Here is Kirk doing something he calls ” The Easy” It’s his own creation.

Now, Check out this video of my version of “The Easy”

 It’s all building the energy from the inside.

It’s how I rev myself up to sing or do anything.

September was a very full month in that Kirk and I spent some time in Greece on the island of Amorgos in a Vocal Odyssey Retreat led by singer/songwriter Nessi Gomes and her partner Lino Hermesh. (Click here for Nessi’s online Vocal Odyssey weekend which I highly recommend)

Have you ever had that experience  in life where you know you have to do something even if you do not know exactly why?  This was one of those things in life that was beckoning my participation without exactly knowing the depths of discovery that it would offer. It was kind of like my calling to plant medicine years ago.  I will be processing and unpacking this experience for quite some time.

As a little girl, I developed polyps on my vocal cords and was not allowed to speak for over a month in second grade. Can you imagine an 8 year old not allowed to speak? Whatever our experiences are as young children, we develop a relationship with our voice and to what degree it serves our creative expression.  So many of us are stifling, repressing, suppressing, judging, or over compensating due to the conditionings of the past. Our breath and voice, forever entwined, offers such an enriching, elevated and expanding perspective of ourselves. To simply begin to free up more heart felt expression.

If you can breathe, you can sing!
If you are singing, you are breathing bigger breaths!
If you are breathing bigger breaths, you are more embodied.
If you are fully embodied, you are in Presence!

My intention was to bring sound to my breath. It’s really quite a thing to unleash our voice by surrendering to the depths of our souls. It leaves the idea of how it sounds in the wind.   It’s an invitation to soften around old ideas, judgments and know that we can all expand our capacity to breathe deeply, sing soulfully and laugh loudly.  It took me quite a bit to muster up the strength to allow my voice to be heard, to be improvisational, unplanned and allow whatever wanted to come out, however it would sound. I was my biggest critic…aren’t we all?  I will say though, I felt infinitely more connected to myself having done so.

I continue to be a student procuring my inner delight especially when I am not really “good enough” at something and learning I AM STILL OK.

What are you NOT very good at or did NOT do very well at but still offer yourself the gift of love and shower yourself in playful acceptance.

Sometimes the teaching can be that I (we) are ok despite taking ourselves seriously and the momentary inability to find the fun in a “thing”. It’s all good!!

So now, I sing. I make sounds regardless of the how imperfect my pitch might be. Sometimes they sound sweet to me and sometimes they sound like grinding gears but I am acquainting myself with one of the most intimate parts of my soul. Starting out in silence with a big smile helps to rev up my engines….then humming….then play a song and sing along….then improvisational which is the most challenging for me. I am  creating space and giving more permission to be present with more of me!

                                                                         Click on the pic and Sing along.

MINDFULNESS PRACTICE

Find a simple song. Hum along to it or  Sing along with it and do it the whole day long.