The Voice of Life

Moving On...

2011-10-26T17:00:00.004-04:00

I started this blog in 2008. Hard to believe! Now, as I turn my attentions toward my new book project (which is still about sound, word, and voice of course), I am going to let things go dormant here and focus on a book-specific blog. If you would like to visit my new blog, click here.

My book is a work of fiction crossed with a work of nonfiction, non-fiction-fiction (?), titled The Unknown Mother: A Magical Walk with the Goddess of Sound. To learn more about it, please visit the new Unknown Mother Blog.

There's still lots to read and look at here, so if you're visiting for the first time, stay awhile. After 3+ years, the archives are loaded!

Enjoy!

The Four Agreements: Horse Sense?

2011-10-21T20:40:00.005-04:00

On a hillside in Marshall, NC, clothed in the glorious colors of Fall, sits a horse ranch of sorts called Horse Sense. They offer equine-assisted therapy and various trainings. Having recently seen the movie, Buck, I was curious to learn what I could discover about myself by interacting with horses. So I registered for a training that was right up my alley called Beyond Words: Lie to Me? The focus was on reading body language objectively.

I was surprised to learn that the lessons of the horse are the same lessons of one of my all time favorite books, The Four Agreements, by don Miguel Ruiz:

Don't Make Assumptions:
Just because a horse is smaller than the others doesn't mean he's the youngest, and just because a horse behaves one way all morning long doesn't mean it always behaves that way.

Take Nothing Personally:
Just because a horse turns its back to me as I approach doesn't mean it doesn't like me.

Be Impeccable with Your Word
To lead a blindfolded partner walking a horse through a maze, it is essential to know when to say left and when to say right.

Always Do Your Best
A horse with a compulsive need to bite wood is doing his best. While the original stimulus for the behavior is, of course, long gone, the behavior has become part of the neurology.

So what does any of this have to do with anything anyway?

That's the really amazing thing about working with horses. They teach us about ourselves. They clearly reflect ourselves back to us. If I can accept that a horse ignoring me isn't doing it on purpose, then why not a stranger? If I can stop myself from jumping to conclusions about a horse's behavior, then why not a lover's? If I can be clear with my words and body language to direct a horse, then surely I can focus my intent at work. And if I can accept that a horse with an annoying habit isn't all bad, maybe there's hope for me too.

Yeah, Baby! The Om-ing Movement Widens!

2011-10-05T15:35:00.000-04:00

MedMob Austin: OM the DOME Meditation Flash Mob from Magic Spoon Productions on Vimeo.

The Evolution of Revolution: What Are You Demonstrating?

2011-10-02T08:07:00.005-04:00

Things are really heating up in this country. People are taking to the streets to demand accountability of our leaders, both in government and in financing. At first, I was very excited to join in the demonstrations, but after reading some boards on Facebook, I had second thoughts. Did I really want to be a part of so much anger and blame? Did I want to stand amidst all that confusion and negativity? Is that what I've spent my spiritual life preparing for?

This morning, I watched a video taken on the Brooklyn Bridge from the Occupy Wallstreet March of a 7 year old girl being arrested. Police brutality? Look, I don't know. I only know how my physical and emotional body responded to that video, and probably not in the way you'd expect.

As I watched the child with the police, I noticed her smile. I noticed her inner calm. I noticed her dignity and wisdom. As I listened to the ranting crowd, I felt discombobulated, fearful, and quite frankly, disgusted. Their voices were harsh and ugly. They were, in their anger and resentment, embodying the very energy they claim to be against. They were the real children...and they were tantruming. I should know; I've been an expert at that.

If we are going to make demands of our leaders to be held accountable, to take better care of the 99%, then we had better well demonstrate THAT! It isn't an easy road ahead. There are too many voices in our own heads, too many people needing to be right. Too much hatred and blame. That may be a revolution, but where is the evolution?

Those of us with eyes to see, we've got to stand and simply witness both sides, those shouting for justice, those using this as a means to vent violence, those twisting truth to suit themselves, those who just haven't grown up enough to stand like that child begin arrested did...and we've GOT to accept them both, love them both. We've got to SHOW people the way is INSIDE. If we're going to demonstrate, then we all better be asking ourselves WTF we're actually demonstrating. Immaturity? The need to be right? Victimhood? Do we really stand for that? It would seem so for many.

Here are my demands. I make them of myself. May my mind know peace, equanimity, compassion, and joy no matter what my outer experience. May these qualities arise in me spontaneously and effortlessly. May I stand for the Love that illusion continues to veil.

That's how to change the world.

2011-09-21T17:35:00.001-04:00

Gregg Braden
Bladder Cancer and the Power of the Word to Heal

Global Celebration on 11-11-11: Ascension Cyber Shamanic Dance Wave

2011-09-07T15:52:00.007-04:00

Dancers, Healers, Lightworkers, Starseeds, Lovers of Life!

Join the Global Celebration!!

11:11:11 CYBER SHAMANIC DANCE WAVE

Trance dance your way through the doorway of incoming 11:11 energies with a specially
created cosmic transmission from cyber-shamanic composers, Shapeshifter.

To host or locate events in your area, visit and join http://www.meetup.com/11-11-11-Ascension.

You may find out more about this world-wide celebration at http://visionarymusic.com/11-11-11ascension or http://visionarymusic.com/CyberShamanicDanceWaves.

Shapeshifter created an all original soundtrack for this event. The music begins and ends softly with ambient tapestries of sounds, but the middle is full of many shifts and changes to engage the dancer in subtle to deeper level trance like dance movements. The music is electronic and features styles in any and all of these genres: Ambient, Electronic, Space, New Age, Trance, Wobble, Dubstep, Techno, Rave, House, Psy, Goa.

How Music Works

2011-09-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

Another great free documentary!

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-music-works

2011-08-31T17:38:00.001-04:00

Excellent Sound Healing Interview with Yantara Jiro by Simon on the Sofa

Can You Hear It?

2011-08-23T12:19:00.002-04:00

Are you treating your ears right? Here's a site that will allow you to test your hearing frequency range. Check it out!

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/

Alaa Wardi - The Human Instrument

2011-08-15T06:30:00.001-04:00

2011-08-12T18:25:00.001-04:00

So, I guess my blog is more like a YouTube channel these days. Hmm...

The Spherical Nature of Sound

2011-08-01T17:05:00.001-04:00

No Regrets

2011-07-20T15:50:00.000-04:00

Do you wonder if you'll have any regrets on your deathbed? Check out these top 5 regrets of the dying and then go out and LIVE!

http://ohdarling.posterous.com/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-o

2011-07-13T18:32:00.000-04:00

The Standard Tuning Controversy

2011-07-04T06:59:00.000-04:00

More on A=444 Hz...

http://web.mac.com/len15/MUSICAL_CULT_CONTROL/Leonard_G._Horowitz.html

"This knowledge best explains why so many musicians intuitively feel better tuning up, or down, a bit sharp or flat, from A=440Hz “standard tuning.” More natural alternatives, especially A=444Hz (C=528Hz) and A=432Hz, and have been growing in popularity." continued

The Influence of Words on DNA

2011-06-30T06:39:00.000-04:00

Along the lines of Imoto's work with water crystals and the impact of music, phrases, and intention, Russian scientists are discovering links between our thoughts and DNA.

http://quantumpranx.wordpress.com/dna-can-be-influenced-and-reprogrammed-by-words-and-frequencies/

Deswitching

2011-06-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

I use these exercises with clients before getting into shamanic voice work.
Try them for yourself. Good stuff!

Speechless

2011-06-08T10:52:00.000-04:00

The Cosmic 432 & The Musical Conspiracy

2011-05-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

Media Personalities and Spontaneous Gibberish

2011-05-15T15:40:00.000-04:00

As a sound healer who works primarily with the voice, and having used glossolalia as a technique for both breaking the left brain's hold on our creativity and as a means of connecting to spirit, I don't know what to think of this. Is it early experimentation in mind control? Or is it something beyond our understanding...the evolution of communication? Wouldn't it be wonderful if it became impossible to speak things that weren't true and didn't serve us? If all that came out instead was a bunch of gobble-dee-gook.

A Sound Healing Experience Shared

2011-05-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Universal Property of Music Discovered

2011-04-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

Multidimensional Properties of Music Explored

Read the Full Article at Science Daily

"ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2011) — Researchers at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) of the University of Amsterdam have discovered a universal property of musical scales. Until now it was assumed that the only thing scales throughout the world have in common is the octave..."more

2011-04-05T09:07:00.000-04:00

Tom Kenyon: Master of Sound

Sound and Science with Jad Abumrad

2011-03-31T08:28:00.000-04:00

Fantastic and humorous look at sound.

Sound and science with Jad Abumrad from PopTech on Vimeo.

Sound Healing Prayer for Japan

2011-03-29T09:56:00.002-04:00

Possibilianism: Intellectual Humility

2011-03-21T08:21:00.001-04:00

We Don't Know What We Don't Know. David Eagleman presents the philosophy of Possibilianism.

David Eagleman on Possibilianism from PopTech on Vimeo.

Tapping Our Interconnection through Meditation

2011-03-13T07:51:00.001-04:00

Collective Consciousness

"If we're all interconnected through the fabric of collective consciousness, could society be dramatically transformed by a sufficient number of people creating a positive influence -- say, by practicing a meditation technique designed to defuse stress and enliven orderliness within the brain and human consciousness?

The notion that the world is independent of our minds was overthrown a century ago by quantum mechanics. Yet a scientific understanding of how interconnected we all really are -- with one another and the universe -- is just now coming to light..."

Read the article by Jeanne Ball from The Huffington Post

Electromagnetic Fields and the Affect on our DNA

2011-02-21T17:23:00.001-05:00

Check out this educational presentation on how electromagnetic fields (such as those generated by cell phones) affect our cells. Another reason why understanding the broader concept of entrainment is important to our evolutionary health.

Commonwealth Club 11-18-10. Panel II – Martin Blank, PhD from ElectromagneticHealth.Org on Vimeo.

Mind Lab: Fun with Visual Perception

2011-02-10T19:40:00.001-05:00

Can we really trust what we see as truth? Explore the visual perception exercises at MindLab and see for yourself!

http://jvsc.jst.go.jp/find/mindlab/english/base.html

Charles Limb on TED: Your Brain on Improv

2011-02-03T08:13:00.000-05:00

Your Brain on Improv: Creativity and the Brain

Time to Cry Out!!!

2011-01-25T07:39:00.003-05:00

Great article about a pamphlet taking France by storm.

"Indignez vous! (Cry out!), a slim pamphlet by a wartime French resistance hero, Stéphane Hessel, is smashing all publishing records in France. The book urges the French, and everyone else, to recapture the wartime spirit of resistance to the Nazis by rejecting the "insolent, selfish" power of money and markets and by defending the social "values of modern democracy""

See the full article.

Reshape Your Brain and Your Reality

2011-01-15T08:03:00.000-05:00

A great article on the power of thought/prayer to change our perceptions and alter our experiences.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104310443

Sound Speeds the Healing Process

2011-01-01T03:26:00.001-05:00

Ultrasound is proving to be a viable healing tool at the Mayo Clinic.

Blast of Sound Speed Ups Wound Healing

Need Perspective?

2010-12-24T16:09:00.000-05:00

Scale of the Universe
Load this and use the blue slider at the bottom of the image.

The Tree of Lies

2010-12-15T17:30:00.002-05:00

Introduction to The Tree of Lies by Christopher S. Hyatt
by Robert Anton Wilson

"Is it is possible to use language to undo the hallucinations created by language? The task seems impossible, but Zen riddles, Sufi jokes, the works of Aleister Crowley, and a few heroic efforts by philosophers such as Nietzsche and Wittgenstein seem able to jolt readers awake--shake them out of the hypnosis of words. The following book by Dr. Hyatt [The Tree of Lies] also makes that gallant effort to use words to transcend words. Success in this field does not depend on the author alone, however. It requires not only the right words, but the right reader at the right time, before the shock and awakening can occur." Read more

The Day Before Disclosure Now Available

2010-12-05T06:43:00.000-05:00

The Day Before Disclosure

A new, very intelligently done documentary on the possibility of Extraterrestrial life and UFO's. What do YOU think?

Love Between the Covers

2010-11-26T17:24:00.000-05:00

I have read what seems like a million self-help, religious, philosophical, & metaphysical books, not to mention stacks of fiction. So what is it that I have to say that hasn’t already been said in so many ways? From any book, if I take away the cover, the title, the author, and the way in which the story is told, I basically have the same story…Love. I glance at my bookshelf and suddenly realize that I have somehow purchased the same book over and over again. I have been giving my short-term memory the same message, but forgetting each time. I have read some very wonderful books! They have indeed had an impact on my life, some for the short-term and others much more deeply. Some I have been reading over and over for years now, and I have yet another that is taking me six years to read once through! And I sometimes check something out from the library only to realize I’ve already read it. It seems there are many flavors of LOVE. And rather than fully grasp the meaning once and for all, I search for it yet again in a different color jacket, a different practice, or in different wording...an endless quest to one-up myself. The message is always the same no matter the messenger or the vehicle of the message. And while each path is clothed in a different cover with a different title, the message remains…LOVE. There is nothing else.

Faith Moves Mountains and Cures Disease

2010-11-15T17:20:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm not startled. The medical world is slow in coming to the realization that our beliefs are more powerful than anything! This is just "common shamanism." Congratulations doctors. You've discovered what the ancients have always known.

Startled by the power of placebos, doctors consider how to use them as real treatment
2010-05-09, Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/05/09/the_magic_cure/

You’re not likely to hear about this from your doctor, but fake medical treatment can work amazingly well. For a range of ailments, from pain and nausea to depression and Parkinson’s disease, placebos--whether sugar pills, saline injections, or sham surgery--have often produced results that rival those of standard therapies...more

Sound Creates Form

2010-11-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Another Great Video from Julian Treasure

2010-11-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

Julian Treasure shares 10 things you might not have known about sound (unless you follow this blog!).

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/10/treasure.sound/index.html?hpt=Mid

Cricket Song

2010-10-30T06:36:00.002-04:00

This brings to mind one of my favorite passages from psalms:
Everything that has breath ought to praise Him.

Sound Health through Sound with Julian Treasure

2010-10-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

Multidimensional Music: Support for Evolutionaries

2010-10-15T22:10:00.002-04:00

10/10/10 Sound File

2010-10-10T11:00:00.003-04:00

Enjoy this 10 min. 10 sec. sound file from Visionary Music's Shapeshifter. It's a free download to celebrate a positive collective intent for 10/10/10.

Happy-10-10-10-download-free-mp3

A Shaman's Guide to Deep Beauty with Francis Rico

2010-10-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

I have been blessed by so many wise people in my life. Francis Rico is truly one of a kind. Enjoy his message of liberation from suffering.

2010-10-01T08:30:00.001-04:00

Multidimensional Music Meditation

The Case for Acoustic Archeology

2010-09-23T08:10:00.000-04:00

Echoes of the Past: The Sites and Sounds of Prehistory

The Deepest Musical Note Ever Heard

2010-09-13T19:18:00.001-04:00

"Astronomers have detected the deepest note ever generated in the cosmos, a B-flat....No human will actually hear the note, because it is 57 octaves below" middle C.

The Deepest Note

2010-08-31T17:10:00.004-04:00

I don't usually write personal stories that have nothing to do with sound or healing, but I have been compelled to share my thoughts about something very close to my heart. In March of this year, my nephew, who I have had the fortune to known since shortly after his birth, graduated from military training in the Infantry. He is now stationed somewhere in Germany and bound for Afghanistan. The only word I can think of to describe what I feel is "conflicted." I love my nephew. I know him to be a lion-hearted being following his path. But I detest war...I detest the way we perpetuate it, waste money on it, accept it as necessary, and use it to justify so many unjust things.

It is a struggle for me to speak out about the war because I would never want to offend my nephew nor dishonor his sacrifice. And his sacrifice is so valiant...because it is innocent. He really believes he is protecting his loved ones from terrorists and religious persecution. He is young. He trusts authority. He believes the stories they tell to justify secrecy, violence, and killing, and he doesn't yet see behind the veil they've so carefully woven to the absolute hippocracy of war. I sometimes wonder if it is better he never do, for his sense of betrayal will be fierce.

He tells me he wants me to be safe from "them". It warms me, his desire to protect. It is so beautiful. The absolute irony is that I am far more in fear of my own country and its corrupted leaders than of any foreign body of people and their beliefs. I am more in fear of a system so topsy-turvy and confused that it's got us all numb, silent, and in a perpetual state of disbelief and inaction.

I am afraid of the threats we continually ignore as we pour our energies into sustaining those we only imagine.

I pray for my nephew's life every day. I pray that he gets to experience a life free from fear, bigotry, fanaticism, and the horrors of war. And I hope one day, he is in a position to change the world in a way that makes it safe for every human life...not an "us" or "them"...a life in which our constitution is more than a set of token symbols we convince ourselves we experience while all the while surrounded by corruption, slavery, and suffering. I hope he lives justice, freedom and happiness.

I know he has it in him to be great, to take what he experiences, question it, and some day make his mark. And I know being called upon to stand up for unacknowledged truths, he will do it, even at the risk of being ostracized and humiliated, even if threatened with his life, because he has already proven himself a man of courage and honor, just not with the luxury of having chosen his own beliefs. When he begins to discover his own, look out world!

God bless soldiers everywhere doing what they believe is right. Awaken. Awaken. Awaken.

Music as Intended

2010-08-23T06:22:00.000-04:00

Enjoy this really fascinating article about the origins of tuning and the effects our alterations are having on music.

"In a simple but extraordinarily conclusive experiment, it was demonstrated that the sounds produced in low tuning (C=256HZ) have a greater abundance of overtones. The result: The sounds have more color, and their volume and carrying capacity are greater." To read more: Retuning C

My question is, what was the rationale for ever changing our tunings in the first place!?

The Life of an Idea

2010-08-08T19:35:00.000-04:00

The Life of an Idea

A very powerful, utterly profound, gently mind-shattering podcast from Gary van Warmerdam of Pathways to Happiness .

3 Steps to Freeing Your Voice

2010-08-01T06:51:00.001-04:00

It's been quite awhile since I've written a post on this blog. I've been taking the easy albeit still valuable way out of posting fabulous videos. But I think the time has come to talk about our collective fear of the voice.

I recently met a woman who near broke into tears just speaking with me about what I do. Just talking about singing and expressing herself freely was enough to ignite her deepest fears underneath which hid her deepest longings.

Why are we so frightened by our own voices? Why do we judge the way we sound on an answering machine? What is that fear that keeps our mouths so tightly closed when we really, really want to speak? Why do we deny ourselves the joy of singing along? Maybe you don't. Maybe you've managed to break through the myriad inhibiting beliefs, and you've set your voice free. But if you haven't been one of the lucky ones, then what?

So, first, the whys. And then on to the "then what?"

At some point in our lives, we have experienced "the clamp". It is a defining moment or moments when we learned it simply wasn't safe to open our mouths. Either we were yelled at or physically abused, ostracized, or humiliated for something we said. Regardless of the details of the situation, we realized that we could instantly lose love by something as simple as making a sound.

And then, along the way, we come to realize that we can also use our voice to stir a bit of trouble. We can speak words that trigger others...sometimes hurting those we love most. We learn that we have a rather interesting power at our disposal. Yield it one way, and it becomes a deadly weapon. Yield it another, and it is a fine tool. Either way, it is something over which we must exert the utmost control. Or so we believe.

And hence, the fear we have today...one so complex and intertwined with so many of our root beliefs that it is quite a challenge to free ourselves from our self-imposed prisons. But we can free ourselves. We must free ourselves! Because our voice is our power to create and express Life!

Step One
So the first step in overcoming our fear is an assessment of where we stand now. Do you like the sound of your voice? If not, why not? Do you allow yourself to speak up? In what kinds of situations do you "clamp it". Do you sing? Where and how? And if not, why not? What do you believe about how you sound? Is it true? Who says? Do you want your freedom?

Step Two
Once you answer "yes" to that last question, you can take the next step of watching yourself. This is a period in which you know you want to change, but you don't hold unrealistic expectations for yourself. You simply watch yourself repeating old habits. You are learning the lay of the land, so to speak, so you can figure out where to take action in the next step.

Step Three
Once you become aware, then you can begin to take steps to change your habits. Take baby steps if necessary. Hum along to the songs that play while you grocery shop. Sing along to your music collection as loud as you dare. Allow yourself to say "ouch!" when you bump your elbow. Keep saying it until the pain goes away. Keep moving into your fear, and you'll find it evaporating like fog. The light of your voice will lead you to the other side.

And what's there? You'll find immense joy and pleasure. You'll find a liberty and strength within you you never knew existed. You'll find that you are a creative being with a beautiful voice!

Awakening

2010-07-17T08:09:00.001-04:00

Greg Braden on Consciousness

2010-07-08T06:59:00.000-04:00

Love Bombs Anyone?

2010-07-07T08:10:00.001-04:00

Our Musical Nature: The Pentatonic Scale with Bobby McFerrin

2010-06-29T07:19:00.002-04:00

Another Brilliant Peter Brooks Film

2010-06-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

Gurdjieff--Meetings with Remarkable Men

Speaking in Tongues

2010-06-15T11:46:00.000-04:00

Vocal Toning as a Universal Language

2010-06-01T10:01:00.003-04:00

Imagine for a moment the cells that comprise your body. Use your mind's eye to see and sense them, comprising your many bones, organs, muscles, and blood. Each cell has it's own vibration, it's own unique signature. And each system has it's own collective vibration as well. As everything within you vibrates, a symphony of sound is created.

Now imagine that one little cell in your finger suddenly becomes aware. It recognizes itself, it hears the music created by all the other nearby tissues, and then, in a miraculous moment, it sees a heart cell across the gap beyond space and time. It sees that little heart cell, and it is in awe and in love. It listens to the rhythm of the heart cell enraptured. It's still doing it's little finger cell job. But now, it knows that there is more to life than it realized.

Now imagine that the little heart cell feels the love coming from the finger cell and that that love is enough to awaken that heart cell. And across the great divide of time and space, the heart cell witnesses the finger cell. They see each other in a moment...across a crowded body full of cells just doing their jobs. They don't know each others' language. But they begin to play with one another. The finger cell vibrates "ta da" and the heart cell answers "ba dump". Slowly, a conversation develops.

As this communication becomes more musical, more and more cells begin to awaken within this same body. And soon, cells in the toes are making beautiful music with cells in the liver. Then cells in the kidneys compose a delightful melody with cells in the lungs and blood. Soon, the body is an orchestration of awareness and aliveness. There is a communication happening, an exchange, an honoring. What would that feel like? Can you imagine the energy, the excitement, the joy?

We humans are little cells in the much larger system of Humanity. We are even smaller cells in the system of the Earth. But if we can learn to see across time and space and our limited, known existence, we too can see other parts of ourselves for the first time. We too can begin to communicate musically with all that is, enhancing not only our own awareness but making it easier for others to awaken as well.

The practice of toning is an opportunity to communicate across time and space and left brain knowing. It is our chance to send out musical messages, vibrational greetings, to the many, many parts of ourselves of which we are only partly aware...if we are aware at all. But if we are not, toning will make us so. When we tone, we learn to listen and pay attention. And we learn to contribute uniquely, with awareness, to the greater whole. This is a communication beyond words and languages and the division that these create. It is universal.

The Psychology of Music

2010-05-30T20:46:00.003-04:00

Fantastic article on the psychology of music sites many interesting studies. It's here.

More on the Healing Power of Music

2010-05-21T07:09:00.000-04:00

Cymatics Wonders

2010-05-08T07:39:00.000-04:00

Music Heals

2010-05-01T07:24:00.001-04:00

Read how Music Helps to Heal the Injured Brain.
"The use of music in therapy for the brain has evolved rapidly as brain-imaging techniques have revealed the brain’s plasticity—its ability to change—and have identified networks that music activates. Armed with this growing knowledge, doctors and researchers are employing music to retrain the injured brain..." more

What Else Can We Sing Away?

2010-04-23T15:22:00.001-04:00

Listen to Symbols Woven with Love

2010-04-08T07:41:00.000-04:00

Give & Take

2010-03-31T09:54:00.003-04:00

This is so beautiful. Keisha is one of those rare gems. Listen to Step #4. This is exactly what I was writing about in my post about Mixed Messages.

Mixed Messages

2010-03-29T07:31:00.009-04:00

I was recently told by a psychic that I would receive clarity in a session with him. In a way, he was right. In a way. After spending an afternoon in an event he hosted, I came away with this...

I seem to be have been born with a cloaking device or scrambler in place that has made any readings, predictions, or prophecies others made about me pretty far off base, enough to give me absolutely no faith in psychics. I've also come to realize I have a personal truth gauge as well...one that I can trust. When I hear the truth, it's like every light on a string up my spine lights up. When I hear opinion, projection, or distortions of truth (my own or someone else's), my guts twist.

And I think that's part of my message. We don't need to and in fact are not generally served by investing our faith in what others tell us, teach us, or say about us. Of course, there are those rare masters, true gems, who can use words so artfully that they do no disservice to truth, rather they ground it. In any moment, Spirit provides us images, feelings, and perceptions. That experience is the truth. Our own interpretation is always less powerful if not completely distorted. So why remove our experience one step further from truth by allowing others to hook us with their stories and interpretations about us? No one can interpret our reality for us. How could they? Yet, if we give them that power, we risk losing our own message...and ourselves.

Again and again, in spiritual circles, I hear the same message. We need to change and evolve, we need to be different, free of anger, free of pain, more this, less that. I hear that we need to connect with the Divine or receive this or that blessing, experience, or teaching. I hear that true unconditional love is rare and not experienced every day. I hear that by sheer will alone we can have everything and anything we want right now, if we only do it right.

Maybe. But personally, I'm not sure I like that story. I prefer the story that says we are fine just as we are. There's nothing to change, no need to be different, and there's no way to be better than the perfection we already are. Anger is just as beautiful as joy, and there's nothing wrong with pain. There's no need to connect with what we already are; the divinity is inside, not out. Unconditional love is everywhere because it is the stuff of the dreams we live in. Breathe in and we experience it. And whatever we have or don't have, we always have what we need. If something doesn't appear in life, it is not because of some internal flaw or state of mind. There's nothing wrong with us. It's all okay. Every choice is beautiful and equal...though maybe some are more pleasurable than others.

To me, that feels SO much better, kinder, truer. Care to join me in that dream?

Music and Spirituality

2010-03-27T07:36:00.000-04:00

The Spiritual Significance of Music

"Music is a powerful tool for cultivating community and a powerful drug that allows you to reach states of ecstasy without the come-down, writes Justin St. Vincent. Music resonates within the human spirit. At the heart of humanity is a song of the soul. The spiritual significance of music can transcend communities, cultures, and creeds...more

2010-02-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

Toning for Peace on Youtube!

Consciousness & the Internet

2010-02-20T08:22:00.000-05:00

A great vision shared. All the more important for us to protect the free internet.

Internet as a Symbol of Growing Oneness

"We need to be awake to the real potential and purpose of the Internet: what it really means for humanity as a whole to be given this degree of interconnectivity. At the present time it is primarily used (and at times misused) for accessing information and communication. But it has the potential to create patterns of interrelationship that will form the network for a global consciousness and unity. The real potential of the Internet belongs to this new flow of consciousness throughout the planet..." read on

Music: Better than Sex?

2010-02-15T14:27:00.001-05:00

Great article on Music being as Enjoyable as Sex

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40990339/ns/health-behavior/

Everything is Energy--Energy is Vibration

2010-02-13T19:37:00.000-05:00

Fractals & Music

2010-02-13T12:24:00.000-05:00

Did you know you can use fractal math to compose music? Check it out!
http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_fractals_music/

For more about the potentials of fractals for healing, visit Quantum K and download the free chapter, Fractal Geometry, from the manual.

Consciousness through Music

2010-02-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

We are in challenging times. It is more important than ever to keep our attention focused in positive ways. This is an article from Visionary Music, shared here to help spread their work.

Creative Evolution through Higher Consciousness Music

(by Shapeshifter)

January 1996 – In the beginning . . . the Word. This Word was experienced as a vibration -- a sound or MUSIC. This music carried with it information for all beings to utilize and access through their physical organs of sensing. Through eons of time, this method of obtaining information was lost which created disharmony among the people of the planet Earth. They became consumed by the world of matter and gave their power to these new gods. These gods were creative in the illusions of their magic, and the sheep began to sleep -- Deeeeep Sleeeep.

The awakening time is NOW and those able to hear the Word/Vibration/Sound/Music will once again claim their birthright to emerge as the healers of the planet - the Shamans are back. We must reawaken that which was lost while we were in this deep sleep. The knowledge and information age is here and those ready and able to tune in will be the leaders of this new World -- the strong and aware will survive this transition with ease. All information is not linear, contrary to what we learned while in Sleeeep mode. Information is multi-dimensional and can be obtained through many mediums and channels finformation. All music is created through the intent (consciously or unconsciously) of the composer/musician -- music with consciousness is music that has the power to transform & inform the listener to awaken these dormant lines of communication. Along with the conscious intent of an aware listener, this power can be released and new connections to non-linear forms of information enhanced.

Planet Earth is currently in varying states of chaos, turmoil & destruction. The vibration coming from all sources connected to this current of information continues to churn out more and more of the same -- hoping to keep the masses in Deeeeeep Sleeeeep (fear). The Beings who control this energy feed off this vibration and need for it to continue in order for them to survive and prosper. Your participation in this energy gives them food and nourishment and allows them to gather more power. You become in essence - fodder.

Those who have touched the higher vibrations and have connected to the source of peace, love & harmony are the Shamans -- here now to re-awaken the rest of humanity. There are resistances against achieving and maintaining this connection, the path is layered with twists and turns - struggle and frustration. Refuse to believe in this thoughtform -- YOU have a Choice, exert your FREE WILL. In order to sustain the higher vibrations, one must clean out the dark closets of the past with conscious awareness. This process takes many years once a being awakens to first Light. It can also be very painful, as for the first time in eons you will reexperience many things with full feelings. You are not alone, there is peace on the other side - have FAITH. The commitment must be solid and sure. There is no room for un-truth and falsehood in these higher realms. The truth always rises to the top.

On the dark side, it appears much easier to exist, because they have taught you to be numb and unaware of what is really going on around you. The truth is that you are a pawn in a game in which you will never ultimately win - you are a puppet who fulfills their need for energy/food -- fodder. Get out now.

In order to stay awake, you will continually need to reinforce your connection to Light. There are so many ways offered to you in this time to do this: music, drumming circles, spiritually-focused healing sessions, massage/bodywork, books & tapes, workshops, positive, supportive focused groups, centers, etc. Support your Evolution in all that you do - All that you DO! Just DO it!

Lesson 1 -- learn to practice discernment of the teachers that you meet along the way - practice opening your feeling centers and trust your emerging intuitive abilities. The days of the gurus and false prophets are gone, the truth is within each on of you -- DISCOVER IT. All lessons do not have to be learned the hard way - Evolution is eminent, suffering is optional.

We, Shapeshifter, have come here now to share with you one of the most powerful tools you will be offered in this space/time sequence -- Cyber-Shamanic Music -- Higher Consciousness Music for the Creative Evolution of your Soul. This music is not new in the overall scope of the Universe, however, it may be new to many of you discovering the healing/transformational power of music for the first time. The secrets to its power is in the non-linear way it is presented. You are a multi-dimensional being, therefore your tools should reflect the same complexities.

The power in the music as with any spiritual discipline is in direct relation to the development of the shaman. This is the first place of discernment that you must look at when choosing any teacher that you are asking to guide your soul. It is better to stand back and observe for a while, rather than blindly jumping forth. Feel into the energy, let your inner self tell you what is right and what is wrong.

To begin to understand the hows & whys of our musical expression, we will share with you some theories that will offer some further thought.

Everything in the Universe vibrates. Everything could be measured with an oscilloscope and shown to have some degree or level of electron activity (vibration/frequency). The physical body is composed of many vibrations each with specific purposes or goals in mind. Starting at the molecular level, we experience a single molecule pulsating at its own rhythm. Similar molecules are picking up on this same rhythm and begin to vibrate at the same rate, thereby creating harmony. Pretty soon you have a group of molecules with a specific purpose in mind - say to operate the heart or stomach. Molecules are of a group soul nature, meaning that they tend to go along with the crowd. If a molecule of a different vibration enters the group and begins to convince several of the others to go along with his rhythm, the process of dis-harmony begins. What keeps these negative molecules out of power is your ability to have dominion over your energy system. This ability lies in the focused power of your mind. This example can be taken to micro and macrocosmic levels.

Cyber-Shamanic Music reconnects you to that place in your soul where peace & harmony exist and the power of LOVE is dominant, gently guiding you to remember who you are and giving you back your power to control the realities around you and within you.

History of Toning

2010-01-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

Quantum K

2010-01-20T08:28:00.003-05:00

Quantum K

Click on the link to experience the future of healing through sound, math, vibration, and faith (intent). The experience is totally FREE and completely priceless. Enjoy!

On the Power & Importance of the Breath

2010-01-16T11:20:00.001-05:00

Waves or Bubbles or Both?

2010-01-05T08:24:00.004-05:00

Thanks to my friend Matthew for sending me this article. I just opened his link, saw the bubble, and thought, now WHY on earth hasn't it been shown like this before??? What an eye opener!

http://cymascope.com/cyma_research/physics.html

It's crazy how literal we take concepts, like "soundwave," until the concept itself narrows the reality...like partial truths that skew everything. The idea of sound bubbles makes so much sense in terms of why toning with a group is so whole-bodily transforming, and for some, even levitating and teleporting.

But I have also seen the energetic tendrils of music coming out of a stereo in the dark. And those were more like dancing filaments of light. So many layers, so many dimensions! So much yet to discover!

Infrasound: An Invisible Influence

2010-01-02T19:11:00.002-05:00

Truthseekers: Sounds of Silence
A great article on the importance of infrasound, frequencies we can't hear but that affect us nonetheless.

Monsanto Equals Crimes Against Humanity

2009-12-20T14:34:00.006-05:00

Monsanto is a US company guilty of crimes against humanity...against YOU! Educate yourself.
Then share it with everyone you know. Then start visualizing a world where this kind of thing just doesn't happen anymore. Imagine a world where a corporation as large and as powerful as Monsanto starts to realize the amount of good it can actually do in this world...where fear, greed and impatience no longer rule over man. It all starts within us.

What Do You Believe In?

2009-12-16T12:41:00.003-05:00

Had a conversation with someone I just met at a dinner party the other night. He was asking me about the Toltec path, "What is the most transformative thing you learned?" I responded that don Miguel's teaching not to believe everything he said, not to believe anybody else, and not to even believe myself was the most powerful teaching of all for me.

The man I was speaking with asked me, "then do you believe in nothing at all?" Excellent question. Because if my world still exists, then there is plenty I believe in. But what the doubt is really about is choice. I went on to explain that the teaching simply helps us to question everything so we don't blindly follow others or store our faith in outdated constructs that no longer serve us. It puts everything in doubt until we can experience it for ourselves or choose it with our full awareness.

This is the artistry of the spirit: choosing what to believe in, where to place our faith. I think I also said something about the teachings helping me to live the life I want. But something about that struck me as untrue after I said it. I felt like I was coming across as some ""Secret" you too can manifest the car of your dreams" fanatic.

That got me thinking, because the work IS about living the life you want. But the thing...the car, the house, the relationship...those things aren't really what I want. I want to be happy. I want to be free of suffering. The Toltec path has helped me to live a happier life. Now that's the life I want!

Poignant & Powerful

2009-12-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

Frequency, frequency, frequency!

2009-12-10T17:14:00.001-05:00

We ARE vibrational beings.

What's Your Frequency?

2009-12-07T07:29:00.001-05:00

The Scientific Awakening to Our Vibration Nature Continues:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091120000140.htm

Maybe All You Need Isn't Love

2009-11-12T06:17:00.007-05:00

So, do you believe all you need is love?

Last night, I attended a class in intimacy for which the topic was Nonviolent Communication. The instructor, clearly, was very enthusiastic about it. As he shared it with us, he explained that not being aware of or able to express and meet our own needs is the reason for all of our problems in relating to others.

Right away, at the mention of needs, my ears pricked up having put a bit of attention on sorting that out for myself over several years. I raised my hand and asked how the founder of NVC defines needs and how he distinguishes them from wants. In our handout was a "Needs Inventory", and I was shocked to see over 50 items. Clearly, I wasn't going to be in agreement with this part of NVC.

That word "need" is a powerful little bugger with the ability to cast us into survival and worth issues, lack of fulfillment, and even comparison and resentment when our "needs" aren't being met. So, I have decided to define "need" simply as something that is necessary for my survival. Food, water, shelter and clothing, oxygen, sleep, touch, and as a dear friend so eloquently puts it, "a place to shit." These are needs. Everything else is something else.

When I shared my opinion on the matter with the group, I felt the prickly barb of the words "argue" and "philosophize" in a sentence directed toward me. You would think I was taking away everyone's hope or right to these things by offering up that maybe nuturing, beauty, harmony, and community weren't actually needs but wants. With all due respect, I wasn't dissing NVC nor the importance of these things to a happy life. I was simply posing a question about whether the model could use a slight adjustment in how it defines needs and wants. In my own experience, the confusion over needs and wants can create panic and anxiety. When we see our wants as needs, we think we have to "do" something to "get" something we "don't have". It takes us out of the moment and out of our gratitude. And it sets us up to blame, compare, and wither in our fear or wanting when we don't get it.

I even found that many of the things on the needs list in question were niether needs nor wants. We don't need love, for example. Love is what we are. It is all pervasive. If anything, we need to remember who we are. Maybe we need to feel or accept love, but we don't need love itself. The idea that we"need" love is a dangerous mental construct that separates us from what we are, creating a sense of something missing, and "need" implies it is something we will die without. Imagine the ugly duckling having died of being a duck. He wasn't even a duck! The misperception of needs opens the door to our old friends, fear of survival, despair, separation, and a whole host of other less than fun feelings (which ironically are on another class handout of what one feels when one's needs aren't met). Seems to me this way of thinking serves as a nifty tool for generating justifications to feel miserable.

Try this: Do you have food available? Do you have clean water to drink? Do you have a roof over your head? Are you clothed? Are you breathing?

If you answered yes to these questions, congratulations!!! In this moment, all of your needs are met and you are completely safe! Wow! Doesn't that feel amazing! You have everything you need! You are one fortunate human! Now, in this moment, and most likely the next and the next, you don't have to feel afraid, neglected, resentful, nervous, or frustrated! There is no immediate threat to your survival.

Granted, life seems pretty pointless and bleak without such things as companionship, self-expression, empathy, and inspiration, but that doesn't mean they are needs. We all want these things, but the truth is humans survive without them all the time. You would survive without them.

One still has to effectively identify and find ways to meet his or her wants. Our inability to do that, as my instructor said though he substituted "needs" in place of "wants", truly is a cause of much of our suffering. But let's not confuse wants and needs and subject ourselves to a highly disempowering illusion. The confusion over needs and wants creates panic in us. We think we have to "do" something to "get" something we "don't have". And it sets us up to blame, compare, and wither in our wanting...to die of being a duck.

Recognizing that our survival is truly dependent on much less than we think, we free ourselves to be immensely grateful for what is and patient with the moment. And in creating that space, life floods us with so much fufillment...effortlessly.

One Song Project

2009-11-03T17:45:00.001-05:00

"THE FOCUS for the One Song Project is to bring our awareness, presence and sonic prayers together and send them into the oceans, the rivers, the streams, into the water of our Living Planet. To send a Song of Peace, Healing & Gratitude into the Water, to the creatures of the Oceans & the Water and to remind humanity of the preciousness of all of life and to unite together in a resonance of Peace, Consciousness and Oneness."

Check it out!

http://www.onesongproject.com/index.html

Benjamin Zander on The Power of Music

2009-10-23T07:35:00.001-04:00

Julian Treasure: The 4 Ways Sound Effects Us

2009-10-20T17:10:00.002-04:00

Cymatics--Visualizing Sound

2009-10-14T11:52:00.000-04:00

Joydancer

2009-09-10T08:05:00.001-04:00

Here is yet another fantastic online Toltec wisdom resource I turn to again and again...the online community at Joydancer.com. Don Allan offers insightful articles and a series of free teleclasses that carry the sweetness of his love on the soundwaves of his voice. There is also a great video available on Living Passionately without Attachment to Outcomes.

Pathways to Happiness

2009-09-01T07:49:00.004-04:00

I want to share this site with you, Pathways to Happiness. It is the website of one of my Toltec teachers, Gary Van Warmerdam. On it he offers helpful and insightful articles and fantastic MP3's on topics such as Reasoning Your Way Out of Fear and why that doesn't really work and Fear of Love and Emotional Change which ends with what I experienced as a powerful tranmission of energy. He also offers a Program in Self Mastery to understand how we create emotions, how to become a skeptic of your own thoughts, and how to live artfully in happiness.

This is a great resource when you need a reset in your life.

The Six Healing Sounds of QiGong

2009-08-26T15:34:00.000-04:00

Whale Song

2009-08-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

What would happen if you could sing a love song for a whale?

http://www.optuswhalesong.com.au/

Blow Your Mind...Read This

2009-08-10T17:19:00.000-04:00

Rense.com article "The Holographic Universe" written by Michael Talbot.

Chanting

2009-08-03T09:53:00.002-04:00

Here is a link to a fantastic book written by Ana Hernandez called The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice. This particular page offers samples of various chants. They are very fun to harmonize with. Enjoy!

A Presentation on Listening with Jon Meuller

2009-08-01T09:58:00.001-04:00

Jon Mueller at Pecha Kucha Chicago from rhythmplex on Vimeo.

Encounters with Meher Baba Part V

2009-07-24T09:32:00.005-04:00

Earlier that day, I had visited the Lagoon Cabin where Baba used to give his interviews and such. I sat facing the chair in which he used to sit, but something remained illusive to me. I had the thought, "This isn't the view you want," and just briefly I decided to sit on the floor in front of Baba's chair facing out, taking in the room from his perspective. There was some mental chatter going on from past belief structures about not turning one's back to a master, and I couldn't, in that moment, get past that. My meditation was shallow, and I left.

Later that day, after the beach and a shower, I wasn't quite ready for dinner, so I returned to the Lagoon Cabin. This time, I sat in a chair to the side of Baba's (and it was just right) facing a large photograph of Meher Baba sitting in a chair as I was. In that way, we were mirror images of one another. And to me, it felt like we were sitting across from each other for real.

I read the prayers on the walls, thought about some of what I had read the day before, and inferiority began to arise. There were some beliefs operating about not being good enough or ever in a million years being able to measure up to this Avatar. I don't perform the miracles of Meher Baba. I don't administer to the sick and poor. I am not selfless, nor fully awakened in every moment, nor free of petty thoughts or emotions. All the ways we are different flooded me.
But the thoughts didn't cling. Like waves, they receded. I dropped the idea that I had to live my life like Baba lived his to be close to God. I dropped the concept of worth. And then I decided to say a prayer that don Miguel Ruiz taught called the Circle of Fire Prayer. In a way, I was saying to Baba, "Here is a prayer I love and how I choose to live my life to the best of my ability." It was my offering. It was, in that moment, the only treasure I felt I had.

When I got to the line "we will respect all creations as a symbol of our love communion with the one who created us", something in me popped and opened. I had a realization that the one who created the perfect being Meher Baba also created the perfect being Dielle. That One began to shine through from behind Baba's photo. I saw we were brother and sister, a projection of the same source, not master and student. We are animated by the very same source. I sat across from Baba as an equal creation in God's eyes...not a lesser one. I don't perform the miracles of Meher Baba. I don't administer to the sick and poor. I am not selfless, nor fully awakened in every moment, nor free of petty thoughts or emotions. AND I am a perfect creation.

This was the first time in my life I ever truly felt the complete absence of self-hatred. I only thought I knew what that was before this moment. I felt a wave of such deep gratitude, kinship, and peace to be me. There were two books on the table. The first was titled "Love Personified." My eyes took it in and then POP! I realized, "Oh, that's me!" The second was titled "God in Human Form". And POP! "Oh, that's me too!!!" I laughed, and I thanked Baba and exclaimed Jai Baba! to which I heard in reply Jai Dielle! And I laughed some more. And I swear, the photo of Baba grew brighter and his smile three times wider.

I floated to dinner, and the next morning I went to give my blessing to the sea. The sun was just coming up turning the waters a liquid shining silver. I prayed for all its creatures, for its protection, for its continued majesty. And I gave it my gratitude. And the waves rose gently lapping, kissing my feet.

Encounters with Meher Baba Part IV

2009-07-17T11:09:00.002-04:00

My third day at the beach, I was determined to live as completely and richly as I could. I wanted every sensation to be heightened and enjoyed to the fullest. I had so much fun swimming, walking, eating my snack and drinking fresh water from my cooler (which I had forgotten the day before). I watched crabs and gulls and little fishies. I delighted in every little thing. And when the waves got bigger, I got more bold. I swam further out than I dared, and I rode the waves back. I nearly drowned twice caught unawares by two really big ones. But I loved every minutes of it...feeling like I didn't know up or down, feeling sea water filling my nose and mouth and pouring down into my gut, gagging, wondering if I would ever see the light of day again...and then coughing and laughing at the same time as I came up wondering if I hadn't lost a limb out there somewhere, my eyes and throat stinging with salt.

That day, I realized that since the "dribbling neighbors incident", I had been wearing a smile on my face almost the entire time. I even caught myself thinking "I better tone it down! I'm gonna freak people out!" and immediately corrected that and thought, "NOT!" It was funny how much internal dialogue the smile on my face stirred. "Maybe I'm not really this happy. Maybe I'm faking it. This can't be right!" Ha! There was so much to smile about! "Wow! This is me happy! Dielle is happy!"

That evening, I had what I almost hesitate to try and write about because it was so beyond wordly description, and yet it was what felt like my whole reason for being there. Baba said, "I come not to teach but to awaken." That evening, I had my awakening.

Next: Awakening

Encounters with Meher Baba Part III

2009-07-10T10:49:00.002-04:00

After my meditation at the Meher Abode, I was scheduled to go on a tour of the center. After being in that quiet for which I longed with every atom of my being, the tour was somewhat painful. It was a large group of people, not all of which were staying at the center, and some of whom were quite bestowed with historical knowledge they felt compelled to share. There's nothing wrong with that, except all I wanted to do was go back to the silence! Somehow I endured. And when, after the longest hour and a half of my life, we were dismissed, I ran with my arms outstretched through the woods happy to be alive and free at last and "back on retreat".

I spent that afternoon at the beach swimming and enjoying how like the mind the ocean is. The waves, like thoughts, never rest. They just keep coming and coming and coming...relentlessly. Yet underneath all that, there is so much depth and mystery and blackness.

That evening, I saught refuge in the air conditioned coolness of the library reading room. Eventually, I had it all to myself and was able to read some of Baba's Discourses. Within those pages I discovered the answer to my question about Baba's sleep. He wrote that when a master "rests his body, he experiences no gap in consciousness."

Afterwards, I went into a very deep meditation feeling Baba's loving presence stir my own. It was so powerful. Heaven! Tranquility!

Next: The Ocean of Love