How did you get into this? A detailed answer of my personal synchronistic Journey with Sound
So often after someone’s first session, they ask what sounded like wind, rain or the ocean (sea drum from Meinl!) then they also often tend to ask, “How did you get into this? How did you get started?” It is a fairly lengthy, beautiful, mystical and (in my opinion) destined story that I will break into a series of writings. Firstly, how I got into this and secondly how I got started and thirdly will be chosen by the wind! Spirit deserves the justice of having it all spelled out as she has spelled it all out for me.
It all began a decade ago. My dad’s co-worker, knowing my openness to spirituality, had invited me to a 2-hour blind-folded gong bath in a tight acoustical space filled with with these portals in all sizes. A certain Mitch Nur ((Remember this name!)), world-renowned + (amazingly) local ethnomusicologist was leading this event. I ecstatically accepted the invitation and so it all began. That experience alone ripped my conceptual reality and consciousness to depths beyond measure and immediate understanding. It had to unfold and so it did.
My next exposure to the potency of Sound was during a Tibetan Buddhist monk invocation chant for one of their sand mandala creations. This troupe of monks came from His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV monastery outside Tibet known as Drepung Gomang Monastery in Northern India. They would tour, sell their wares and primarily create before your eyes an intricate, elaborate and stunning mandala, or visual representation of a facet within a Tibetan universe, from memory. Mind-blowing. When they were finished, they would ceremoniously destroy the sand mandala, distribute the sand among the people and take the rest to a flowing stream with prayers of peace for all. Such a powerful statement and prayer of impermanence. The monks would chant before beginning or starting a new day with their creation. I was following this certain troupe all over Pennsylvania for half of a year. One night in Bucks County, I attended an event where they chanted for 45 minutes. Giving you a snapshot of my life: I was in a sad-excuse-of-a-relationship, totally sifting between my fingers like sand itself and beginning my life as a new nurse, which is very much a floundering experience of toxic feelings of doubt and incompetence. It was a rough patch! I was hollowed out and open, ready for any sort of this spirit medicine and wisdom to absorb and penetrate my core. After receiving this, relatively, brief interval of full-fledged guttural chanting and instrumentation, I remember driving to my parents house (I was on my own by then) and sobbing uncontrollably in their arms for at least that same amount of time. Their prayers, medicine and magic in Tibetan tongue had seeped well into my marrow and re-circuited my energy, purging of the unnecessary, letting go of all of the grief, pain and suffering I was harboring within. Needless to say, the relationship and (eventually) my nursing career both fell apart in exchange for living a much more meaningful, authentic life. What a tremendous blessing it has been. It is, obviously, unforgettable how cathartic this experience was for me on all levels and “only from” the collective human voice with divine intention. I am FOREVER grateful to the Tibetan Buddhist monks for so many reasons, which would require another blog alone to give my due respects to their high offerings.
The last experience, which began in a similar timeframe, is ongoing to the present. A dear friend of mine, whom I met through the yoga studio that first hosted and introduced me to these monks, was also trained by this Mitch Nur to facilitate sound therapy. When I was in nursing, I began receiving monthly private soundbath sessions to deeply relieve stress, optimize my energy levels, improve sleep and overall tend to my wellbeing. Effortless peace, calm, diminished anxiety and more were mine for weeks after! Truly the greatest gift and holistic healthcare modality as antidote for the absurd demands on modern nursing. By this point in my life (my early-to-mid-twenties) as a yearly committed camper of Philadelphia Folk Fest and general lover of music, I had been to so many enchanting, enlivening and invigorating shows and never put together why I felt so good the next day! It never dawned on me how seriously potent and beneficial the INTENTIONAL vibrations of these shows (and my friend’s magical sessions) were to the spiritual, mental, emotional and even physical level. There was something to this modality of sound therapy that really held me together in my monthly routines. The unconditional love and spirited intention felt from my friend was an integral piece of this, which is why it is so important to discern with whom you open your energy and again, that is another blog altogether.
These moments, as humbly as I can verbally depict them as a Spirit-devoted human, are how I got into this. How I got started is a whole other exquisite tapestry, evidenced and informed by the divine inspiration and love of Spirit. That will be my actual next blog post. Thank you for your interest and investing time into reading about what opened me to the power of Sound.
