soft shoe

clock ticking
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

Feeling grateful for my life and work. Loving working with oncology patients, caregivers and survivors through the Integrative Care Program at Women & Infants Hospital. Feeling oh-so-blessed. Appreciating the beautiful space I am living in where I am able to give private sessions and offer workshops for small groups. Excited about the workshops I have coming up in May and June and the possibility of being able to have participants stay here. Excited about the possibilities that have opened up through the article that was published by the Providence Journal in January. (If you haven't read the article, see below.*) Love the fabulous connection I have made with the hospital to offer programs to their corporate donors as well as with The Cedars, a really lovely nursing home in Cranston, where the administrators are open to and excited about complementary holistic therapies to assist their residents and caregivers. I had a fantastic meeting with their Assistant Administrator, Spiritual Director and a young woman who works with their dementia patients as well as doing private sessions using  reiki, reflexology and CranioSacral Therapy. I will be giving a sound journey there on April 22- Earth Day- which I am super excited about. The same week I am doing a Sound Journey at the World Citizen's Cafe in Framingham, MA, also celebrating Earth Day.

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

PUBLICATION: Providence Journal (RI)

SECTION: RI Special Sections

DATE: January 24, 2016

Artist and start-up consultant Shin Ae has always been interested in the intersection of science and art. It’s what led her to her first job, working in a cancer research laboratory, and it is ultimately what led her to explore the healing power of sound when she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer more than a year ago.
“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

Well, I have had some major glitches on my Events page- for example the payment link for my May workshop is not working which is definitely unacceptable. As a result I am rethinking the whole format and platform for my blog and associated pages and about to embark on a big old learning curve. Fortunately I know that there are some really user-friendly web building platforms out there. It seems like every time I have hired other people to build a website for me it has fallen through the cracks so this time it is on me. Bombs away!!!

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!!!

Yesterday and Today

Okay- I have updated the Upcoming Events page! Two new workshops in place for May and June, one on healing with voice; the other- Prayers, Blessings and Sacred Sound with my friend D. Crowfeather. They are both going to be very powerful beautiful weekends. (Go to the menu at the top of the page or click here for more information.)

Yesterday I led a beautiful group of lovely souls in chanting and sacred songs at Emmanuel Church in Newport. Today we had a Global Harmonization Ceremony at my house. Sound is powerful. Sound touches hearts and souls. We had an hour-long meditation with crystal bowls today. Afterward we sat in silence for a while- I don't know how long. I felt that I could have sat there forever. It was both profound and deeply quieting.

Yesterday daffodils were starting to bloom in front of my house. Tonight it is snowing. I am inside with the wood stove going but all I can think of is the pristine sound of falling snow- light... delicate... crystalline. One of my favorite sounds.

Last winter's snowy landscape

Vibrational Healing With the Sound of Your Voice

We all have two powerful tools for healing- our hands and our voice. This May I will be teaching a workshop in which participants will learn to use their voice for personal transformation and as an application for healing others as well. We will learn toning and overtoning focusing on how to balance the bioenergetic system and do body scans with the voice, learn sacred mantras for transformation and healing and learn Sanskrit seed sounds, "bija mantras", for aligning and balancing the subtle body. We will also learn some simple and beautiful sacred songs and chants from a variety of traditions.

Giving my friend Ine a toning session in Holland, 2012

 This is simple powerful effective work that we can all do. You do not have to be a musician, you do not have to "know how to sing". (The good news is, you already do!)

I am excited to offer this workshop in my home where I have room for 2-4 people to stay. The rest will have to find other accommodations if they are not local. Before I opened my sound healing center in Florida I used to teach workshops out of my home. It was so wonderful during breaks to be able to keep the energy flowing between us all by gathering around the dining room table or outside and sharing food, stories, laughter and music together. Once again I have the perfect environment for this! It's been a while...

I do not have the link set up yet for people to sign up but it will be there soon.

Falling Into Place

Falling...

            out

                        of


s        

         p        

                   a        
                              
                              c       

                                            e

             
                             into place and time

Life is good. 

Opportunities. Connections. Movement. Growth. Gratitude. 

Thank you. 

Five Days Later

Once again- a post I started 5 days ago and didn't finish!

(Sunday- 2.28.16) Today is a day of rest. Sort of... Will have to spend some time organizing my stuff to hit the road and head back up to New England in a couple of days. It has been a fabulous trip- and unlike my last road trip down here in August, the car has held up really well. The success of my time on the road however is definitely leading me strongly to think about getting a bigger vehicle.

Last week was Tallahassee- two sound journeys two nights in a row, both with full attendance and a very well attended workshop. I am loving the new community I have connected with there- wonderful new friends that will be friends for life and I am so grateful.

(Continued- 3.3.16) This past week- Thursday night... Sarasota Sound Journey, a small but wonderful group- seeing some old friends and making some new friends and a great new connection with Dr. Deanine Picciano, the owner of the Wellness Center that hosted me. Friday I did a Sound Journey to a full house in Seminole and then a one-day workshop for healers and massage therapists.

Between events I laid low and only saw a couple of very dear friends whom I hadn't seen in a long time and that felt really good, attending to my energy in a way that was regenerative rather than draining for me. Oh, and I stayed in Lynn Carol and George Henderson's house of magic which is the most nurturing and inspiring environment I could ever dream of- in fact it is quite like being in a dream, the juxtaposition of fascinating objects and elements. I always love being there.

On Sunday I went down to Sarasota and saw my dear friend, Course in Miracles sound soul sister, awesome musician Callie Chappell, and another dear friend, Diana Daffner, whom I hadn't seen in at least five years and danced for 3 hours- so much fun and much needed!

Now, 5 days since I started writing this, I am at my friends Mahesh and Mukta's house in North Carolina, taking it slow and easy before I head back up north. Two trips in a row now I have had huge success. The bar has definitely been substantially raised as to what I can expect, intend and ask for in regards to my work. I stuck to my guns for a long time, persistently determined to do work that I love and believe in. It is finally paying off. More and more people are becoming aware of the power of sound and vibrational medicine and the missing pieces in conventional western medicine which treats symptoms rather than the whole person.

As I said in the beginning of this, my car has held up well- the "Check engine" light did go on the day before yesterday on my way here but it seems to be running fine so hopefully it's nothing I need to worry about til I get home! Fingers crossed. ;-)