their own personal doubts and challenges. I guess I need to listen to it again myself... deeply.
What A Life!
I can't really say anything else about that. It is beyond words.
Life has been busy and full as it tends to be these days! I actually stopped this afternoon and watched the second Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon movie with my son, Nic and my grandson Jonah, which was totally fun and engrossing. Other than that my life just seems to be full of sound, music and healing- both myself and others! Myself, on the level of letting of some old stuff- habitual patterns from the past that no longer serve me and others through sound journeys and private sessions. Things seem to just keep getting busier.
The day before yesterday I did a private sound journey for a dear friend who is dealing with Stage 4 cancer and a lot of physical pain associated with it. A mutual friend asked me if I would be willing to do a Sound Journey for a small group of people, including our friend in need of healing and support. The sound journey is so restorative and I was very grateful for the opportunity.
Here is a photo of the set up. I didn't bring a lot of instruments but I just got a new 14" very high quality Himalayan bowl (for sale- I'm just playing it til someone buys it!) and I brought my 30" gong and some other choice instruments- so I brought out all the big guns. The intention is everything and this was for healing in the highest so it was a very powerful sound journey.
The other big event recently was the workshop that my friend D. Crowfeather and I did together. He came up from Florida and did a day of sessions for a number of people which were very powerful and I think perhaps life-changing for some. The next day we co-facilitated a workshop together which was very much about consciousness and spiritual intention. It was pretty beautiful and definitely very powerful. My part was really to provide sacred sound so that the participants would be in a totally open place to receive the teaching that Crowfeather was sharing. It was all very good work. The evening after the workshop we had a fire ceremony in the backyard with fireflies dancing all around. Beautiful and transcendant...
Through the course of the weekend I also saw places where I need to manage my energy better if I am going to have people moving through my house. There were times that it got very intense for me, essentially holding space and having to be "on" at times when it felt a bit beyond my capacity! It was really different than when I had my sound healing center because there I could go home at the end of the day or leave a key for people to use the space for sessions and not have to be present myself, so that was definitely a big lesson for me.
Revealing the Sacred In All Things
Opening Sound Journey for workshop at Wholistic Sound, Saturday, June 25, 2016. |
A weekend of sessions and workshop with my friend and spiritual healer D. Crowfeather had been planned for a while for last weekend, which I knew was going to be very powerful- and it was. More on that in the next installment! Leading up to that, just two days prior to the weekend before, I heard that an Ecuadorian shaman, Don Alberto Taxo, was going to be teaching a workshop in Jamestown. I knew nothing about him or the people who were hosting him but I was very drawn to it and immediately registered for the workshop.
What a gift. I am so grateful that I listened to the voice that pushed me forward, rather than the one that sometimes holds me back- that I listened to the voice for Spirit and Truth and Beauty which knew this would be the perfect preparation for the weekend to follow.
The workshop was about our relationship to Pacha Mama and our connection to the four elements. It was very powerful for me. I experienced and deepened my relationship to the four elements in profound ways. I learned from the air that I could let go of my past with every breath- not just distant past, old memories, old wounds and traumas but now, in every moment. That I can breathe in now and let it go and breathe in the next new moment, that I can make love to the air with each breath.
I felt the alchemy of the four elements merging within me and creating something more powerful and more magical in every moment. I felt the stardust within my cells. I felt the channels of fluid that run through my body, flowing, pulsing, nurturing, supporting and sustaining me.
Four Directions Mandala from materials found on beach. Rosie Warburton 2013 |
Before the workshop I had been thinking about the Sacred- how we bring the element of divinity to those things (people, places) which we honor. In unseen ways it may already be there, in that All Is Truly Divine, but as we navigate the earthly plane we often miss it. So we need a dedicated and powerful intention to bring it forth- really it is for our recognition of That Which Already Is, we infuse with our sacred intention and bring that energy forth. A crystal bowl, when played, does not automatically produce "sacred sound". It is dependent upon the energy and the intention of the player.
When I got to the workshop, one of the first things Don Alberto talked about was how we have an intimate connection to the elements but we must make a practice of exercising this connection through deepening our awareness of the sacred in all things. Right away I knew I was in the right place.
I also saw by the end of the weekend how it was preparing me for the weekend to come.
That's all for today.
Until next time, blessed be.
Fathers, Sons and Cat Stevens
It is dusk. Father's Day. My father is far away now. He has been gone for 33 years. I was 28 when he died. He was 61, the same age I am now. I thought he was old. Now I think, "My god- he was so young!"
This evening I celebrated Father's Day with my youngest son, Nic and his 14 year old son, Jonah. Nic's dad died when Nic was 21- his dad, my ex, was 53 when he died. Nic's birthday is February 5, the same as my father's. They celebrated Nic's first birthday and his grandad's 60th birthday together. Patterns that run through families... births, deaths, histories that repeat themselves... so interesting. Emotional wave patterns that we become entrained to? Familiarity is attractive and compelling and often sneaks up on us while we are paying attention to other things. Some of that is good and some is problematic at best and very difficult to disentangle ourselves from. It sometimes seems to be deeply ingrained in our DNA and can take a tremendous amount of courage, hard work and intention to heal.
Oh, and I just remembered that I got married on this day in 1975. For whatever that's worth.
And tomorrow is the solstice and a full moon- the first time they have coincided in 70 years.
And I just spent a weekend with a beautiful Ecuadorian shaman, Don Alberto Taxo- but that is a story for another time.
My, My, They Sigh
It is the beginning of summer and energy is busting wide open in and around me in all its myriad and magical forms... plants, flowers, birds, animals, guests, friends, family, physical energy, delicious foods, teaching, learning, cooking, playing outside, singing, dancing, playing music, living and loving and loving some more. My first Airbnb guests of the season came in yesterday- a wonderful couple who met each other in China 5 years ago. One is from the states, his partner from China and it is his first time in the states. They arrived in the USA five days ago. Life is good. I know I've said that before and I know I'm not the only one. There's a reason- because it is, at least in my world!
I have just been out working and playing in my garden. My mother was the Queen of the Garden. She did not force beauty- she gently and lovingly coaxed it to come forth and express itself. Below is a picture of her in her beautiful yard on a sunny summer day. My garden is just a square plot fenced in with chicken wire, mulched with lots of straw. Peas and garlic are going strong and I just planted carrots, golden beets and dill.
Gardening is not my second language, although I think it was probably my mother's first language! So I plod through my little plot and call on her frequently. I know she can hear me and, although I don't hear her voice, I trust she is guiding my hand and my footsteps when I am out there.
First Weekend-Long Sound Healing Retreat/Workshop at Wholistic Sound
Restorative Sound, Tinnitus, and Mother's Day (not neccessarily in that order)
Thank you for your love, care, courage, nurturing and sustenance. I am grateful to be here in this moment breathing this now-breath.
And to my own precious mother, I adore you. I love you, I thank you, I respect you. I am grateful to feel your strong presence in my life even though you are no longer in your physical body. You remind me that only the love is real. Thank you.
My blog has been calling me for days. You know what they say, "All are called but few choose to listen." Okay, I'm listening!
I feel like I physically hit a wall a few days ago and have been achy and exhausted for close to a week now. A lot of massages, and sound journeys which entails transporting some fairly heavy instruments. In between those two things I have been trying to get some gardening done and somewhere along the way I got kind of knocked down. I feel like that's unusual for me. My pecs, rhomboids and neck have all been very uncomfortable. My cure? Long baths, a massage two days ago- which helped greatly- and listening to sound journeys.
I am feeling like changing the name to Restorative Sound Journeys rather than Healing Sound Journeys for two reasons. One because I am finding that they are exactly that- incredibly restorative- and two, because there are too many implications inherent in the word "healing". I define "healing" as being at peace with what is, rather than "curing" but not everyone might agree with me on that. For example, if someone has tinnitus I have found that through sound healing sessions and a certain amount of guidance, that the person's perceived ringing in their ears may not go away, but they may learn to relax into that experience, meditate on the sound and let go of their resistance to it. Through that, they can completely shift their perception of their experience of it so that it is no longer perceived as a "problem". Also, when they shift their focus and allow themselves to follow the sound they often find that over time the sound seems to be quieter or not as constant and when it does occur it is simply a reminder to go inside.
I had a lovely Mother's Day today. My son Nic and my grandson Jonah came over with a dozen pink roses and cooked a delicious lunch of grilled teriyaki salmon for me, I worked in the garden and then came in and had mango-strawberry shortcake and a glass of Prosecco.
Life is good. It really is. I love my life. I am very grateful.
Baby Baby Burning!
Very excited about the video that was posted on Facebook of the Sound Journey I did last Friday night at The Cedars Nursing Home in Cranston. There was an awesome turnout- I think more than 60 people. It streamed live on Twitter and Facebook and the video that is on FB has now gotten over 1400 hits in only a few days. Here is the link to the video for those of you who are on FB. I suggest you skip through the first 15 minutes which is just me finishing setting up- boring! (You have to scroll down a little ways on the page to get to the video- apparently there is no direct link.)
https://www.facebook.com/wholisticsound/?fref=ts
Streaming Sound
Tomorrow night The Cedars, a nursing home in Cranston, RI, with the nicest vibe of any nursing home I have ever been in, is hosting a sound journey at their facility for residents, caregivers and the public. Not only that, they will be live streaming it via Twitter! Here is the link: http://www.periscope.tv/thecedarsri.
The Power of Gentleness
Love In the Form of Sound
Streaming video, streaming consciousness, streaming words, streaming sound, streaming voices
Let the river flow
Watch the river
Watch the words as I tap tap tap on the keys and thoughts crystallize
Ideas
Out of my head on to the page
Crow caws outside as wooden chair and wood stove creak in unison
Sweet smell of copal
An air of magic and possibility
Possibilities abound
Future events soon to be past paving the way for more
For newness
For growth
For healing
Transformation, rebirth
Spring is here
Yesterday's snow was a little white lie
It couldn't keep the daffodils down
What is coming?
In form? Healing Sound Journeys, workshops, kirtan
Love in the form of sound...
soft shoe
keys clicking
fountain asking for more water
computer humming almost silently
but i can hear it
table creaking
okay fountain
i will give you some water
soft shoes padding across the wood floor
i drink the first glass of water
the fountain gets the second glass
walking past the tv on mute
stephen colbert on the screen
dis-mute
that changes everything
Happy, Grateful and Loving My Life
Lots of very exciting stuff!
And again, for those who may not have seen it, here is the link to the video posted on Providence Journal's website.
http://videos.providencejournal.com/providencejournal/vljjcu?v=default&e=default&opn=below_article_ticker
*The Sound of Healing Women & Infants group among those adopting the 2,500-year-old practice of sound therapy
Meghan Kavanaugh Special to The Journal
SECTION: RI Special Sections
“Music has always been a really big part of my life, so it made a lot of sense,” says the 42-year-old Hopkinton resident who goes by her first name professionally. Sound healing, in which therapists create certain tones and rhythms to try to match and restore balance to the body’s internal energy, can be traced back more than 2,500 years to the days of Pythagoras. The practice continues today, with Women & Infants hospital, in Providence, expanding its Integrative Care Center offerings last month to include the service, making sound therapy available to cancer patients and survivors, their caregivers and the public at locations in Providence, Middletown, South Kingstown and Fall River, Massachusetts. Shin Ae has thus far chosen the holistic treatment over more traditional ones. “I haven’t yet opted for standard chemo and radiation, even though I was diagnosed at stage 4, because my test results and quality of life are proving that the integrative wellness modalities are helping me return to health, little by little,” Shin Ae says. “Everyone wants to know if sound therapy works or whether I’m being foolish, but it’s up to every person to choose what tools they take with them, and trust them to work.” Shin Ae has been working with Rosie Warburton, a licensed massage therapist and sound therapist with 25 years of experience, who leads Women & Infants’ private sessions and small group classes. Rather than using music to supplement treatments by playing it in the background during Reiki or massage sessions, Warburton makes it the focus of the healing process, using objects like tuning forks, Himalayan singing bowls and didgeridoos. “I feel like the sound is more effective than the touch alone,” Warburton says, explaining that particular tones have been shown to reduce anxiety and slow heart rates and respiration. A tuning fork carrying a certain frequency can even activate the body’s naturally occurring nitric oxide, she said, which stimulates the immune system and brings more oxygen to red blood cells. “There are effects that are universal. … No matter who I use that on, they’re going to experience a spike in the nitric oxide,” Warburton says. “It’s so, so powerful for people.” Warburton stays grounded within the science and reasoning of the treatment, says Shin Ae, who explains that sound therapy helps her locate the physical places within her body where she needs healing. “The chills I experience listening to Bach’s cello suites and Rosie’s acoustical therapies are restorative moments,” Shin Ae says. And while she stops short of recommending any treatment as a solution for all cancer patients, Shin Ae acknowledges music’s ability to transcend language, experiences or diagnoses. “It’s one of the great things about using music for people in pain or people with depression or cancer: It affects you whether or not you want it to, and it affects you in a really good way.” Women & Infants’ group sound-healing sessions are held monthly. For details, contact Jessica Barletta at (401) 274-1122, ext. 47285.
Copyright © 2016 Providence Journal, All Rights Reserved.
Making Changes
I call on Ganesha to remove all obstacles to my progress and the
power of Lord Shiva to destroy what is old and no longer needed and transform it from ashes into something new and beautiful!!!