Revisiting The Road, First Installment (My Own Healing Sound Journey)

Three and a half weeks ago I returned home from a trip that was supposed to be just over two weeks long. It turned out to be almost exactly one month. I didn't document it very well so, a little bit at a time, I will make an effort to fill in some of the gaps.

On July 28 I packed up my Subaru Outback with tuning forks, singing bowls and all my magical sound instruments and headed on down the road. I have to add that my car was running very well. (There's a reason I mentioned that which I'll get back to that in another installment!) I had a great, and easy, drive down. Google maps sidestepped all the heavily trafficked areas and I got there way ahead of schedule!

On August 1-2 I taught a workshop on Sound Healing with Toning, Tuning Forks and Tibetan Bowls at the office of my favorite Ayurvedic practitioner, Dr. Soman Nadhan. The workshop was full, not only with local therapists but also four people from Tallahassee who had taken the 5 1/2 hour trek to St. Pete! The workshop was partially for massage therapists to get continuing education requirements to renew their license but my workshops are always open to anyone who would like to enhance their personal practice or their healing practice with sound, so the majority of the class were massage therapists but we also had a violinist whose husband is a sound healer and a vibrational healer who came with her best friend, a sound healing practitioner. It was really a great weekend. Everyone seemed very pleased with the content and the delivery- and we all had a great time together. Some of us, including me, made some great new friends!

Lydia Riedell, a very happy camper with two beautiful new (antique) bowls to add to her collection of sound healing tools.

A Tibetan Bowl Healing Session

Yesterday's Tibetan bowl session.

Notice the progression of the layout of the bowls. I do not decide which bowls to play or where to place them. They tell me. As I played them they began to direct me to move them, closer and closer to Karen until they were almost hugging her body. Then at the end some of the bowls were moved away from her feet and her sides and the sound was simply moving back and forth from her crown to her feet, back and forth between the two.

I was very sorry that I did not record this session. The bowls were singing beautifully.

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz...

Tonight I add a couple of small touches to the Event Registration page. Right now am going to Facebook to create an event there too. Also working on setting up some other events in FL while I am down there.

Very busy getting ready for apprentice who is coming for four days next week as well as my dear friends Lynn Carol and George who are coming up from Florida. I am feeling slightly anxious around the possibility of not getting enough time with them and putting my energy into trusting that it will all work out perfectly!

I got a small shipment of Tibetan bowls in a couple of days ago- a set of five among them that are absolutely intoxicating! They are more expensive than the ones I usually get but they are definitely amazing quality- stunning both visually and vibrationally. Tomorrow I will post a little video of them.

Willing To Be Wrong

Okay! Pictures! Finally! Wow, that was quite the struggle. Thanks to one of my Your Turn Challenge professional bloggers, I finally got it handled. Right- we should know there is an app for everything, yes? I keep hearing that- just don't know how to apply it. My mind doesn't go in that direction. I'm still trying to follow the step by step route instead of looking for the shortcut. The shortcut turned out to be the Blogger app- and suddenly it is all so simple.

The picture of the instruments is from one of my workshops last week, although the setup for tomorrow looks pretty much the same- except that I will have more Tibetan bowls and tuning forks out.The workshop is on sound healing for balance and joy.

One of the things I am enjoying most is the sound of the Dutch language. I find it very pleasant and not so difficult. I guess a lot of people have trouble with the gutteral tones but I think it's not too bad for me. The bigger challenge is just getting the nerve to actually try to say things and know that it's okay to mispronounce if that's what happens- my deathly fear of doing something wrong. Always better not to try, at least in my inner world. On the outside I have actually learned to just go ahead and try it anyway but getting past the saboteur at the door who is ready to stab me if I make a mistake- that's still always a bit of a struggle. I only know four words so that doens't leave too much room for any huge errors. Good morning, thank you, you're welcome, hello (hallo, about as simple as it gets) and bye. 

That's it for tonight. I have to get up early to be ready for the workshop in the morning. Dag.

Holland's Calling

Whoops- up since 6:30 preparing for my departure tomorrow- almost forgot about my blog! My two things I have managed to stay consistent with for some time now- Weight Watchers since last June and blogging daily since January. WW success is 22 pounds so far. I would like to lose another ten (at least). My fear- that I will get derailed from both of these and lose my momentum. If I can maintain my current weight I will be happy with that because it is so hard to travel and not gain- at least for me.

As far as my blogging, that will be another challenge- mostly because I anticipate being so immersed in everything I am doing that I will just forget about it! I hope that's not true. I hope that I will discover that I really have developed a strong enough habit that it will be fairly automatic for me to find a time to sit and write.

Also, the fact is that I will not be as distracted in some ways being there as I am in my own home where there are constantly interruptions and distractions. In some I ways I think my world may be a bit quieter there as I will not have nearly as much access to my phone, family and friends as I do here.

So, it will be interesting to see which way this goes. One thing good- it's 6 hours later there so all my posts will show up 6 hours earlier than they usually do!!!

So, since this is where I'll be the day after tomorrow, I am posting a video of a session I gave with Himalayan singing bowls at a workshop in Utrecht, Netherlands, when I was there in 2012. The person I am working on is my dear friend Paul Goudsmit who hosted me last time, along with his partner Jane, and with whom I will be staying for the next three weeks when I return. Enjoy!

Musical Notes

The truth is that I am sitting here at the computer at the end of the day and have no idea what I will write about. I also know that I made a commitment to blog every day and if I miss one day I know where I go- down the slippery slope. If I miss a day, one day at a time my blogging will slowly become a thing of the past. This is just how I am. So, without further ado...

Some of the musical notes I have been reviewing in my mind today:

• The fact that sound/music strengthens the body. I have been putting this into practice the last week or so since I read that and posted on this subject. When I feel a little edgy or when I am too much in my head I either put on some music, pick up the guitar or play one of the singing bowls to restore my equanimity.
• An invitation to do a sound journey and possibly play music at the Unity Church in (or near?) Carlisle, PA by someone who experienced my work over ten years ago in St. Petersburg, FL. I did a Healing Sound Journey and played during the devotional service at the College of Metaphysical Studies in Clearwater.
• That has led me to looking at the possibility of setting up a series of Sound Journeys and workshops in the northeast since I may be doing a road trip with my instruments anyway.
• Reviewing last Friday's Healing Sound Journey in Woonsocket with a group of ladies who I think were mostly new to yoga and definitely new to sound healing. Many of them had pretty extraordinary experiences. I played for about an hour and many of them said it seemed like no time at all. They were shocked when I told them how long it had been. I think this is because when you drop into the present and everything else falls away, there is no time.
• One woman said that she had a very sexual experience. She shared with me that she as she had gotten older she was feeling less attractive and very "unsexy". She said that during the sound journey she reconnected with her femininity and it totally shifted her relationship to herself.
• Loving playing my new guitar and exploring new sounds on it, making up chords and playing with different rhythms.
• Chanting, chanting, chanting. Next week I am leading a kirtan at my friend Kerstin's yoga and art studio. So looking forward to it. Today on my way to yoga class I was chanting intensely and drove right by the house where I do yoga. Realized it a couple of blocks past my destination.
• Playing with brain tuners- using them for concentration, relaxation and deep meditation. I have been sleeping really well lately so I haven't needed them for that!
• Thinking a lot about the upcoming workshop in Holland. A little nervous and also very excited. Still contemplating the process and what it will all look like- how much I want to plan and how much I want let unfold organically. Sometimes when I get to hung up on the structure it doesn't go as well. So I am searching for the balance in that process.
• I have Tibetan bowls all over my living room floor! Tomorrow that will change and they will go back in the sound healing room. I was contemplating what ones I want to bring to Holland so I got them all out.
• Still thinking about the amazing concert last night with Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn. That will be something to hold on to for a while!
   

Jeff Bridges- The Sleeping Tapes

Okay, so apparently if you watched the Superbowl you would have seen this- but I am not a sports fan (nor am I politically correct) so I didn't see it until last night. I happen to enjoy food much more than sports so I was watching "Chopped" last night when, during a commercial break, Jeff Bridges comes across the screen playing a Himalayan singing bowl and "Omming" some very lucky couple to sleep! And the words came across the screen www.dreamingwithjeff.com. What??? I RUN to my computer and jump on the website!

Seriously... Jeff Bridges has made a pretty amazing album called "The Sleeping Tapes"- just what they are. This is my huge excitement right now. A mainstream superhip DUDE lulling people to sleep with his bowl and his deep OMMM.... Go Jeff! If I had watched the Superbowl I guarantee you that seeing that commercial would have been the most exciting 51 seconds of the whole thing! (In my world Himalayan singing bowls are the Superbowls!)

Here is a video of him talking about making the album and the very cool web building site Squarespace. (I've used it before- it's great.) It is a seriously cool video- you should definitely take the two minutes to watch it.

I downloaded the album last night and didn't hear the whole thing. You know what that means!

I love Jeff Bridges, I love sound healing, I love sounds, and I really love sleeping and dreaming- it's probably my most favorite thing of all! In fact I just signed up for a workshop on sound and dreaming with John Beaulieu and Silvia Nakkach, so this could not have been more synchronistic in my book.

What I am super excited about though is that this little 51 second video reached millions of people! Sound is so powerful and important and non-invasive and can be such an enjoyable healing modality. Right now I reach about 80 people a day on my blog. I'm thinking that's a lot! This year 114.4 million people watched the Superbowl. Jeff Bridges, you are definitely The Dude!

Oh by the way- all sales of the album go to No Kid Hungry. Here's to The Dude!

Focus and Intention

Yin Yang Heart Mosaic by Rosie Warburton

Happy Valentine's World Sound Healing Day!

Missed a day of blogging yesterday due to internet being down. Today, prepared for blizzard! Picked up a little extra wood yesterday just in case power goes out. Sitting with a cup of sake, wood stove going, jigsaw puzzle on the kitchen table and musical instruments- guitar, banjo, harmonium, tamboura, crystal and Tibetan singing bowls- all around.

Have had some lovely sonic experiences over the last two days. Last night I went to a fundraiser for  Sandywoods Center for the Arts in Tiverton. Six different bands- unfortunately I missed the first one, Bluebird Orchestra, but all who followed were great. The last one was Willard Grant Conspiracy- absolutely knocked me out.

Singer/guitarist Robert Fisher and viola player Dave Curry- I was left speechless... Haunting, atmospheric, breathtaking, and deeply moving... A quiet backdrop of slides with desert landscape and poetry. At one point Robert stopped after a few bars of a song and tuned his guitar. I observed him- I could almost say I studied him- in that process as he very quietly, with absolute focus and precision, tuned each string and I saw how deeply he listened. (Yes, I'm back to that again- deep listening- such a beautiful healing practice.) Description of Dave Curry's playing that I found on their website "Live and on record, Curry makes every note sound as if it is the first time it has been played; he embodies the concept of always being present and reacting to the moment. It is a roller coaster of twists and turns that keeps the listener on the edge of their seat." Pretty accurate. I don't have anything I could add to that. 

I was sitting in the back of the room because I had met a friend who had her 3 month old baby with her. As the set progressed I kept moving up, closer and closer, and at the end of each song I would be sitting there stunned, literally with my jaw hanging open- one after the other. Suffice to say, they blew my mind in the best way possible.

Today was (and still is until midnight!) World Sound Healing Day. I got up early and went into Newport to lead a chanting group. We started off listening to a short explanation of the global intention and focus directing the sound of "AH" from the heart to the planet and then we all toned together along with the sound of a Tibetan bowl. After we intoned the "AH" to Mother Gaia I asked if anyone would like to share anything about their experience. One woman said that she had an awareness that "Her heart is beating and it's so full of love." She was deeply moved. 

What she said really struck a chord in me and I realized in that moment that that is the most powerful awareness. When we think about healing the earth, if we can focus on the heart of love, rather than the pain, the suffering, the damage we have inflicted on her, that the effect will be so much more powerful. When we are in need of healing we often have to do whatever it takes to sidestep or get out of the pain and focus on the deeper awareness that is beyond the body. Often that is enough to affect a physical healing the body and in fact can sometimes produce what seems to be a miracle of healing in what looks like a hopeless situation. Our mind, aligned with our intention, is by far the most powerful tool that we have.

One last Valentine's gift- a few years ago when I had my sound healing center I made this video for Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

Sympathetic Resonance

This morning I walked into my sound healing room to open the curtains and noticed my flute lying on one of the tables. I picked it up and played it for just a minute or two and was about to put it back when an extraordinary sound caught my attention. I could hear a very faint resonance of tones in the room. I blew a few notes on the flute again and stopped. Same thing...a barely audible harmony of sounds. I tried it again- where were these beautiful mysterious tones coming from?

I walked over to the circle of crystal and Tibetan bowls and played again. Ah yes, there it was! The tones of the flute were causing the other instruments that had the same frequencies to vibrate in sympathetic resonance. It was extraordinary, ethereal- and astonishing to me that in so many years of working with these instruments I had never heard such an enormous response from one instrument to another! So subtle and so beautiful.

I sat down in the circle of bowls and continued playing, sometimes pausing after one or two notes, sometimes playing a whole phrase. I sat and played, mesmerized by the tones that came forth, for probably close to an hour- me playing my flute and the bowls answering. Several times in the course of the day I went back in there and did it again. I wish had a recording device that would pick up such subtle tones- I definitely would have recorded it!

Over the years in my workshops I have shared many examples of sympathetic resonance as it is a key component in sound healing. Often when I am teaching and I have a gong next to me, my voice hits a certain tone that causes the gong to resonate. It is actually loud enough to distract me sometimes but it is also a great example of how one particular tone will cause another object (it doesn't have to be a musical instrument) to resonate if the tone is the same as said object's resonant frequency.

In its application to sound healing, knowing that all aspects of our physical body, our emotions and our thoughts have specific frequencies, we can effectively release trauma from the body by using this principle of sympathetic resonance.

In life we can simply observe and enjoy the interplay of tone and harmony as a subtle vibratory experience (sometimes not so subtle!) when we feel a resonance or connection to another. It could be the way a song makes us feel, or a tree, or a flower or the presence of another person.  On the flip side when we get triggered and are upset, anxious or in pain, then we have the opportunity to explore what can help us to shift our energy back to a state of calm or homeostasis. Again it could be a song, a tree, a particular healing modality, the presence of another person, the remembrance of our breath- any myriad of possibilities because everything is vibration. 

As it says in the Vedas, "Nada brahma." The world is sound.

The Physics of Water and Tibetan Bowls- Part Two

Well, to someone else this might have just been a cool and interesting video- it certainly was to me! But it was also much more than that. I was immediately intrigued because what I saw in the video somehow reminded me of what was happening in the bowls. It was clearly not the same but definitely seemed related. I immediately went to the MIT website and was able to find the email address of John Bush, the math professor on the video. (If you don't know what I'm talking about see last week's blog post.) I was hoping perhaps he could explain what I was seeing. I didn't really expect a response and actually felt a little shy about it but my curiosity far outweighed my sense of awkwardness.

I wrote John an email the same day- in fact probably within the hour of seeing the video because I was so excited about what I had been observing and the possibility of an explanation. I described as best I could what I had been seeing and asked him if he was familiar with the singing bowls. I really figured that even if he hadn't witnessed this in the bowls that he may have been familiar with it in some other capacity and that it was probably some boring "old news" to him and since he was some really important busy guy from MIT the chances of hearing from him were slim at best!

In fact I heard from him within 24-48 hours of sending the email and he was very interested in what I was observing. He said it sounded like the phenomena of "walking droplets" his friend and colleague Yves Couder had been exploring. He attached an article describing the walking droplets and I was pretty convinced that this was exactly what I had been seeing when I played the bowls with water in them. He was not familiar with the bowls beyond that he thought he might have heard one at one time.
This is the URL for the article. Unfortunately I could not get the link to work in this post but you can cut and paste the URL into your browser and it should work.
http://www.lps.ens.fr/~boudaoud/Publis/Couder05Walk.pdf

We continued a dialogue and because it fit right into the work he was already doing, within a short time he had a grant to study the fluid dynamics of the water in Tibetan bowls, specifically in relationship to the wave-particle phenomena in quantum mechanics, previously a theoretical foundation but unproven (and/or not disproven) on a macrocosmic level. I picked out a couple of bowls for him that best displayed the action and they were soon at home in the MIT Math Lab. Before I sent off the bowls though I couldn't resist my own humble demonstration for the world to see.

The bowls I used in this video were two of the bowls I sent to MIT.

Not long after that I was in Massachusetts visiting my mother less than an hour away from Boston and I was invited to come to the Math Lab to see what they were doing. I was very excited! It was pretty much what you would expect of a lab that was studying fluid dynamics- lots of faucets set up at different heights and beautiful large format photographs of drops of water, water patterns and insects walking on the surface of water. And on a white formica counter top was a Tibetan bowl that had been marked in four places around the edge with a Sharpy- clearly the spots where the waveforms would first begin to emerge as it responded to the sound. The bowl had a wire attached to it from a large speaker which would resonate the bowl when they turned it on. That way they could keep the sound at a steady volume to observe and film what was happening. So basically the bowl vibrated by sympathetic resonance rather than someone manually playing it. It was very cool and odd and interesting to see this sacred sound object being used as the centerpoint of a science experiment. The whole question initially was whether they could get the water to "walk". They were excited to try it with silicon fluid because of the difference in viscosity. (Excerpt from an email a couple of weeks later:
"I just came up from the lab, where Denis has seen bouncing of drops of silicon oil in Bowl #1.
Tomorrow, walking!")

All in all I sent them four bowls. I spent lots of time trying out bowls to see which ones really worked the best with the water, in terms of showing the unusual movement of the fluid. I have gotten so that I can tell just by looking at the shape of a bowl whether it will respond especially well with water in it. I am always amazed and fascinated and sometimes still totally surprised by what I see. For example, a few days ago we put water in a smaller bowl, less than four inches across and the droplets formed a beautiful symmetrical pattern all clustered together in the center of the bowl.

The research project was completed in a little over a year and three weeks ago John Bush sent me the original article plus a short article that was in the BBC. It has received a lot of press in various physics and science magazines. This is the link to the article in the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13972556 (Again, you'll have to cut and paste the link. Sorry)
The videos are fascinating so if you don't feel like reading the articles watch this.
This first one is silent but very interesting:

The bowl in the video of the attached article is one of the ones I sent them. He also gifted one to his good friend Yves Couder who I believe was the original inspiration for the research project.
Here is the video from the BBC article.


I am sort of an insane fanatic now and spend absurd amounts of time playing bowls with water in them and watching, watching, watching. Not only that, I find myself watching all kinds of other drops of fluid. Every morning I take a liquid sulphur supplement and I have to count the drops as I add it to water because I have to take a very specific amount. It seems to have an odd consistency and the bouncing is very obvious.