“Anatomists today would be hard put to identify the brain of a visual artist, a writer or a mathematician - but they would recognize the brain of a professional musician without moment’s hesitation. ”
— Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia
There is so much being learned about our connections to music, musical memory and how music affects the brain. Neuroplasticity refers to the brains ability to adapt and to change as a result of training and experience throughout a person's lifetime. Active engagement with sound and music enhances neuroplasticity which also has the effect of enhancing learning. I found for myself that when I was actively studying Sanskrit it clearly had a positive impact on my memory and cognitive skills. My sense was that it was not so much through the actual memorization but through repetition of specific frequencies and seed sounds.
The documentary "Alive Inside" is the joyful story of a man who brought new life into homes for patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, reawakening their minds and hearts by playing for them the music of their youth.
For some great articles and information on music and the neuroplasticity of the brain click on these links: The Sync Project Neuroscience News
One of the many blessings in being human is that we experience inspiration. Yesterday, for me, it was the millions of men and women- and children!- around the world who joined together to drown out Donald Trump's boorish and self-centered voice in one united voice speaking out for the rights of ALL people- all races, all religions and all genders. We ALL have a right to be heard and to be treated with equality, kindness, respect and dignity, and a responsibility to treat others in the same manner. I cruised on that energy all day yesterday and today. It is a phenomenon. It is a movement, a joining of minds, hearts and wills, that we haven't seen since the sixties.
I am also very much aware that Donald Trump's energy is so huge and so frightening to so many people, myself included, that he has brought people out of the woodwork to speak out, to shout back, to say that we will not quietly lay down and disappear or go to sleep. I think he has awakened a giant. I wonder if he knows what he is in for!
And then, just a little while ago, I received a totally different sort of inspiration from a simple video that showed up when I logged into my Squarespace page. John Malkovich- a simple 3-minute video that feels timeless. It is exquisitely filmed and he is such an enigmatic person that it was captivating. There is also a short excerpt from a song that was so beautiful I had to track it down. I am posting both of those videos on this page.
In the end, what I am left with is a feeling of such deep gratitude for the range of emotions that we get to experience in this amazing journey that we call life and this incredible inspiration that has been driving force me over the last two days. Of course it is there for me a lot in varying degrees, but today it feels like I am riding a wave.
I had been in some conflict over the last couple of weeks as to whether I should go to the Women's March on Washington this coming Saturday. An emotional part of me really wanted to go. The less reactive part of me really did not. I am very tired of divisiveness and gender separation and, generally speaking, I feel more comfortable being a part of causes that are pro-humanity, rather than pro a specific race or gender. I am also totally against everything that Donald Trump stands for, which from my perspective are antagonism, misogyny, racism, bullying, posturing, self-aggrandizement and intolerance- with the frightening potential to take all of those "qualities" (or lack thereof) to the nth degree. The prayer is that there are truly enough checks and balances in place that he is unable to bring us all down with him in the next four years.
The inspiration came quickly a few mornings ago when I was practicing a Hare Krishna chant- something that resonated through me and which produced no conflict. Have a kirtan- for people who either can't or choose not to go to Washington but wish to be a part of creating the change they want to see and to be. Singing together is one of the most beautiful and powerful ways of creating community, something we need now more than ever. It is a scary time. What I know for myself is that I need to remember to choose love every chance that I get and singing, playing and listening to music are one of the easiest ways for me to change my emotional state.
Kirtan is a practice from the tradition of Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion and the path of the heart. Through singing Sanskrit mantras that have been chanted throughout the ages and across the far reaches of time we invoke the attributes of the many gods and goddesses. As we chant, feelings and emotions are drawn forth from our innermost places and we become the chant- we become the change we want to see.
So there is a potent heart-rending aspect to kirtan, as well as the very basic tendency that we have as human beings to be easily swept away by sound and music and planted gently down in a place of stillness and surrender. It's one of the reasons it is so attractive to us. From the perspective of someone who uses sound as a tool for healing and balancing on a very pragmatic level, there is much to be said about what happens to our physiology when we chant or sing for extended periods. Chanting recharges the brain and is a restorative for the nervous system. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, releases stress and boosts the immune system.
We all have special gifts, our personal attributes and talents which we nurture and share in our own unique way. I realized as I received this inspiration to host and lead a kirtan that, as a sound healer, I have a gift to share and in my immediate community is where I felt that I could be of the most service and have the greatest impact. There is tremendous upheaval on a global scale and some difficult emotions are coming up for many of us on a deep personal level. My intention for this kirtan is to create a space through the sharing of sound and music where perhaps a few other people can also find some peace within themselves in the midst of tumultuous times.
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First of all, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since November 22. That's crazy! There is so much in my head all the time about sound- thinking, listening, hearing, experiencing... and intending to write about it.
I am exhausted so I will share just one amazing thing that I learned today. I was just listening to a program on NPR (the Radio Lab- here is the link http://www.radiolab.org/story/267124-speed/) and they were talking about how fast information travels- for example, when they used telegraphs it took a message about 1/4 of a second to travel from New York to Chicago. In the body, information travels at different rates of speed. Pretty much a lot slower than the speed of a telegram although I don't remember the details. The delivery system from the reward center was definitely slower than for pain.
But here is where it got really exciting. They began talking about what it takes to be totally present and in the NOW. They spoke with Seth Horowitz, a neuroscientist who studies, among other things, the biology of hearing. What he said was that the body responds more quickly to sound than anything else- it takes only 50 milliseconds to respond to a loud noise. What this means to me is that sound is the premier tool for mindfulness and meditation. It affords us the possibility to BE PRESENT with little or no effort.
The truth is, I have known this for a long time. This is clearly one of the aspects of sound that makes it so very powerful as a tool for both healing and for personal transformation- because it allows us to drop in to the PRESENT, a rare event unless we have cultivated a dedicated and steady practice over many years. With sound however, we surrender to the vibrations and are taken there immediately with virtually no effort on our part. What was exciting to me was to hear the science behind what I know from experience- from my own practice of working with sound and from the private sessions that I give where I observe the responses of others on a daily basis.
Okay, that's my big excitement for today. Getting up early to drive up to Eliot, Maine to do a Sound Journey.
Need to make this short and sweet- limited time on a free wifi server since I'm not at home. Actually am in Minneapolis right now visiting my kids and grandkids which makes me very happy! Plus my son Nic and my grandson Jonah flew out here so we are all together minus my son Ben who is tying together the last loose ends of his PhD. so he is done by Christmas.
My most interesting sound experience of late... Sitting at my desk at home, everything quiet, and I start hearing this weird little sound, like water running very quietly? It sounded like it was coming from the woodpile near the woodstove. Insects coming out of the wood? I nervously crept closer and closer to it, not having any idea what was in there. Finally I realized it was the sound of the wood drying out! It was a steady constant sound but so interesting and subtle, reminiscent of when you hear caterpillars chewing leaves in the woods. I felt like I had stepped into a different reality, to be able to hear so loudly this very small sound. I listened to it intently over the next two days. Okay, maybe that's a little odd but I was fascinated by the sound and by my ability to hear it.
So, election 2016 is over. Donald Trump has been elected to be the next president of the United States. This has been painful... brutal in fact. Sad, disheartening and depressing for so many of us. I stayed up late last night watching the results praying for a miracle and that the tide would finally turn in Hillary's favor. It did not. Finally I went to bed and got to sleep after 3 a.m.
When I woke up this morning I was so depressed that I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep. This is where I tell you that I do not get depressed. I may get sad, bummed out, disheartened, disillusioned, or angry- but depressed? No. Except today. And I could feel in my consciousness the real possibility to spiral down and hang out there. It didn't feel like a good option.
I have given the looming possibility of Donald Trump as our next president a lot of thought over the last few weeks. I can say that my heart has been having palpitations quite a bit lately. I have consumed unusual amounts of Rescue Remedy. I have said on numerous occasions that if he is elected I would have to cash in my savings and leave the country.
Looking back over the last few weeks and months, I was more than a little concerned. I was downright afraid of the possibility of this country being "run" by a loose cannon- a man who is a bigot, a racist and a misogynist with no political experience and a serious and dangerous personality disorder. (I still don't even understand how he got in the running but here we are.)
Over the last few days, as Election Day approached, I began to think more and more about what it would mean and what it would signify if Hillary made it to the White House as the first female president. The way I saw it energetically, is that she represented another paradigm shift. Having an African-American president for the last 8 years was huge, and this was the next step in a real shift in consciousness for the American people and ultimately for humanity. Donald Trump represented the ego digging in and shouting, No! We will not allow you to wake up! You belong to me! Whenever we are going through a major spiritual awakening the ego tends to get very loud and ugly and in our face. Donald Trump wasn't just representing the old paradigm- his consciousness is neanderthal! Club the woman and drag her into the cave by her hair- the Fred Flintstone Method, as one friend said.
It was a no-brainer in the end. Of course there were enough of us who were conscious and not buying into the whole fear-based thought system that he was presenting. Ultimately Hillary was a shoo-in.
Not.
So, the first thing I had to get past was the idea of leaving. That was pretty clear. Fuck you Donald Trump. You may be a bully but you are not going to push me away. I'm not going anywhere. But I'm sad, I'm heartbroken, I'm depressed, I don't even want to get out of bed.
Okay, meditate. Change your mind. As A Course in Miracles says, "I am not a victim of the world I see." And I saw that Donald Trump is now the catalyst for us to be the change we want to see. All those tools that we, who have chosen awakening as our path and truth as our goal, have accumulated over the years, now we have to put our tools to work. I saw that I have become complacent. And to some degree Donald trump reflects that complacency rather than the ideals of the best and highest good (unless of course you like him). So I have to own up to my complacency- and unless I want to be swallowed up by my own sadness I now have to put all these tools that I have gathered throughout my lifetime to work.
As I was processing all this the phrase "higher ground" kept coming into my mind- that I had to lift myself up- which brought to mind the great Stevie Wonder song. I am adopting this as my anthem for as long as I need it- until whatever the next one is- or until I reach the higher ground!
This morning I saw a post from my friend, sound healer and yogini Alessandra Montana, which spoke of the power of mantra and read "I am Divine Love." I was reminded of a dream/vision I had some years ago when I was reading Gary Renard's book The Disappearance of the Universe. I was told at the time, in these exact words "Remember only this: God I AM Divine Love."
There are times it is easy to remember- and there are times it is easy to forget. Lately I have been forgetting a lot. I had a series of pretty major day-to-day issues in the beginning of this month that I needed to deal with and resolve which threw me a bit- all of which had a specific deadline which happened to be the same day for each. I don't tend to be an anxious person but I literally found myself having frequent heart palpitations and taking a lot of Rescue Remedy!
And now we have the upcoming election- sounds ridiculous, right? When we are talking about Truth and Divinity... but on the mundane level these things (and this one in particular) become so big and so highly charged and I have found myself so distracted and reactive- and not liking the way I feel at all. On top of it, I have actually gone on the computer to write in this blog several times in the last few weeks and suddenly found myself totally derailed by the emotional environment surrounding the current issues.
So I was very grateful for this morning's reminder. I have been working on sort of an experiment lately which relates to all of this, but having minimal success with my commitment. It began after reading Patti Smith's book M Train which blew me away. I felt, after reading her book, that she is someone who lives and is guided by her inspiration. She simply does the things that inspire her, whether it's buying a ramshackle cottage on the beach in Rockaway or sweeping and planting flowers at the grave of Haruki Murakami or one of her other beloved authors, philosophers, musicians or daydreamers. I loved that this is how she lives and was so touched by it that I decided to begin my own Inspiration Experiment and do at least one thing every day that inspires me. (Inspire (v.) in Middle English also was used to mean "breath or put life or spirit into the human body; impart reason to a human soul." ~Etymology Online~)
The truth is that this is how I try to live my life. I do work that I love and I have a radical gratitude practice but even with that... I forget. I just plain forget and I am off trumpeting against Trump, railing against divisiveness and inequality... but when I am railing AGAINST, what am I doing? Am I in gratitude? Am I in appreciation? Am I in remembrance and commitment to the truth? No. Really, no. I am in just plain old forgetfulness. So I will thank Trump and the Trumpeteers for reminding me to remember- that all the attack I perceive around me comes from MY MIND and when I remember to change my mind the world around me changes.
"True learning is constant, and so vital in its power for change that a Son of God can recognize his power in one instant and change the world in the next. That is because, by changing his mind, he has changed the most powerful device that was ever given him for change." (A Course in Miracles, Text, Chapter 7, Paragraph 7)
Well, it's actually after midnight but I'm still up so in my book it's still today and I am here to wish Leonard Cohen, the poet who came down from the mountain, a very happy 82nd birthday with my gratitude that he is still with us. The recent passing of David Bowie, two days after his (and my) birthday is very present.
One of my favorite movies is the beautiful documentary and tribute concert to Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man. Martha Wainwright did an incredibly poignant rendition of his song "The Traitor." I think you would have to be very near death not to feel as if your heart was being wrung out like a sponge with this one.
Feeling very good about continuing changes and improvements to this website- and psyched about the website in general- the fact that it is so much easier for me to add posts and new events with this new Squarespace web design. I was beginning to avoid the old one because I was having such a hard time posting my events.
Am in Sedona, AZ right now with my sister Miranda, having a great time and very excited about going down to Scottsdale on Sunday night to see The Zombies and The Rascals. We started the day off with Nia today, a movement practice that combines dance, martial arts and mindfulness. I had actually wanted to try it years ago when I first heard about it but never did it. I loved it! The music was fabulous and I have been loving getting back into dancing again lately- for so many years it was kind of a personal practice and therapy for me and a way to really immerse myself in the sounds and rhythms of music. It was the perfect way to start the day.
Yesterday we played pickleball, something else I've never done before that was totally fun. Last night I woke up with cramps in both my calves! Yikes- so I'm using muscles I haven't used for a while but that's okay. It feels good to be alive, doing new things and continuing to love life.
Tomorrow morning we are going for a hike. Everything is so beautiful here so I am really looking forward to it. I've said it before and I'll say it again- life is good!
Funny that I was thinking about glass instruments tonight. A beautiful glass chime made by Josh Poll from Zen Glass in St. Petersburg, FL broke tonight in a very strong wind. I've had it for years. It has actually withstood hurricanes, but for whatever reason, it couldn't stand up to Hermine.
A friend of mine who I haven't heard from in a couple of years sent me this amazing video today. It is totally brilliant- and has definitely given me some great inspiration! Enjoy
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.
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 pmNovember 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
Sitting here with my morning coffee listening to a recording I made on my iPhone of the sounds around me while I had breakfast one morning almost two years ago- mostly an amazing recording of bird sounds and songs, the occasional chewing of toast (!) and some very quiet chimes in the background. I don't remember making this recording but I titled it "Bird Song Breakfast" and it is over 10 minutes long so it must have been quite deliberate. October of 2014- so it was just after I moved into this house. It must have been one of those fall days when there were a ton of birds out in my yard because all of a sudden the sound just fades away as if they suddenly all flew off!
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.
It is such a beautiful day right now. Sitting at my wooden table, listening to these sounds which I have recorded, a hint of fall in the air since last night's rain cooled things down. Perfect clear day, not a cloud in the sky. The recording has just come to an end. Now I hear the steady drone of cicadas, the wind and rustling of leaves in the trees, the clicking of keys on my keyboard, the steady rhythmic chirping of one cricket, the glass chimes on my front porch and the light metallic tinkling of a different set of chimes, staccato sparse quiet chirping of birds- and a car coming into my driveway. Time to give a session to an old friend. Perfect day!
Just a quick update here as I am getting ready to go to Newburyport for this evening's Healing Sound Journey. The picture above is the sweet little harbour in Rockport, Massachusetts where I have spent the last three days with my sisters Jenny and Miranda. Unfortunately the only picture I have of the fabulous threesome is of us lying on the grass with our heads at our mother's gravestone trying not to laugh and it just doesn't feel quite like the perfect portrait to post on my blog- although maybe it is!
Looking down from the entrance to Green Acre, the Baha'i school and retreat where I did a sound journey a few nights ago.
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.
This Sunday I am leaving for Green Acre Baha'i School and Conference Center in Eliot, Maine. I have been invited to give a talk in the afternoon and do a Healing Sound Journey for the Oneness of Humanity in the evening. Expected audience: 225 people from all over the world!
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.
Oh, yes. I forgot to mention how I have been completely immersed in the sound of Himalayan singing bowls for days! At the suggestion of my son Nicolas I got out all my bowls- my personal collection and all the ones I have for sale and put them all together in my living room. It has been incredible. Over 100 bowls and every time I went near them I would pick out a few and play them, sampling them (sort of like a box of chocolates!) and trying different combinations. It has done something wonderful to my mind and my emotional body. I had been in some turmoil due to a bad experience I had with a friend recently and the bowls completely relaxed my psyche. It was quite extraordinary and beautiful.
I was going through some old emails and I came across a very thought-provoking blog post by Seth Godin, dated June 28, which I had saved but not yet read, and it inspired me to write.
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.
The documentary "The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble" is without a doubt one of the most brilliant, poignant, joyful stories of the power of the human spirit, of the ties that bind us as global citizens and of the power of music to heal and to bring people together. I was knocked out by it and cannot wait to see it again. It is one of those movies that I know I will watch over and over again.
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.
One of the most striking things for me about the weekend was the sense that my space was being used for that which it is intended for and the reason that I chose this place to live. I chose it (or it chose me!) because I could teach workshops and have groups here. I have dreamed of having a sound journey on the deck since I first moved in and I finally got to do that. That in itself was so sweet and beautiful. We have used the fire pit in the backyard a few times before but we had not had a ceremony there and I feel that the space was so blessed from that, so I am super grateful for all of that. The energy has always been good here but I feel like there were a lot of shifts from the weekend.
And tomorrow night I get to do a sound journey at the Integrative Care Program for Women's Oncology in South County which is always such a wonderful gift.
Oh yeah- AND tonight I bought tickets to go see The Zombies and The Rascals in Scottsdale, AZ on September 11. Woohoo! What a gas- going with my sister Miranda who bought me my very first album- The Young Rascals when I was in 6th grade. Can't wait!
Opening Sound Journey for workshop at Wholistic Sound, Saturday, June 25, 2016.
Sitting in my house, my beautiful log house, listening to birdsong on a perfect day. I was blessed with a surprise day off today when all the power went off in South County Commons where I usually do massage on Thursday. Perfect, as the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of intensity.
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
This experience deepened my understanding of who I am on this earthly plane in ways that are still being revealed to me.
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.
Honestly, I am forcing myself to write this tonight. I find myself so quickly exhausted when I get on the computer. I feel strong physiological effects from it and almost feel as though I am becoming allergic to it. It's too bad... Or not. It just is, I guess.
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.
