Nature’s Chorus

Before dawn the forest erupts in sound. With a half opened eye I ask ‘why’? 

Because it is the perfect time to sing. There is less background noise and the air is so still, sound carries around 20 times further than it would later in the day. This is important if you are looking for a mate or protecting your territory.  Some scientists believe that the high frequencies of bird songs stimulate the stomata on leaves to open wider allowing for a greater exchange of air, water and nutrients leading to faster growth.

Birds only sing when there are no predators.  When they sense danger, they fall silent. As humans evolved we subconsciously to relate bird songs with safety.  This is why we feel relaxed and at peace when we hear it.  Spiritually birds are totems for fresh beginnings and it is believed that their songs are a sign the universe is working to answer your prayers.

 Ok. It's possible that birds may sing just for the joy of it.  Kyo Maclear
A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. Chinese Proverb
This week I invite you to open your windows and listen to the sounds of nature before dawn and if you like, join in to. sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0hvfn-nkz0&ab_channel=WISDOMMUSIC

 I want to sing like birds sing, not worrying who listens or what they think. - Rumi
Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.- Henry Van Dyke

Wishes do come true.

Wishes do come true. Walt Disney

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of playing, traveling and hosting. Events included opening and playing at the Healing Arts Festival at the Regala Hotel in HK to closing the incredible At One International Forum and Festival at the Sangha Retreat in Suzhou. A particular highlight was sharing a stage at the grand finale with the unforgettable classical guitarist Estas Tonne.

The diversity of offerings and superb organisation created a sense of community dedicated to taking the world into the future paradigm shift through collaboration, community and a shared consciousness.  A special thank you to my three amigos - Makin, Lear and Dylan as well as Fred, Esther, Kevin and the entire team at Octave.

Jens Zygar visiting from Germany led a week of experiential integral gong techniques with a group of enthusiastic cosmic octave voyagers. He shared his vast knowledge of gongs, sound, percussion and performance.  Everyone left feeling their skills had been enriched on all levels and look forward to seeing him again.

I am off to Bangkok this weekend to present to the senior management team of a major hotel group.  There is no doubt that gongs, sound and the raising of energy is catching the eyes and ears of key decision makers.  I live for the hope that they will embrace this technology and help popularise their use so that one day everyone in the world will have access to their transformative power thereby fulfilling the aspirations of all of us in the movie 'wealljustneedtogong' . Thank you to all that have helped me on the gong journey thus far.

4’33”

In my work, silence gives birth to all sound. We use silence judiciously in our performances as a transition, as a pregnant pause that draws listeners in, allowing integration, transformation and deep listening.  

Silence I discover is something you can actually hear. Haruki Murakami
It is defined as the absence of intentional sound. However researchers at John Hopkins have discovered that even during periods of 'silence' during a musical composition, the auditory cortex was still stimulated.  (watch here) Simply imagine a pause in a thriller movie soundtrack - you are held in suspended animated anticipation. 

Immersing yourself in a sensory deprivation chamber you will quickly hear two distinct sounds - the high pitched noise of your sensory system and the deep note of your circulatory system.  Thus we can never experience complete and absolute silence.

Yet, Silence is essential. We all need silence, just as much as we need air, just as much as plants need light.  Thich Nhat Hanh 

The only other style of music that attempts to go to the deeper place of  silence is the music of the New Age. John Michael Talbot

Regarded as 'noise music', the ambient random noises of the audience make each performance unique.  Cage was asked to explain the composition and said that unimpededness as "seeing that in all of space each thing and each human being is at the center", and interpenetration as  each one of the (things and humans at the center) is moving out in all directions penetrating and being penetrated by every other one no matter what the time or what the space", concluding that "each and every thing in all of time and space is related to each and every other thing in all of time and space".

We experience this in every gong bath. And remember in the Universal Peace Greeting 
We are one, let us work together.

Ostara

The sky is clear, the breeze is light, Nothing ever seems impossible in spring, you know. L.M. Montgomery
Spring is the time of plans and projects. Leo Tolstoy, of possibilities and new beginnings.
Audrey Hepburn said to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow. 
Begin with a seed.
Happiness held is the seed.
And play it forward.
Happiness shared is the flower. John Harrigan
Happy first day of spring.

Today we celebrate the spring equinox, when day equals night. The ancients called it Ostara honouring the warmth and light of the sun awakening mother earth.  Balance, renewal and rebirth were symbolised by spring flowers, butterflies, rabbits and eggs.

Nine Years On

Red Doors was born in the year of the sheep nine years ago.  In numerology 9 symbolises transformation and completion or the conclusion of one phase to pave the way for the next.  New adventures, risk-taking and connections typify this digit. According to Hans Decoz the number 9 suggests selfless love, global consciousness, and harmony.
 
After 9 comes 1, coincidentally our birth date, March 17, 2015 reduces to 1 as well. One refers to a powerful force that produces results through leadership, independence, and individuality.  All traits that have served me well over the years turning ideas into reality, navigating obstacles with single minded determination endued with the simple philosophy of serving others.
 
Our anniversary this Sunday reduces to the single digit 2.  Two radiates the breadth and offerings through collaborations, exchanges and trainings.  On that note we are pleased to announce the upcoming visit of Jens Zygar, musician, sound healer, gong maestro and proponent of Integral Sound. This is his first visit since 2019 and we are delighted he will be back sharing his expertise, wisdom and skills with us. Details below.

On reflection, I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities. Whoopi Goldberg
The past nine years are filled with memories of people, awards, recognition, travel and experiences.  I am forever grateful for the talent and time of those who supported my initiatives thus far.  

Looking forward -
The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious. John Sculley
If you embrace that the things that you can do are limitless, you can put your ding in the universe. You can change the world. Tim Cook
And with your help I aspire to do just that.

World Sound Healing Day (Feb 14)

Sound is the medicine of the future - Edgar Cayce

Sound healing is ancient. Didgeridoos have been used for 40,000 years by the indigenous Australians. Pythagoras is credited with a structured approach using specific melodies to address psychological ailments. In Greece, Egypt, and India they introduced singing bowls, chanting, and tuning forks to promote a harmonious environment for the body to heal itself. 

The magic of “musical medicine’ will come into its own. The application of such healing potencies will not be limited just to man’s body and mind. It will be an agency for building and healing his soul as well. Corinne Heline
 
The counterculture movement of the 1960s and 70s laid the foundation for the modern sound bath creating immersive experiences to transport participants into a meditative state. Don Conreaux, my inspiration and teacher, is credited with hosting the first sound bath in San Francisco in 1975.

Music can minister to minds diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain, and with its sweet oblivious antidote, cleanse the full bosom of all perilous stuff that weighs upon the heart. William Shakespeare

Last week students gathered from the Netherlands, India, Singapore, Macau and HK to learn, to share, laugh, and grow. On the final day of level 2 (playing for others) students had the rare opportunity to merge modalities to experience the ultimate gong bath. What a gift to give and receive selflessly, a truly memorable and transformative experience for players and receivers. The capable graduates are now empowered to go forth and share their skills with others.

One day he will recognise music as a vital factor in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual evolution of the whole human race. Corinne Heline

Eventually, musical therapists will compose prescriptions after the manner of a pharmacist. Dr. Ira Altschuler

As sound practitioners we take heed in wisdom from Mahatma Gandhi - we are the change we wish to see in the world. 

Destim

As the eve of Chinese New Year approaches there is a perceptible quickening in footsteps, of last minute grocery shopping and crowds thronging to the flower markets in the anticipation of finding a bargain.  The heightened sense of excitement and expectation forms a perceptible buzz.  Sometimes it's overwhelming. Time for a destim.

Destim - slang first used in 2005 means to calm down by avoiding overwhelming stimuli. What better way than to escape the bustle and join us for a gong relaxation. Let the sound of the gongs bathe you in their powerful harmonics, release tension with their overtones, leaving you at peace, ready and receptive for New Year's Eve and the predicted prosperity of year of the dragon. You have two opportunities both tonight and new moon tomorrow night to float into the new year with the gongs.

As we bid goodbye to year of the tiger we turn our sights towards the lucky dragon. Typically characterised by its energy and dynamism this dragon portends prosperity on all levels. I invite you to take a moment, express gratitude for your journey thus far, for the people, opportunities, experiences that have led you to this place here and now.  Then turn to the future with a peaceful heart and mind, receptive to the all blessings that will flow your way.

Best wishes for a peaceful, prosperous and healthy new year. Go well, be well and get gonged. 

Martha

Pause.

Have a break, have a Kit Kat

Is a slogan used since 1957.  At that time there was little research to substantiate the need for a break during the day to improve productivity. Fast forward, the chocolate bar manufacturer’s latest ad shares research that proves that by inserting ‘Have a break and then…’ into your ai generator, the results are significantly more accurate.  Try it!

Watch here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U33RTQsa7Bo&ab_channel=KITKATCanada

In music a pause is indicated by a fermata (symbol above).  Its length is subjective and up to the performer or conductor.  Oftentimes it is used for dramatic effect, to build anticipation, to signal the end of a phrase or to simply take a breath.  During the baroque era it meant the performers were to improvise a short cadenza.

During a gong bath we use pauses regularly. We create an emotional effect similar to the use of negative space in paintings. During this pause which may last anywhere from a few seconds to minutes the listener is in a state of suspended animation. The feeling is that of being taken into infinity, of being frozen in time, suspended on the silence between the in and out breaths.  The next stroke of the mallet will either draw the listener further in and deeper or expansively outwards.  This is one technique I use regularly to enhance your sonic journey. :)

Baby Steps

The darkest hours bring the most light. - Dominic Riccitello Today is new moon - when the moon is obscured from sight by the shadow of the earth.  

A new beginning. And things will change. - Taylor Swift. Gaze into the night sky and imagine the darkness as a metaphor for a clean slate with limitless possibilities.  All great beginnings start in the dark … - Shannon Alder  Sometimes endless possibilities overwhelm us leading to procrastination, stagnation and inertia.

The chief beauty about time
is that you cannot waste it in advance.
The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you,
as perfect, as unspoiled,
as if you had never wasted or misapplied
a single moment in all your life.
You can turn over a new leaf every hour
if you choose. -  Arnold Bennett

This week I invite you to begin with baby steps.  As a child first learns to sit, roll over, crawl, stand and then take a tentative step so too with our goals.  Let your inspiration, imagination and intuition guide your choices. Rome was not built in a day.  Find a small change and commit to on a daily basis.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. – Martin Luther King, Jr. Have the tenacity and perseverance to establish a new framework of habits, behaviours or mindsets. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. - Confucius You may surprise yourself.  

From the end spring new beginnings. - Pliny the Elder

PS I recommend watching What About Bob for inspiration.

Shedding Light

In Christianity the twelfth night is January 6. Called epiphany, it is the time when the wise men arrived and the baby Jesus was revealed.  In science it typically refers to breakthroughs such as when Newton was hit on the head with an apple thus discovering gravity, or of Archimedes shouting ‘Eureka’ when he discovered displacement in his bath.

Epiphany applies to any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective.

 The best epiphanies approach their revelations indirectly, through imagery, metaphor, and symbol rather than through direct statement. In short, they arrive with some elusiveness, like insight itself. David Jauss

You can’t rush them.

The inspiration can come in such small ways that if you sit there just waiting for the big epiphany you'll sit there for the rest of your life. Irvie Welsh

They are not logical.

I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. Albert Einstein

We invite them into our lives.

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. John Milton

It enables you to sense creation not as something completed, but as constantly becoming, evolving, ascending. This transports you from a place where nothing is new to a place where there is nothing old, where everything renews itself, where heaven and earth rejoice as at the moment of creation. Abraham Isaac Kook

A new year is an opportunity for growth, learning and change. I invite you to practice an attitude of gratitude, embrace silence, listen and observe.  The choice is yours, do or do not. Yoda

If nothing we do matters... , then all that matters is what we do. Joss Whedon

Let it shine

Tonight is the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.  Many festivals celebrate the coming of the sun after the extended winter nights.  We too have an inner spark that sometimes shines a little less brightly than we’d like.  For whatever reason our battery needs to be recharged.  There is no better prescription to feel energized and positive than laughing for no reason. The first few times might seem contrived, but with a childlike playfulness you soon drop your inhibitions.

Laughter yoga is one of the quickest ways of shifting moods.  It was developed by Dr. Kitaria thirty years ago and is now a global phenomenon.  Did you know that when you laugh you secrete happy hormones such as endorphins, and when you do so it is impossible to secrete adrenaline or cortisol (hormones of stress)?  This week I challenge you to laugh for no reason for one minute, aim to do so for 40 days and notice the changes in your life.

By lifting our spirits we ignite our inner light, we increase oxygen uptake, boost our immune system, exercise our lungs, and have fun – it’s contagious.  So take a deep breath and

This little light o’ mine, I’m goin’ to let it shine

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

PS I have become a Laughter Yoga instructor this week and will be offering sessions in the new year.

Deck the halls

Christmas isn’t a season, it’s a feeling. Edna Ferber

December is my favorite time of year for a number of reasons, one of which is the annual ritual of packing away the autumn decorations replacing them with festive greenery.  Listening to familiar carols with the scent of northern woods in the air (thank you Young Living) fills my heart with memories of Christmases past. 

There is a comfort in rituals, they provide a framework for stability. Deborah Norville

The holiday spirit is manifested through rituals and traditions.  They connect us with our past and serve as a link between generations.   The special meals, the scent of cookies, the gatherings of family and friends give us a sense of belonging, of community and of collective memory. 

As we are propelled by the Spirit, the fruit that is produced will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I invite you to honor your traditions so that you too can spread that sense of happiness and appreciation for life and the season to others.

Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind. Miracle on 34th Street

It takes a village

The Art of Peace is now etched in our collective memories.  Our mission to transport, elevate and transform was accomplished through an interweaving of sacred sound, instruments, voice, interpretative dance, mantra and movement.  Little did Alexander Scriabin know that his concepts survive today as a happening - a partly  improvised or spontaneous piece of theatrical or other artistic performance, typically involving audience participation.
 
Alone, we can do so little, together we can do so much.  Helen Keller
 
The stark contrast between the traditional HK Welsh Male Voice Choir and Kaze Afritude’s raw vocals was striking. The uplifting instrumental by Marty and Penelope accompanied the moving interpretative dances by Rye and Helen. Billy and Helen provided a musical interlude of singing bowls and the seven sisters (Phet, Tata, Aimee, Yumi, Kaman, Stephanie and myself) brought rhythm and energy to the stage. And my dream of creating a visual montage interpreting the concert sounds was spectacularly brought to life by Desmond Leung.
 
My job as a performer is to make sure that whatever happens in a performance lives in somebody else, that it's memorable.... Yo-Yo Ma

The audience feedback was unlike any we have received previously. They were moved, speechless.

When you make a difference whether it’s through a TV show or movie, that impact is the thing that will continue and persist long after everything else. Walter Hickey. And Once something is memorable, it's living and you're using it. That to me is the foundation of a creative society. Yo-Yo Ma

I am deeply touched and grateful for the dedication, enthusiasm and efforts of all that participated as well as those who contributed behind the scenes to make this concert a reality including you, our audience. Looking to the future – we will be holding these concerts regularly and you will be entitled to prebook as friends of Red Doors, also watch the newsletter for our upcoming regular sound evenings in the studio.  Until then, take care,

Remember, Building community is to the collective as spiritual development is to the individual. Idowu Kovenikan  

 Sat nam.

My cup overfloweth

Nov 23 is Fibonacci day because when the date is written in the mm/dd format (11/23), the digits form a Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3. This s a series of numbers where any number is the sum of the two before it. As the numbers get larger, the quotient between each successive pair of numbers approximates 1.618, or its inverse 0.618. This proportion is known as: the golden ratio, the golden mean, ϕ, and the divine proportion. The golden mean is one of the most recognisable patterns in nature and is expressed in pinecones, sunflowers, seashells, our inner ear, goat horns and even galaxies.

This year Fibronacci day fell on American Thanksgiving. A common centrepiece on the table is a cornucopia representing a symbol of an abundance of nourishment and endless bounty..  Thanksgiving is a time of gathering with loved ones, of expressing gratitude and of sharing a special meal, sometimes to excess.

The original cornucopia was a goat’s horn (a perfect spiral). This goat provided milk for baby Zeus. When one horn fell off it was used to feed Zeus who later endowed the horn with the ability to provide its possessor with whatever they wished.

This weekend I invite you to pause, to Reflect upon your present moment of blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some. Charles Dickens  And,  If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. Clement Stone  As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

More than a feeling

Peace is more than a feeling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufQUxoidxkM&ab_channel=Boston-Topic).

Using numerous volunteers Dr. Masaru Emoto observed that human emotions resonate between 20-700 Hz with the chakras falling between 396 (root) to 963 Hz (crown). Peace resonated at 600 Hz.  It sounds like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhIWB5iWblk&ab_channel=SupernaturalMusic

 Frequency travels from high to low and it is possible to shift low resonating emotions such as depression, fear and anxiety simply by being in the presence of someone at a higher level.

If  ‘One person in the vibration of 500Hz, can positively affect 7,500 people in the vibratory level of 200Hz.’ imagine what a room full can do.  Gratitude, forgiveness and kindness are excellent elevators as too toning, sacred sound instruments and coming together with one mind such as our concert on Nov 26. 

Raising your vibration raises the collective. And by changing our world, we can change the world. Please do join on Nov 26 for The Art of Peace.

(image Dayton Art Institute)

Peace Begins With Me

Saturday is Remembrance Day, a day to express gratitude to all those who have lost their lives so that we may live in peace.  We commemorate it with one minute of silent reflection starting at 11:11

Yet listening to the news one hundred years after the end of WWI it seems as though peace is but a memory.  It doesn’t need to be.

Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. Anon

Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you make, something you are, something you do and something you give away.  Robert Fulghum

If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Thomas Merton

and it (Peace)all begins with a smile. Mother Teresa

This month my focus is on peace, finding it within, with others and then on Nov 26 sending it to the world. The power of group positive intention exponentially increases the vibrational field and has been recorded in countless experiments to transcend time and place.  Book now to join us on Nov 26 for our next concert to uplift and transform the universal frequency to love and positivity.

Only if individuals become peaceful, will the world be peaceful. Sadhguru

Imagine

You know you are a dreamer when you put your hands on your head (Supertramp) either that or we’re shaking our heads in dismay at the hourly news updates. Years ago John Lennon called himself a dreamer but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

The time is now to come together, to create community through harmony.

This month I invite you to our second Mysterium Tremendum – a thoughtful visual and acoustic journey depicting the art of peace. Featuring the renowned Welsh Men’s Choir, Red Doors associates, a variety of musicians, gongs and interpretative dance we will weave a tale towards inner peace and outer balance transcending time and space. Book at www.red-doors.com/events

Bang a gong

When angry count to four, when very angry, swear. Mark Twain

Anger management techniques include screaming in private, listening to angry music, physical activity, journaling or painting, meditation or yoga, walking away, time out, humour, verbalizing it and lastly destroying physical representations safely.

The Rubin Museum in NY and London has an exhibit called the Mandala Lab that delves into the power of difficult emotions and how to turn them into positive ones. The exhibit consists of 4 quadrants based on a Tibetan mandala, each representing an emotion with an activity to transform it. In the anger section of the space, sound in the form of a gong orchestra is used. Here visitors strike a gong to represent expressed anger and as the gong is lowered into water, watch the anger dissipate as the sound fades and the water stills.

Take a look at famed deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie expressively playing the gongs

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyuJRzcuLkx/

 Another approach is to use science to send a baseball at 1189mph into a gong (skip to 13:35)

https://youtu.be/at-xZA5U1ps?si=CJ0XmuXIZ5QdKozf 

Personally I would rather punch a pillow or go for a swim and would never risk damaging my sacred tools of transformation as anger management tools.  Whichever method you choose, remember that Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness. Thich Nhat Hahn

Be the light

When asked what kept him going actor Jeff Goldman responded with a quote from George Bernard Shaw -

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote iself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

What about you?

Balance, Harmony and Gongs

Up to now wellbeing defined by Gallup fell into five categories: physical, emotional, career, financial and social. Now, for the first time ever their latest report adopts a 'harmonic' view of wellbeing by measuring balance, harmony, inner peace and contentment.  Of 140 countries surveyed 80% of respondents felt harmony most of the time.  While only 60% felt balanced.  This later figure is interesting because 4 out of 10 people walking the planet are thought to be suffering from one form or another of mental illness.  It is not a far leap to the unsubstantiated conclusion that a lack of balance in one's life equates to one's mental state.  Imbalance causes stress, stress causes dis-ease and eventually illness.   

Allopathic medicine is based on dualism or the clear separation of mind and body. The solution is generally prescriptive assuming something needs to be fixed from the outside.  However transformation occurs within, to bring forth the healing, the sense of wholeness of what is already there.  

As a catalyst I elicit change from the inside out by releasing tension and energetic blockages and relaxing the entire body leaving a sense of renewal, optimism and positivity.   For me this research validates the need for practices to return to one's centre and equilibrium.  In Kundalini yoga we speak of the three minds - negative or the reptilian mind that serves to protect; the positive and the neutral. Only in the neutral may we objectively review options and choose to respond rather than react.

How to find neutrality when we are immersed in chaos?  Visit us to practice kundalini yoga, walk the circuitous path of the labyrinth or recline in the sound waves of a gong bath.  We are here to serve you.