Personal Sound Journey

This afternoon I lay down on the sofa in the living room at Paul and Jane's house in Hoogland and played one of the sound journeys I had recorded during the weekend workshop- actually the last sound journey from the end of the day on Sunday.

I had recorded it on my iPhone, so I lay down, turned it on and placed my iPhone on my chest. And then I went OUT! I didn't hear much of it because I was totally gone. At some point it ended and I woke up- I think it was about 39 minutes long. I couldn't move for the longest time. They are lucky when I play for them because they have me to bring them back- to remind them to come back to their breath- to breathe themselves back into their body, to begin to move and to stretch and to rub their hands briskly together warming up the palms and then rubbing them over their face, their eyes, their head, their neck and their heart. I didn't have anyone to tell me that- I knew what I needed to do but that wasn't enough... So I lay there, glued to the sofa for probably another 20 minutes before I began to revive.

Well, now I know even better why they like it so much! 

View from the sofa- I took it when I woke up. :-)

Late Night Update From Amsterdam

I started off the day today doing a sound healing meditation for Jane and Paul's Course in Miracles group at their home. After that I took a train in to Amsterdam to meet a friend at the Van Gogh Museum. Afterward we saw this guy sitting in the park playing the didgeridoo. He was a good player and it was such a nice grounding sound after the museum experience.

Yesterday Jane and I visited the Royal Delft Museum and factory. It was so wonderful. When I was about 6 years old a friend of my mother's gave me a small blue and white ceramic windmill. I loved it and my mother told me then about Delft and the famous white and blue pottery. I was a potter for many years myself before I became a sound healer so it was somewhere I have always wanted to go. I loved it! Lots of the structure itself is actually made from building ceramics with beautiful earthy glazes of browns and greens. 

Sound Revelation

Today's sound revelation- that different sheep have very different voices! Yesterday I went down to the edge of the river to look at the new dock and there was a sheep with a very deep voice "Baaa"ing at us. Coming toward us on the river was a scull with four or five people rowing toward us. I heard a very high-pitched "Baaaa" and the big sheep with the deep voice replied. Again there was a high-piched "Baaa". I started laughing because I thought it was someone in the boat answering the sheep. After the third time I realized it was actually another sheep and not someone in the boat goofing around!   Today Paul, Jane and I were walking down to the edge of the river and there was the flock of sheep again. This time I heard several voices and there was no one else but us in sight. Maybe you already knew that but I found it very exciting, silly as it may sound! 

Letting Go In Trust

Yesterday morning pretty much from the moment I woke up I had the Durga Stuthi in my head, a beautiful Sanskrit prayer to the Divine Mother in all her different forms and manifestations- as sleep, as memory, as abundance, as compassion, as peace, as power... I was preparing to teach the second day of a workshop on Sound Healing for Balance and Joy. Day number two, Sunday, was all about joy- I had a sense of how we were going to begin the morning, doing some exercises to open the voice. I am also always open to inspiration and guidance while trying to stay within certain parameters.

I started to wonder if for some reason I was supposed to share this prayerful song with the group but it didn't make any sense. It just didn't fit. It was too long and we had an important piece to start the day off with. We had to do the vocal warm-ups before getting into anything else. A different workshop, on chanting perhaps and it might be a nice fit but this just felt like something stuck in my head that I needed to let go of.

I started the class but almost as soon as I began I had to go upstairs to get something I had left up there. On my way down I suddenly realized it was Mother's Day! Ah- that's where the song had come from- Durga was tapping me on the shoulder giving me a reminder! It had taken me about an hour to realize it, so when I got back downstairs I wished all the mothers a happy Mother's Day and told them the story about the chant that had been in my mind since I woke up.

Now that I had gotten the message I shifted gears, got out the guitar and played the Durga Stuthi- there are many verses but there is also a beautiful chorus they were all able to sing along with. Everyone present had powerful experiences of their mothers. Some of them including me had lost them fairly recently- within the last 2-3 years- one woman over 40 years, but we all felt their presence and their love. As it turned out it was such a beautiful, moving and intimate way to start the day. It was also a way for us to connect very deeply which created a beautiful setting and mood for the rest of day.

It was a reminder for me, once again, to trust my guidance and not second guess. Things show up- ideas, thoughts, inspirations, people- for reasons we cannot know. We just have to trust and let things unfold and be revealed in their own time and their own perfect moment.

Deep Listening

A very short post today to say that the weekend's workshop went well- 6 people yesterday and 9 today- and it seemed that everyone got something that they felt they could take home with them at the end of the day. Two things I endeavor to share in a workshop- a sense of safety and the presence of joy.

One magic moment- at the end of one of our sound practices, as we were doing some breathing for centering ourselves back in our bodies a train went by. I suggested they listen deeply to the sound of the train with all of its overtones and breathe that sound into their being. It was full of beautiful sounds. Paul said he would never hear a train the same way again. Now he would listen. That was a gift.

Irresistible

Today's workshop...

Before the chakra balancing sound journey with Tibetan bowls...

The line up... 7 bowls for 7 chakras and one dolphin bowl:

Me, about to start playing...

Afterward- who can resist those sounds? 

Who can resist that smile? 

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.