Thursday, February 23, 2012

Connecting the Voice and the Soul

Always, before doing any kind of deep work, it is really essential to create a beautiful and safe container for ourselves. For one little exercise in creating a safe and supportive container, refer back to my Feb. 8 post The Relationship Between the Root Chakra and the Voice. Feeling supported and connected is beautiful. Acknowledging and feeling gratitude for all that supports us in our life's journey is beautiful. To create even more beauty in your personal container, check out my previous blog and video of Dr. Emoto's work with water crystals and the vibrations of positive, healing words. Imagine filling our aura (our container) with the vibrations and crystals of LOVE and PEACE and TRUTH and JOY and COMPASSION and whatever else you desire to have in your own container. The possible combinations of colours and vibrations are endless. What colour(s) is your container at the moment? Are there other colours you would like to add?

Once we feel safe and supported and nurtured in the beauty of our container, it is nice to do a little movement meditation to connect with all 7 Chakras. That can be as simple as connecting first with the feet and simply shifting the weight from one foot to the other. As you get into the flow of that shifting weight, allow, or imagine the energy being slowly drawn up the legs, into the Root Chakra (tailbone and external genitals), then into the Sacral Chakra (pelvis), up into the Solar Plexus (above the navel), Heart (centre of the chest), Throat Chakra (centre of the Throat),Third  Eye (point between the eyebrows) and the Crown (top of head). Allow that energy within you to find its own dance as you allow your body to move with it. This is a great way to free whatever tension may be lurking in your body. It is interesting to allow this dance to just happen quietly, from inside (as opposed to following the beat of some external music). And it is good to end by drawing that energy back down from the Crown to the feet and to re-establish that sense of being grounded and supported.

And since this is about connecting Voice and Soul, it is nice to spend a few minutes breathing into the Throat Chakra and just allowing gentle sounds like humming or ahhhh... or whatever sounds the vocal cords may need or want in order  to get warmed up in preparation for this Journey into the Soul.

Then comes the really juicy moment of sitting quietly and breathing our way into deep connection with the Soul. Creating an intention of breathing into the Soul will likely help to connect you to that deeper essence of yourself. From that place, a good question to ask might be something like "What is the deepest longing or desire of my Soul?" What might that longing sound like? Imagine the energy and sound of that longing rising from the Soul, travelling through an open channel up into the Throat Chakra where it can be expressed through the Voice, through sounding. It is good to give this sounding as much time and space and freedom as it needs and wants. When it feels complete, draw that energy back into the Soul and from there, a good question to ask may be something like "What is one step I can take towards manifesting the deepest longing of my Soul."(Always good to have your journal nearby!!)

To come to completion, it is important to re-connect with the Root Chakra and the Earth. Dancing to some drumming music is an excellent and fun grounding exercise.

And by the way, I know many of us have come from many traditions that may view longings with suspicion or we may think of desire as something that wants to "lead us astray". I believe that if a longing or desire comes from the depths of the Soul, then it is a SACRED LONGING or a SACRED DESIRE. Those Soul longings and desires can actually point us in the direction of fulfillment of our life's journey or purpose. If you need more convincing or clarification, check out the link below -- another gem from Rob Brezsny and his book PRONOIA. It is well worth listening to.


soundcloud.com


Until next time,

Barbara

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Re Balancing the Chakras for More Vocal Freedom

Sacred Haven
Two blog posts back,(Relationship Between the Voice and the Root Chakra Feb. 8, 2012) I explored  the possibility and importance of creating a safe space for ourselves and our voices through some Root Chakra reflection and writing. I do believe that the first step in freeing our voices, be it for singing, vocalizing or for speaking our truth, has to be in creating a safe, nurturing, grounded, supported space for ourselves. This was part of my Jan. 28, 2012 Voice and Chakras Workshop. And we will explore more of that in the upcoming March 24 workshop.

After we created this safe and supportive space for ourselves in the  workshop, we took a  meditation/movement/sound JOURNEY THROUGH ALL OF THE SEVEN MAJOR CHKARAS. I find it helpful, as we journey through the Chakras, to bring in positive words and images to help with the re-balancing and re-energizing of the Chakras. I continue to be very inspired by the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto from Japan. He demonstrated that Water Crystals respond to the vibration of positive words like love and gratitude and joy, by developing beautiful symmetrical patterns. Those same water crystals, when "fed" negative words like hate or anger, or if they receive the vibrations of dark, discordant sounds,  would turn murky and the patterns will break up into really disturbing and chaotic non patterns. These days, with pretty much unlimited access to media, we are constantly being "fed" images and sounds of fear and anger and despair and abuse. That is the vibration that gets into our energy centres, our Chakras. And into our body's physical organs and systems. So it is not that we are trying to bock out the awful stuff (which is happening and it is important for us to be aware). By feeding images and words of strength and beauty into the Chakras and into our body's organs and systems, we are simply aiming to bring dark and light into a better balance -- for the sake of our health and for the sake of the health of our planet and its beings.

Check out this amazing video of Dr. Emoto's work with water crystals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8

Just as an interesting little exercise, I suggest 'feeding' some beautiful and loving words and/or music to some part of you or your physical body that may be feeling "out of sorts". Who knows what kind of incredible healing crystals might start to form right inside your own body?

Stay tuned for the next installment: Connecting the Voice with the Soul.


With love, beauty and truth,


Barbara.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Entertainment World Tragedy Through the "Eyes" of the Chakras

Voice is an amazing and beautiful and transformative instrument. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Voice has the power to comfort and soothe and nurture and energize. Those vocal vibrations, especially when we are chanting or singing or sounding, have tremendous power to heal and transform, both the giver (or the singer) and the receiver.

So what is happening in the Entertainment World when so many incredible vocalists and singers are being tragically struck down by addictions, abusive relationships and sometimes, all too often, meeting very tragic and untimely deaths? This question has been on my mind since my own fairly recent foray into the world of vocalizing and singing which began shortly before Michael's Jackson's death. Curiously enough I had just begun taking singing lessons with a teacher who had had vocal training with Michael Jackson's vocal coach. So I was feeling somewhat connected to that world of entertainment and amazing voices. And now, sadly, the awesome voice of Whitney Houston has been forever silenced. And Amy Winehouse. And from my younger day is the tragedy of Janis Joplin's untimely death. And how many more have struggled and continue to struggle, through horrendous addictions and abuse and mental illness and who knows what else. It is just not enough to criticize these singers for drinking or taking drugs or for falling into abusive relationships. That kind of criticism is really nasty and clearly coming from those who have no idea of the toll that kind of entertaining and vocalizing can take on a human body. Constantly being pushed to vocalize or sing at full force can blow the human nervous system right out of the water. The voice is directly connected to our nervous system. In addition to that I'm sure none of us "regular folks" can even begin to imagine the pressure that is put on these singers -- by producers, managers, advertisers and yes -- even by us, or maybe most especially by us (the audience) to keep producing more and better. How must it be to, night after night, tour after tour, album after album, have to try and satisfy an insatiable audience?And insatiable managers and producers? Or, in Michael Jackson's case (and I'm sure many others) to have to try and satisfy an insatiable and demanding father?

Adding that stress on top of the kind of emotional or spiritual, or maybe even physical woundedness that many of these folks have suffered in their young lives, how else could they cope, except by falling into addictions or other kinds of self destructive behaviours?



Through the "Eyes" of the Chakras

And now, back to my favorite topic -- Chakras and the Voice. Looking at the Entertainment World's destruction of human lives from the "eyes" of the Chakras -- here is my theory!!

According to ancient yogic philosophy, we all have an immense spiritual energy coiled up in our Root or Base Chakra (see my previous blog post). That energy is called the Kundalini and it is related to our Creative force and  our Life Force. Awakening our Consciousness (or our journey into Enlightenment or Higher Consciousness) involves drawing that Kundalini energy from the Root Chakra, up through the whole Chakra system - one Chakra at a time until it reaches up into the Crown Chakra. That journey through the Chakras can be an exciting, dynamic, creative, inspirational and sometimes euphoric process. However,  in order to safely draw that energy up, it needs to be done slowly while we simultaneously do whatever we need to do to heal and strengthen our physical, emotional and spiritual bodies.  As the Kundalini awakens more and more, we need a nervous system that can adapt to the increasing energy that is moving through our system -- hence the development of Yoga postures way back in ancient times. The original purpose of yoga postures was to prepare the physical body's systems to handle this awakened Kundalini.

The lower three Chakras (Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus) involve our lives and our physical bodies here in this material reality. The upper three Chakras (Throat, Third Eye and Crown) takes us more into the etheric realms, or the "unseen" dimensions. The Heart is the connector between the two realities. The vibrations of the upper Chakras are very high and rapid, just as the vocal vibrations of head voice are much higher and more rapid than the deep chest voice, which connects us more to the vibrations of the lower Chakras.

When the whole Chakra system is in balance, the Kundalini energy can move easily from Root to Crown. If there is any weakness or wounding in any part of the system (as there is in most of us -- that is our human journey and challenge) the Kundalini cannot move freely. If one is constantly energizing the upper Chakras, for example, the Throat as singers do or the Crown as serious meditators do or those looking for a "spiritual high" may do, or if one simply preferes to "hang out" in the spiritual realms as an escape from the "real world" or the material issues in our lives, that Kundalini energy will be drawn up through the lower Chakras, but at great cost and possibly damage to the unprepared nervous system and the unhealed lower Chakra wounds. It is very common at this point to fall into chemical or behavioural addictions or abusive relationships. At this point, it is not a matter of choice, but a desperate need to somehow get grounded and cope with the unbalanced power of the Kundalini energy. I speak about this from first hand experience -- not as a singer obviously, but as someone who dived full force into spiritual practices like meditation and developing psychic abilities (Third Eye and Crown Chakra). I know what it is like to experience the full force of that awakened Kundalini energy without having understood the importance of developing a strong physical body and nervous system and doing the emotional healing work first or at least simultaneously. It can throw one off balance and out of touch with reality.

I believe that might be what is happening to some of these people with the amazing supervoices. They may well be unleashing powers within themselves that they are not prepared for and have no way to cope with.

After Michael Jackson's death, someone commented that his singing and his dancing and his amazing energy (from his own awakening Kundalini) was actually awakening the Earth's Kundalini as evidenced in the way that his music got hoardes of people energized and singing and dancing. What power, what amazing creativity -- but what a cost to that human being. We don't have to look very far to see the struggles and the pain of his existence.

I love the fact that, since Whitney Houston's death, I have heard comments on CBC radio like "What does this say about us as a society, that we are simply watching these people struggle and suffer and die?"

I recently attended an amazing and life changing presentation on the topic of "The Power of Self-Care in Health Care" given by Larry Nusbaum, a Toronto based Physician, Psychotherapist, Musician, Storyteller and I would add Magician and Shaman. Way too many health care providers are also succumbing to addictions, burn out, illness and even suicide because their whole focus is on taking care of others.

So now my question, or reflection is:
"How can we bring the Power of Self Care into the Entertainment World?" 


How can we help these gifted, creative, inspiring people to care for themselves so they will not have to succumb to addictions and burnout and untimely deaths? 


And one last thought....
                                 Maybe, instead of us (the audience) demanding more and more (music, entertainment, etc.) from these gifted entertainers, we could simply appreciate their talents as an inspiration to awaken and develop our own special gifts and talents.  


That's my passionate rave for tonight!!

Keep singing, keep dancing, or doing whatever you love to do!!

Barbara

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Relationship between the Voice and the Root Chakra

Root Chakra Symbol
One thing I have discovered in my current dedication to developing and freeing my voice, is the importance of feeling supported. And feeling safe. And feeling grounded and stable. All Root Chakra qualities.

(Root Chakra is the energy centre that lies at the base of the spine and connects us with our primal and animal energy. The Sanskrit name is Muladhara -- Mula meaning Root or source. Dhara meaning support, vital part. This energy centre relates to our physical and material consciousness. It is the first center to develop and open when we are infants and it is that initial experience of the infant which largely determines if the world feels like a safe place where we can count on being supported. If the infant immediately experiences that sense of safety and support, then that Root Chakra will be strong and vibrant and we will trust our instincts. If, as infants, we are not supported and needs are not met in the way that we need them to be, the Root Chakra will not be  as strong and vibrant and we may move into our adult years still feeling like we can't get what we need and that our experience of the world is not so safe.This, of course, can lead to self-esteem issues, fear of standing our ground and feeling not deserving. This, in turn can make it more challenging to "voice" our needs and desires. The ability to speak one's truth is pretty connected to how safe and supported we feel.The ability to sing can also be very connected to how safe and supported we feel.)

Recently I have been thinking a lot about those times when my voice feels free and strong and flows from the depths of my Heart and Soul. And I've been thinking a lot about those times when my voice literally "goes into hiding" despite all of my hours of dedicated vocal practice.

Safe Haven
When I am in a situation that feels safe, or if I can create a safe space or container for myself, then I feel my voice flowing from my Heart and Soul. If I am in a situation that doesn't feel comfortable or that triggers some old  childhood insecurities or fears, my voice retreats into what feels to me like "a dead zone". I don't actually know where it (my voice) is at that point. I only know that to speak from that place takes huge effort and to speak with any kind of expressiveness in my voice requires a real "push" that does not feel authentic.


So I believe that if there are vocal issues present, one might have to dive a little deeper to find and heal the "Roots" of the vocal issue. It might not be directly related to the Throat Chakra or to the Vocal Cords (although we would certainly want to also be supporting and developing the vocal cords and the Throat
Chakra in whatever way we can.)

At a workshop I offered on Jan. 28 based on an Introduction to the Chakras and Vocal Expression, I began the workshop with a little reflection and writing exercise. I offered the question of "What and who supports you in your current life's journey?" I made the suggestion that we consider not only those obvious supports, like friends, family, partner, healers etc. but that we also reflect on the not so obvious supports that are all around us. An example I gave is "My breath supports me and my life. Which means that AIR supports me. And that means that the EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE supports me. And (despite all we have done to her) MOTHER EARTH herself continues to offer me support in terms of giving me good Organic food and offering me the soothing and healing powers of nature." Etc.!!! There truly is so much support for our lives here on this planet, and in the midst of all of the current crisis that are happening around us, we can sometimes forget to honor all that supports us. It is easy to fall into those old feelings of abandonment and insecurity. I think making ourselves a Support List can help us remember and honor all that supports us and can help us shift into that more positive space of knowing and feeling that we are safe and supported. In the workshop, those who felt inspired to were encouraged to share some of what supports them. Sharing is nice way to affirm and honor, out loud, what feels supportive to us and it is a nice way to "feed each other" in terms of realizing that there may be many more supports that we hadn't even thought about.

I believe it can be really helpful to spend some time once in a while reflecting on, and offering gratitude, for all of those things and people and beings that do support us.

The more supported and safer we feel in our own being, the more the Voice can flow freely from the depths of our Heart and Soul. Speaking or singing from that authentic place inside ourselves requires trust. And trust comes from feeling safe and supported.

So I encourage you to consider that question
                         "What and who supports you on your current life journey?"


I would love to hear any thoughts you might have either as a comment or as an e-mail barbarassong@gmail.com

And a reminder to "Sing your own special song in your own special way"


Barbara