Slow Down for Sustainability of Soul and Soil

Ways to Ground Consciously from immediately attainable to long-term commitment

It feels like the same story day-in and day-out: one action bleeds into another and without much time, we are lost from our awareness.  Checking phones while eating dinner with family; responding to work emails while sitting in meditation; eating while driving; cramming in so much in one day that we have very little time to attend to our own basic needs for survival.  It is so incredibly easy to slip off the path of meaningful presence into disarray.

But really, can we be blamed?  Things are more accelerated than they have ever been here on planet earth and in multidimensionality.  It is no surprise that our footprint is off the tracks.  There is so much our nervous systems need to register in any moment within a wide array of contexts.  It is no wonder there is so much violence, confusion, anger and chaotic, misaligned energy; yet there is another way of being.  Recognize and embody your power in the collective.  Be the change.  Simplicity is key.  Take it down a notch.  Stop.  Look.  Listen.

Implementing immediately accessible to long-term sustainable strategies to slow down your mind, body, breath and heart are keys to another path.  Ultimately they will spare your peace of mind, your family and the health and wellbeing of our Planet Earth at large.

Immediately attainable:

Heartbeat meditation

Find your pulse.  Wherever you may be, you can always stop and find your heartbeat.  This is especially helpful when you find that your heart is racing; your mind is wandering with anxiety; your soul is seeking to find its grip on reality.  As a former nurse, I can confidently advise you gently rest your index and middle fingers on your carotid artery (in the groove of your neck tucked back towards your jawline by the ear) or your radial pulse if you are feeling adventurous (by the bone of your wrist on the side of your thumb).  Breathe with your pulse.  The fun part is when you feel your heartbeat begin to slow down (in the event you are indeed in tachycardia, another nod to my nursing roots).  It is a relatively quick demonstration of the direct impact you have on your whole body wellness through your centered awareness with conscious breath.  It also brings you back to awareness of the omnipresent pulse on Earth.

Walking Mindfully and Without Purpose

Walk without purpose!?  I remember the first time somebody told me that I walk with purpose and the way to “get what you want in life” is to walk with purpose.  Yes, this certainly has a valuable place.  Sometimes.  It has helped me to sneak into festivals and academically, it helped me to graduate.  It wasn’t without cost to my wellbeing overall (except for the festivals, those were 1000% worth it).  It’s the point A to point B mentality.  I remember it all-too-well while pacing the halls, completing tasks at the hospital as an RN.  I am actively in separation with my tendency to walk with purpose.  Walking with purpose prohibits true meditative connection to all of the beauty surrounding you, in my experience.  Instead of walking with need to get somewhere, let's take a walk to enjoy life.  The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh delivers such eloquent instructions on this: “When we walk like we are rushing, we print anxiety and sorrow on the Earth.  We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the Earth… Be aware of the contact between your feet and the Earth.  Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”  When we walk slowly with mindfulness, we are giving not only ourselves but our loved ones including beautiful Mother Earth a gift.

Let someone ahead of you, especially if you are feeling rushed or “don’t have the time”

You know the feeling when somebody lets you ahead in traffic or in the grocery line.  It’s a relief, a little break. It is almost touching to the heart.  It makes you feel like this person cares about your burden being a little lighter.  Maybe I am just highly sensitive, but in a world of numbers, fast-pace and priority of productivity, being given this stress reprieve, this extra 15 seconds feels like a generous gift of Spirit.  You know what’s better than receiving these gifts?  Giving them.  Next time you are feeling flustered and aggravated in traffic, extend the energy of abundance outward by affording someone else the chance at a stress-reprieve.  Let the pedestrians walk and the bikers ride.  When you live this way, you are actively developing a new way of being for the collective.  By consciously choosing to pause, breathe and extend opportunity for your fellow man, you are signaling outward that there is plenty of time and space for all to do and be where they are.  While they are merging, you may also take a deep breath and smile in your choice.  This may not come easily at first, but as you practice it will integrate into your lifestyle.  It benefits the Earth in your conservation of unnecessary fumes (from your vehicle and you) and wear and tear on your car and heart.

Sit outside and do nothing.

Sit in the woods or your yard, somewhere where there is natural beauty unfolding to witness.  There is always something to see and explore; sometimes we just need to sit a bit, listen and watch.  Here’s the catch: don’t bring a thing to do.  Leave your phone inside.  No need for books, instruments, writing or art tools.  Let yourself be and bask in each and every sipping moment as it passes.  Breathe and simply notice.  Ground with awareness of your precious surroundings and self.  Let the thoughts go wild, witness their decay.  Sitting on the Earth is bonus grounding or earthing.  You will settle in and out of presence.  Be soft and gentle with yourself.  You are living it!  You aren't doing it; you are being slow and sustained.

Longer term committed implementation:

Enjoying proper tea time

This has long been adapted in cultures internationally.  Why not the good ol’ USA?  Settling in and taking time to enjoy a proper cup (or pot) of tea is simply being.  This is an opportunity to slow down, take in with all the senses individually and unhurried, and truly feel how the tea is shifting the chemistry and waves within your body.  Incorporating tea ceremony into my daily morning routine has changed my life.  It affords the opportunity to sort out intentions for the day and also has shown me that I am capable of sitting and focusing on one task instead of living in butterfly brain.  Somehow the magic of drinking tea captivates enough to easefully settle into stillness and heightened awareness.  This offering of being still and sipping tea is a prayer of gratitude for each element involved in the process of tea brewing.  This act returns us to awareness of how deeply nourished and supported we are by all natural forces surrounding us always.  When we stop and appreciate, it breathes deeper consciousness into us and fosters the reality that we are all interconnected.  Our choices and our lives directly affect the living, breathing, natural world.  When we sit and commune with the energies of Earth through the elemental journey of Tea, we remember our responsibility to steward, protect and tend these exact energies that enliven us.  It is truly an incredible, all-encompassing synergy supporting yourself through mindful sitting and savoring with these beautiful herbs of the world while also stoking your awareness to the powerful, essential components of Earth simultaneously.

Adapting to wei wu wei philosophy

Wei wu wei is an ancient Taoist way of life meaning “effortless action” or “non-doing.”  If you are familiar with the Tao de Ching by Lao Tzu, it is one of the religious texts main premises.  It is more than possible to sit back and receive all the direction and guidance one needs without putting forth any effort.  In fact, I am sure many of you that are unknowingly on this path would agree that oftentimes trying to force any situation, whether it’s a relationship, job, living situation, whatever, it likely falls apart or does not veer in the direction hoped or desired.  How many times have you known in your gut something was not meant to work out but really “tried” for it and ultimately it disintegrated like sand between your fingers?  Wei wu wei is putting total trust into divine timing and cultivating space within for those energies to enter your life.  I can speak to my own experience: I knew nursing wasn’t my end-all be-all towards the last year of my time in the career.  Call it intuition, call it manifestation but I had received a private sound bath from my dear friend and mentor Jen who also plays the gong.  She informed me that I was the freest in my being when deeply listening to gongs.  That sparked in me the knowing it was time to invest in a Gong.  That night I went on Facebook marketplace and essentially inherited a woman’s sound business investment kit for a fraction of the cost.  I initially invested in the gong for myself.  With all of the other special instruments present now, it became clear that they were meant to be shared and not quieted on a shelf. It all aligned perfectly and through the choice of nondoing and receiving guidance.  When we continually strive (seeking is natural and healthy, in moderation) for answers and attempt to force scenarios, it requires much more energy expense than if we simply trusted, asked and sat back waiting for signs.  We use less resources and are living in alignment with higher frequencies of the universal way, which is harmonious for our home of the Earth.

Yin yoga, yoga nidra and other stillness-oriented meditations

Yin yoga is the intentional stilling of one's being in prayer of wei wu wei.  It is the allowance of space and time to enter into one’s being and field, guiding and influencing what is next.  Granting oneself opportunity to surrender and simply be is high signaling to the universe that you are thriving and also at peace ,ready for whatever is in highest alignment for you.  This may occur in the body, mind, heart and spirit.  Through this stillness, we learn to embrace the varying discomforts and aches that may arise in mind and body and greet them with compassion and loving kindness.  By slowing down and attending to our physical, emotional and energetic needs, we are optimizing our wellness and therefore reducing stress and risk for stress-related dis-ease.  This enhances the world around us and healthy balance within our relations.  Yoga nidra, or yogic sleep, is deeply restful to one’s whole being and liberates subconscious patterning.  The creation of a sankulpa, or simple positive statement of resolution, at the beginning of practice is meant to seep into one’s depths throughout the course of the yoga nidra journey and become a part of the receiver in the long-term.  For example, if you are seeking peace and state as a sankalpa “My mind is at peace,” your subconscious is infusing your being with the knowing that you are at peace.  By cultivating deep awareness to subconscious patterns and upending them through thoughtful and specific intention setting, you are taking the reigns on your health and wellbeing.  These stillness-oriented mindfulness practices remind us we are whole and we are in control from the Spirit to the body.

Routine gongbaths and soundbaths, but mostly gong baths

If you have ever had the blissful experience of a sound immersion, you will likely remember how time feels so much quicker (or even slower) than “real time.”  There is something to be said about the elongation of time specifically as a gong player and also as a receiver of a gongbath.  I recently took part in a 10-day (all day) gong immersion.  Returning home after this experience, I noticed myself innately slowing down with my decision process.  I began questioning my previously hurried steps.  I then started giving myself the space needed to live a life centered in nondoing as well as completing tasks with total presence and mindfulness.  This speaks volumes to the deeply lasting impacts of submerging oneself in the sound waves of the gong.  It lasts to this day and my deep listening only continues.  Sound immersion and gong baths align and refine our beings to the cosmic and natural way.  It “simply” attunes us to clarity, peace and general slowing for sustainability as this is a high conscious way of functioning in a world at a restoration point.  Sound more readily takes us to that in-between space (the point between rest and sleep) sometimes reemerging, not knowing where we went and also feeIing reborn from the start of the session.  Incorporating sound immersion and gong baths into your wellness routine is an incredible long-term commitment for tending to your nervous system, stress management and overall being behaving in mindfulness on this planet.

Live Life in Cruise Control.

Living in moderation, void of extremes (as much as possible) allows for reduced wear and tear on all layers of your being. 

At the end of the day, you are an autonomous agent of change for the greatest good of all beings.  When you choose to pause, replenish your cup and feel joy, you are directly shifting the paradigm on Earth to a place of sustainability and restoration.

Returning to Radiance retreat Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica February 1-7, 2023: The Back Story

*All bold text are links

It all came to me in a dream.  Truly.  The rosebud of Returning to Radiance was fruited from a dream I had about a dear friend, Katie.  She was sitting on her heels over white sand by a pristine blue ocean.  The beach was surrounded with slope-y, feminine feeling sculptures reminiscent to some set design of Stanley Kubrick.  Katie was silently summoning a divinely-guided group for a retreat there.  Her radiance was emanating outward to those intended to arrive and pulling inward to her own heart.  It was a beautiful magnetism to watch and witness.  Like ebb and flow of the ocean waves surrounding her.  For some back story, Katie also lived in Costa Rica for two months last winter.  In the dream, it was promised and felt the arrival of these folks in whatever forms but I awoke before it happened.  That aspect seemed to want to manifest all on its own in waking reality.

I naturally contacted Katie to tell her about the dream and in my sharing what may seem to be an obvious a-ha came to the forefront of my mind.  I asked if she wanted to collaborate on co-creating retreat by the sea.  Through various discussions we landed on the intent to bring people back to their true selves.  The idea is to shed the day-to-day roles and expectations that our fabricated realities can entrap us.  In this special window of time, we will live in mindful interconnection with the elements while also enjoying a good surf, smoothie and heat from the radiant tropical sun.  

Katie and I met for coffee to discuss further and she mentioned her good friend and collaborator with whom she had just finished another retreat in Vermont.  She asked if she could be included.  It felt like a positive line-up so we all went for it.  And it truly is!  Amber is wonderful at keeping on-task and organization, the type of thing my mind innately avoids.  She has a sweet spirit. I am very confident and excited about what we will alchemize together as a group of three (Jen who plays the Gong with Align Retreat).  Now we are all in process of polishing off the loving details for the itinerary of our first retreat together!  Returning to Radiance is born.

This is my fourth time hosting a retreat and first international location.  Costa Rica is also the first country I visited outside of the United States and Canada!  Now I have about twelve under my belt, but zip lining the cloud forests in Costa Rica is the first in my travel book.  One of the elements to this particular retreat that I am most excited about is the setting: Vida Asana yoga retreat center (where we will be lodging and enjoy organic gourmet meals) is a 5 minute bike ride (available gratis on-site) to the beach!  Not just any beach, but it is one of the few areas of the world that the ocean and the Jungle meet.  Magic!  Also very potent is that Returning to Radiance will build up to a cacao-infused, heart-centered dance under the full moon then we will take the rest of the retreat to integrate with peaceful offerings such as yoga nidra and journaling into our subconscious.  We will shed our layers of expectations and allow ourselves to be free under the luminescence of the moon together!  Every aspect of this retreat is so thoughtfully tailored to the cycles of the season and to the moment.

What is so special is that Returning to Radiance begins on February 1, which is known as Imbolc in ancient Celtic tradition. Imbolc is the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.  I've seen it translated from Old Irish meaning “to cleanse or wash oneself” and also as “”in the belly of the Mother,” referring to the seeds of spring rooting and beginning to stir in the Earth.  The intent is that you will identify and plant your seeds for this solar cycle while together in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.  We will take the time to further distill what you intend to sow through mindful practices including daily movement and stillness-based yoga, sound transmissions, special ceremonies and subconscious journaling.  Even though Imbolc is clearly taking place more prominently in the northern hemisphere during February, it is pertinent relative to all in the world given the placement of the Earth in relation to the Sun.  For example, in the southern hemisphere this is Beltaine or May day!  The beginning of seeing seedlings beginning to flower and fruit!  We are taking in the indigenous traditions of Costa Rica to honor the people and land.  There will be an option for a Temezcal traditional sweat lodge which will be facilitated by an indigenous person.  We will also be participating in ever-loving cacao meditation.  Exploration of the lands will be done in a mindful, honorable way as well.  Vida Asana Yoga retreat center where we are staying is heavily eco-conscious with compost and recycling prevalent on-site to respect the surrounding lands.  

Taking into consideration many of the retreatants are arriving from the chilly northern hemisphere, time for reflection and relaxation in the sun will be optimized!  We are allowing total flexibility with how one wishes to curate the days at Returning to Radiance.  We want everybody to enjoy and explore Costa Rica to their individual depth and degree of interest with the guidance of this safe, eco-conscious resort we have chosen.  Everything is ultimately optional so skip out on a yoga session if you would rather swim in the pool or be by the ocean or just need some space to rest!  A typical day will vary greatly and be largely the decision of each person.  A sample day for someone looking to relax and rejuvenate themselves could include breakfast, morning yoga, taking a bike ride to the beach for the late morning, returning for lunch, enjoying a complimentary mud mask, dinner then evening yoga, sound meditation and subconscious journaling.  A sample day for someone looking to adventure and explore the depths of Costa Rica could include breakfast, morning yoga, surfing lessons, lunch, hike at Nayaca waterfalls, dinner, evening yoga and programming.  One can mix and match their days to their liking!  That is the point of a destination retreat: enjoy the surrounding area and unique part of the world to one’s comfort level while also receiving a total boost to one’s wellbeing through nourishing healthy meals, mindful movement and reflection practices, sound immersion and earthy connection.

As someone that has traveled to different countries on retreat (Costa Rica and India!) I found it to be a very user-friendly crash course to international travel while not feeling like a fish-out-of-water.  Being a single person at the time, I explored with old or new friends and had some of the most beautiful experiences on unexpected excursions.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the grounding aspect of lodging being covered, participating in a yoga class at the beginning and/or end of the day and of course not having to think at all about the food.  Being able to optimize my wellbeing through nourishing meals and daily mindful movement helped me to root and connect when traveling can be easily disorienting, especially when it is out of your home country.  It was my beginnings to traveling internationally solo.  If you are someone looking to learn how to travel internationally, this was my stepping stone and I would highly recommend it as one for you!  When I went to Costa Rica, I went with a friend to a retreat center of which we knew through our home yoga studio.  It was as familiar, safe and worry-free an experience as possible.  When I went to India with an organized tour, I ventured off with a seasoned traveler and learned a lot through being with her on our own adventures.  Returning to Radiance will afford you the opportunity to take a variety of excursions and likely meet a friend along the way if you are intended to travel solo and looking to expand your horizons!

A few married and long-term couples have already registered for Returning to Radiance.  What a beautiful opportunity to reconnect outside of the daily grind and routine!  There is something to be said about bonding over the thrill of adventure or peace of respite together.  We have added a deal for a couple of people, whether together or platonic, seeking a private room with one bed to share: one person registers as private accommodation while the other registers as shared.  This allows for a price break while also providing sweet private sanctuary!

Needless to say, the three of us are very excited to co-create this luxurious, fun and restful retreat experience for anybody looking to hard stop, unplug and have some space from their daily life to reflect upon what is to come in this year’s cycle.  All while receiving a total reboot to your whole being.  The timing couldn’t be more perfect!  Early bird special ends on December 1, 2022.  Reserve your sliver of peaceful relief and freedom in a time of non-stop notifications and stress!  You deserve a restful pause from your day-to-day.

Medicine of Non-Doing

The origins of the word “Medicine” are stemmed from Latin verb “mederi” meaning to heal.  The word heal, in my estimation, is outdated and insinuates something is not already whole, but that is another blog post subject altogether :).When looking from this original definition, medicine can apply to well beyond that found within the Western medical model.  Medicine could be a long walk in the woods, a hug from a loved one, petting your dog or enjoying a cup of tea.  Non-doing is the art of being and receiving with minimal output or effort.  This is most commonly seen in the Tao, or Universal Way, with the Chinese concept of “wei wu wei” or effortless action, inaction, inertion.  It is the idea of letting things come to you, not forcing things into place through your will.  This entire way of living is devoted to being and non-doing.  The statement “Medicine of Non-doing” is speaking to the inexhaustible gift of restoring within through simply being and receiving without any outward effort.  Here I will share the innumerable benefits of this potent combination particularly in application with Sound.

We live in a society of noise.  Do this; you’ve received a new notification; check that off the list; billboards.  It  goes on and on and on.  We are constantly on the go, but never reaching an end.  A frenzied rat race on steroids is what the 21st century in America is presenting overall.  People sleep with the television on.  No judgment, just examining how all night long one receives a slanted narrative of commercials, news, whatever the main program is representing.  How could one truly awaken refreshed?  Now what is the alternative…

Living simply and slowly with intention is an example of sustainability for self, all and planet.  Come what may, as they say, minimizing resistance to what is meant to be.  When we step into this way of being, we receive and are open to all possibilities.  Most importantly, we effortlessly tend to our whole being.  Medicine of non-doing is a conscious lifestyle as much as it is a choice for highest wellness.  How does this apply within the confines of science?

As a society, with said noise, we are operating on fight-or-flight response overload.  Every notification, ad, traffic jam, heated argument, meeting, etc. is a trigger for stress or a release of the hormone cortisol.  As beings living on this beautiful planet Earth, we are meant to exist in the Rest and Digest, or parasympathetic, mode innately and Fight or Flight, or sympathetic, mode secondarily.  Waking to an alarm is an immediate sendoff into the direction of one versus the other.  All of this release of Cortisol in each instance of perceived Stress (remember this term: perceived stress) creates an accumulated buildup when not addressed with rebalancing measures.  Chronic, unmanaged stress (alongside non-mindful lifestyle choices) creates chronic inflammation or heat within the body.  Chronic inflammation leads to the many prominent diseases within American culture: heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer, obesity and so much more.  To manage your stress is to manage your life and wellbeing.  This is just focusing on the nervous system within our 11 body systems.  How is medicine of non-doing the antidote to all of this?

Receiving whole and complete, coherent, non-chaotic input and reducing personal output is a surefire way of reducing stress load and also opening towards restoration within all levels of being.  It is the very definition of medicine in non-doing.  This receiving therefore decreases our chronic inflammation and possibility for any host of self-inflicted dis-eases.   There are many ways in which one may experience this replenishment to their core.  The number one is through general pause or break from the continuum of noise.  The primary equation of restoration requires the Ss of stillness, space, safe sense, silence and/or intentional sound.  It is imperative that one receives these energetic transmissions or finds rest in an environment that is safe, comfortable and warm to them.  We will primarily focus on the modality of Sound.

As a specific example of rest and relaxation that Jen who plays the Gong offers, Yin yoga is a discipline that focuses on holding poses for a prolonged period of time with intent to lengthen connective tissue, improve mobility and calm the nervous system.  Consciously choosing a state of stillness for an hour is a very foreign experience within our over-paced, productivity-driven society.  It is either the quickest, most blissful or longest, most hellish hour depending on your state of being.  Irrespective to anything else, it is incredibly rebalancing to our “Go”-oriented society.  It eventually activates Rest and Digest mode in all yogis consciously choosing to be in each pose.  Yin yoga coupled with sound immersion gives one the sense of ethereal embodiment.  One is completely connected to their physical bodily experience on account of the deep stretching while also being given a reprieve from the mental and emotional bodies with having the sound as somewhere to inhabit.  This is just the beginning of the light that sound brings to our typically clouded minds.

A well-intentioned and orchestrated soundbath affords a multitude of benefits for all layers of the recipient which acts as medicine in non-doing.  The benefits are innumerable, multidimensional, subtle and gross as well as immediate, profound, low in side effects and effective.  At the very least, it invites any recipient a deeper sense of relaxation in activation of parasympathetic nervous system.  It can and easily does move far beyond into the realms of satisfying sleep and peaceful dream states, further resting and digesting.  Clarity, calm, diminished anxiety and improved moods are common byproducts for the mental body.  Sound can bring about feelings of empowerment and decisiveness within the individual.  The vibrational path opens energetic space within our psyche and spirit for more possibility while diminishing self-doubt and connecting us to higher consciousness and ways of being, effortlessly and without thought.  Remembering the phrase from earlier: sound immersion increases our threshold for perceived stress (meaning we are able to tolerate much more before even releasing cortisol).  Using sound for rest and relaxation by default reduces stress AND reduces our stress response.  It is therefore a proactive form of holistic wellness and a preventative for stress-related disorders as above mentioned.  It is magic and science.  The specific examples, signs and symptoms and populations this reaches are far and beyond this article but this is the gist of my experience as a receiver and provider of sound at its purest.

What is my credentialing in all of this?  My name is Jen, the Jen who plays the Gong.  I worked in the nursing field for over 10 years, 6 of which as a registered nurse, half of the time in long term care and the other half in acute care before my resignation at the end of 2021.  Anatomy and Physiology was one of my favorite, most retained subjects which translates so well to this subject matter, particularly the knowledge on sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous systems.  Through my nursing practice, I grew accustomed to energetically tending to the needs of humans, many of whom could not speak for themselves for a variety of reasons.  Bedside manner has become this incredibly detective and refining tool of what REALLY does this person need on any of our complicated levels.  This easily translates into my role as sound practitioner, yoga instructor and any social situation in being aware of energetics.  Not to mention witnessing the state of the healthcare institutions at which I was employed.  To no one person's fault, they are terribly sterile and killing to the human spirit.  This is why I routinely mention safe, warm, comfortable environment.  How can one sleep with the TV on or also call bells, beeping machines, medical staff talking loudly to keep themselves awake?  

I have also been a registered yoga teacher for a decade, especially attuned to the depths of yin.  This yogic world offered me space to deep dive into the gamut of spiritual offerings including soundbaths.  My first sound immersion experience was a 2 hour, blindfolded offering with a room filled with gongs.  That was the beginning of a deep exploration within my own sensitive soul and the spirit world.  In hindsight these offerings tending to the Spirit were the perfect parallel to my western nursing reality.  It was also my first exposure to medicine in non-doing.  In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Kimmerer suggests in so many words that science is void of Spirit and that is the biggest disservice.  That is how it feels with the Western Medical model and why I was obligated to resign from it and enter into the world of sound and proactive holistic healthcare.  

How is Jen who plays the Gong further incorporating the medicine of non-doing?  Of course there are the mainstay offerings of private soundbaths for individuals and groups plus public gatherings centered around sound immersion with or without yin yoga and so on.  Given the current chaotic climate of the world plus my nursing background, I have decided to hone in on selectively collaborating with wholesome, genuine and exemplary holistic health practitioners.  This means I am offering sound in pairing with a host of other profound and powerful modalities that are stilling by nature for the recipient.  Examples include community acupuncture and soundbath; reiki and sound immersion; soundbaths in conjunction with talk therapy;  biodynamic craniosacral therapy while receiving sound; massage of all kinds and soundbaths, etc.  The beauty of sound is that it can pair with virtually anything since it is pure and emanating vibration yet effortless to receive and process by the individual.  A list of these current and former collaborators may be found here on my website.  It is a subject and offering of which I feel most passionate in terms of impacting outcomes, given the current state of our Western healthcare system.

There are many ways to optimize your own wellbeing with medicine of non-doing within the context of Jen who plays the Gong’s offerings.  You may schedule your own sonic plunge private soundbath immersion, private party of ceremonial sound or register for a public gathering coupled with any modality mentioned above.  In the 21st century of screens and never-ending deadlines, we owe it to ourselves to pause, be still, release and restore from within.  This is the Gift in routinely choosing Medicine of Non-doing.  May you choose to be free from rampant stress and suffering.