In August, still recovering from Covid, I took yet another road trip- this time up to western Mass., Long Island NY, Rhode Island, and Maine. I think the highlight of the trip was the resulting video above. I was a guest practitioner at a spa in Water Mill, NY- Shou Sugi Ban House- giving Hydrosonic Therapy sessions. These are one-on-one sessions where the client is floating in water and I am playing Himalayan singing bowls. Hydrosonic Therapy is something that deserves a page of its own on this website and is soon to come- but meanwhile, I am crazy for this video! One of the clients took this slow motion video of me striking one of the bowls in the water. Watch and listen with good speakers and you will hear the breakdown of the sound frequencies as I strike the first tone on the bowl. The point of the video was to show the visual of the sound waves- but it was what I heard that really blew me away. I have watched and listened to it over and over. If you’re a sound geek like me I think you will appreciate it.
The gorgeous setting for Hydrosonic Therapy at the Shou Sugi Ban Spa.
I should add, the opportunity to do four days in a row of Hydrosonic Therapy sessions was really quite wonderful especially in such a beautiful environment. Whenever I have done them before it has been in a larger deeper pool which made it a little more challenging and it was not temperature-controlled to such a degree. This was a designated Watsu pool which made it much easier to work in. I am really looking forward to finding some venues near me where I can do more of this work. I have to say that it is a truly amazing protocol- profoundly relaxing is only the beginning and doesn’t come close to doing it justice.
After Long Island I drove up to Maine to spend ten days with a man I was in relationship with (operative word- “was”) before I got on the Victory Chimes to do some soundwork, relax, enjoy the beauty of the seacoast of Maine and some good old Irish music! Sadly the relationship came to an end but the sail was glorious and just what I needed after a very bizarre break-up!
Wells Farm Band on board the Victory Chimes…
A few other highlights of my trip were stopping at Jim Doble’s house and studio in Union, Maine on my way to Rockland . Check out his website here! He has been on my contact list for years as someone who makes interesting and unusual instruments- aluminum gongs and tongue drums made from old propane tanks. He also has a pretty incredible handmade house with a sunken living room surrounded by gongs for giving private sessions! He was gracious and welcoming and I had lots of fun playing with his fascinating sound toys.
A grown-up sound geek’s playroom!!!
I also visited with another sound healing colleague- Amrita Cottrell- whom I had known of for 25 years but never met in person. We didn’t get enough time together but I did love meeting her, and her husband Dennis. We sat outside overlooking their bountiful forest food garden, talking and getting to know each other- as she put it as soon as she saw me, “Sisters from another mother!” I left there laden with vegetables and gratitude!
Amrita Cottrell in her forest food garden. This photo does not do it justice!
From there, to my storage unit in RI where I was able to get a few more things into my van on top of all the instruments I had brought with me to bring back to my current residence in North Carolina . I put it that way because truly I am still looking for the place that will accommodate both my home and my work- big enough to have a sound healing and expressive art therapy center, my two obvious passions! “All in good time, my pretty!”
When I got back to NC I made a clear commitment that this is where I am- so this is where I will plant myself until such time as the right move reveals itself. I decided to reach out to all my friends in the area as well as look for any colleagues and potential venues to do my sound work in. I have realized in light of the recent work that I have done that I need to be playing bigger.
The first thing that happened when I got home was that I learned that Joshua Leeds, psychoacoustician, musician, sound researcher, and author of several seminal books on sound healing is now in Asheville, having been essentially driven out of his home in Ashland, Oregon last year due to climate upheavals (in the form of smoke and fires). I had met Joshua at the International Sound Colloquium in 1994, a conference which really changed the trajectory of my life and set me firmly on the path of sound healing and in particular the study of VibroAcoustics as a therapeutic healing modality. I visited with Joshua a week after I got back. He is inspired and passionate about the importance of soundwork to help communities- not just individuals- find ease in the chaotic times we are living in. I find his work totally exciting and inspiring. You can find Joshua here- and he also has some wonderfully inspiring videos on YouTube. The only picture I have is of his guitar case which is just so beautiful and what greeted me when I walked into his house!
Since I had gotten back home in record time and was so grateful to have more of “me” in my house, I turned right around and made a fast dash back up to RI and picked up another load from my storage unit! It feels so good to have more of my things that I haven’t seen in almost 3 years now- all of which give me a greater sense of groundedness and place. There have been lots of wonderful, sentimental and meaningful surprises as I open these boxes thinking I know what’s going to be in them! Could be a favorite sweater or shirt I had forgotten about, a beautiful cobalt blue glass, a piece of pottery, an art piece, or a treasured photograph. Every load of stuff that I get is like another little layer of padding in my nest.
I am beginning to feel like I have landed. It’s been a long time coming.