A Sound Bath Adds Calm to Family Reunion
What a joy to be able to offer something relaxing to the family 4th of July weekend!
On my recent trip to visit family in Maine, I brought my sound bath instruments, just in case. I never know how amenable people will be to the experience, but I try to offer it because I am a firm believer in its relaxing restorative properties.
During a long holiday weekend, nothing much to accomplish except to revel in the beauty of this piece of land that my husband’s grandfather purchased 75 years for a song (speaking of music…), it would seem that relaxation would be found aplenty. And, indeed, when we arrived Wednesday evening we found everyone quite contented and calm. And yet still, the first morning I was there, I was asked to give a sound bath. Yay!
That first sound bath I offered only drew the three ladies who were up for the weekend. The men, including my own husband and son, seemed suddenly busy elsewhere.
The ladies lay on the screened-in porch, bothered only a bit by the hum of the jet ski on the water beyond, and the barking of the dogs as someone arrived from away. They were quite relaxed upon my drawing the sounds to a close, and I was thrilled to have helped them in their holiday mental escape. They were somewhat surprised, as people often are, by how deeply they fell under the spell of the sounds, how deeply relaxed they felt.
Word got around and most everyone except a couple of outliers decided they wanted to experience this thing I had done, this relaxing thing. They’d seen the instruments splayed out on the table, but still it was a mystery. And curiosities were piqued.
So it was that I offered another sound bath to the group (see picture above,) gathering a little past the appointed time to allow for young people to sleep in, others to finish their Scrabble game.
There is a moment when I pause offering this series of sounds, this Sacred Bloom composition I like to call “healing harmonies for the soul.” I wonder if people will be able to lie down or sit, to close their eyes, to ensure their sight is limited by donning an eye mask. I wonder if my application of lavender to their wrists might seem strange or unappealing. I think how maybe they won’t be able to relax at all, how maybe I won’t be even slightly helpful in their pursuit of calm. But I push through anyway, as I did the other morning in Woolwich, Maine. And most times, like then, it is a revelation.
People go somewhere else. I can hear their breathing change, see the way their bodies slacken in repose, feel the way they are tuned out from the world outside and tuned in more to themselves.
Sound baths are so cool!!
What a joy to see a group of people you deeply care for return back to a seated position, palms together in a prayer pose, and come together in a unifying Om, to hear their voices having lowered an octave or so, to receive their gratitude for the serious time out.
It was the favorite thing mentioned by a couple people in the group during an exercise we played at our final dinner, Rose Bud Thorn, a where people go around saying favorite things from the trip, things they are looking forward to, and things they weren’t happy about.
One of the attendee cousins said she’d rethink going to a sound bath alone around her Massachusetts town, and would most likely do it; someone else said he loved it but wasn’t sure he would seek it out again. We talked about how it is an interesting but not altogether easy thing, a sound bath, how it forces you to look at yourself, which is always hard, even with the aid of a facilitator gently leading you through.
“A lot of people, like you, who say they love it, don’t come back,” I told him. But…I hope he’ll do it again, with me or someone else. I hope that everyone will do sound baths more, and regularly. It is what I “do” these days for a reason: I believe wholeheartedly in the power of sound to take us to that very deep place of relaxation where we might actually figure what we want, what we think, what to do. We might actually get to that very authentic Self we are always seeming to say we want to find. Yep. I think sounds and vibration can do that. And so I don’t know why we don’t use them more?! Can you tell me why?! Or, better yet, come to one, and then another and another! Book a private individual or group session here. Or subscribe and hear about existing group events!
I will be doing a super cool Sound Bath/Mala bead necklace making event at the beautiful new flower shop/event space/home store Rooted in Tannersville, NY on Monday, July 15th, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm, so sign up to secure your spot if you’ll be in the area (or COME to the area just to join us! It will be great!)
Here are some events to check out in the coming week…Lots of good stuff to get inspired by sound, as always!
LISTENUPNYC CALENDAR: JULY 8 - 14
monday, july 8
Brian Richburg Jr.
Bar Lunatico
Sets at 9 PM + 10:15 PM
Ooh, a drummer! LOVE the drums, in almost any form! Tonight, in just a few hours, this native New Orleans drummer, Brian Richburg Jr., will present a new project called Noveau.Wav with a crazy talented lineup of other musicians, including Simon Moullier on vibraphones (who I have been DYING to see!), Brandon Woody on trumpet, Kofi Hunter on percussion, jeremiah Edwards on bass, and Brayla on vocals. Wow! Looking forward…
tuesday, july 9
Ari Folman Cohen and Rich Stein
Sudden Random Realities
Troost
9 PM
Ari’s social media posts often make me laugh out loud. His quirky quippy persona comes through in his promos as much as it does in his amazing always-arresting bass music. This particular musical evening, tomorrow (if you’re reading this Monday, when I am posting it), he promises will “defy both reality and gravity. Maybe physics and algebra as well.” I sent him an lol, and will attempt to make it if I can. Fingers crossed. You should absolutely go!
wednesday, july 10
Yesterday and the Undoing; Youth Large; Joe Versus
Mama Tried
7 PM-10 PM
A friend has demanded that we return together after a long hiatus to Mama Tried, a gorgeous spot just under the BQE that defies the location and is actually quite an oasis, the thrum of traffic a strangely lovely addition to the music in the spectacular outdoor garden. This Wednesday features a particularly interesting three-band offering, starting with Yesterday and the Undoing, (“quietyly menacing folk/art grunge centering around bass and vocals,”) followed by Youth Large (the solo and collaborative project of Em Margey, “emotionally and lyrically driven songs”), and closing with Joe Versus, (described as “noisy poppy punky folksy alt rock”). This music and these musicians are unfamiliar yet I trust in these bar owners to present fabulous talent.
thursday, july 11
Isaiah Sharkey
Blue Note
Sets at 8 PM + 10:30 PM (also Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 12-14)
Guitarist and singer-songwriter Isaiah Sharkey has been a prolific sideman with such names as John Mayer, Patti LaBelle, Chris Martin, Paul Simon and Corinee Bailey Ray. Gulp. Check out this rising star’s run as a leader at Blue Note this week!!
friday, july 12
Thandiswa Mazwai
Carnegie Hall Citywide at Bryant Park
7 PM
South African chart topper Thandiswa Mazwai and her band present this FREE outdoor performance at midtown’s Bryant Park, fresh off the release of her latest album, Sankofa. Called “a celebration of Pan-Africanism,” the album features songs produced by Meshell Ndegeocello, Chris Bruce and Nduduzo Makhathini, blending jazz, South African Xhosa music and a variety of contemporary West African influences. Sounds AWESOME!
saturday, july 13
NYC:
The Kudzu Quartet
Barbes
8 PM
UPSTATE:
Woodystock: A Woody Guthrie Tribute
Colony, Woodstock, NY
6 PM - PM, Garden Main Stage
American singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was one of the most significant figures in American folk music, focusing on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. What better place to honor him than in Woodstock? If you’re around this upstate music mecca on Saturday, join for a killer rendition of This Land is Your Land by musicians Marc Delgado, Marji Zintz and Eric Squindo in Colony’s fabulous beer garden!!
sunday, july 14
Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel w/special guest Wilson & Walsh
Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock, NY
8 PM
There’s still standing room tix for a chance to see guitarist Duane Betts perform from his debut solo album, Wild & Precious Life. The son of legendary Allman Brother Dickey Betts cut his teeth playing alongside his Dad, but in 2022 debuted his own original creation, “an album about who I am, where I come from, and what I believe in…” he says. With Sean Walsh from The National Reserve.
Have a lovely week! Think about becoming a PAID SUBSCRIBER if you haven’t yet! If you find it valuable, even as little as $5 a month would be a lovely gesture:) Share, comment, would love your support!
In peace & harmony,
Steph