Posts in category: blog

What do you truly desire?
When is the last time you asked yourself that question, allowing yourself to reach beyond the confines of everyday real world into the realms of possibilities? It can be habitual to stop ourselves from dreaming out loud by listening to the inner and outer critics who will say – you can’t have that, do that, be that. There can always be a reason of not enough time, money or self-love to let yourself give voice to your dreams. Then of course there is always the how. Whatever your dream is, to write a book, learn to play an
instrument, go on a journey, start to sing or find a new love. For now, leave the how and say yes to the feeling and the possibility.

My grand piano dream.
As a young music student at university I didn’t have much money. Just enough for rent and food. Certainly not enough for what I wanted most which was a black grand Yamaha piano. I would joke about it when someone asked me if I’d like anything. They were referring to a drink of water, tea or juice if I was lucky. I would always answer the same – a black grand Yamaha piano please. They would look surprised and then laugh.
There’s no way I had enough money for such luxuries. But inside me I knew what I wanted. I dreamed about playing this piano and the music I could make. I felt the flow of creativity move each time I though of it as I played on my digital piano practicing for school. Years later I had a cheap upright piano and had rented studio time to record on a beautiful black grand piano to make my first instrumental CD. I asked my piano teacher from years back if I could have a soiree at her house to share some of the music on her black grand piano to get some feedback. As I played my compositions I felt so much love and gratitude to be able to share my music on such a beautiful instrument. I stopped for myself and the invited guests to take a break and a man popped onto the piano bench beside me grinning ear to ear. He told me that his wife had died of cancer and left him her piano which he couldn’t bear to sell. He said he’d been listening for just the right sound and that he found it in my music. He offered me his big black grand Yamaha piano which I still have to this day.

7 Steps to Giving Voice to Your Dreams:

1. Imagine light pouring through the top of your head and filling you up with peaceful energy. Let your body relax as you envision this light pouring into you and ask yourself what you truly desire.

2. When the answer comes to you – be it a feeling, an inner knowing, a
remembering or a quiet voice, say yes to it. Say yes you can have that, be that, create that and you don’t have to know how right now.

3. Give voice to this dream by sharing it with close and supportive people and by creating a picture of you having it, like in a vision board. So you can see it and feel it.

4. Amplify the feeling of this desire, this beautiful dream, by imagining you already have it just like I imagined I was playing on my big black grand piano.

5. Hold your focus on this vision and the feeling of already having what you desire. For me, chanting the Lakshmi chant (link to sample on Medicine Music) is a powerful way of doing this step. This chant is all about abundance and manifestation.

6. Then let it go with ease and gratitude.

7. Repeat step 5 daily and share your dream with enthusiasm and gratitude as you surrender the how it will show up to your higher creative power.

I dream of elephants.
Just last year I did this process and found myself full of a dream to go to Africa. Not as a tourist but with a purpose – to learn about the culture, to share my music with beautiful people and to spend time with elephants.
Within a few months I was invited to play at an opening for Gcina Mhlophe,
http://www.gcinamhlophe.co.za/ an amazing South African singer, storyteller, author and activist who was in Canada at the time. Later that evening she invited me to visit her and stay in her home in Durban, South Africa. We performed together, toured the townships and became close friends. She rocked my world and taught me so much about the music
and the history of her country.

When we give voice to our dreams we are taking a huge risk. We are saying – this is what I want. I might not yet be good at it. I might not know how I can do this. Yet something in me is moving me toward this experience. I love the idea that the thing I am desiring and reaching out to, is also reaching out to me. Reaching out to me …. with it’s trunk. In this moment I was completely fulfilled and overflowing with gratitude.

There is a phenomenon that happens when women join forces and become a sisterhood. They quit competing and comparing themselves with each other. Instead they begin to celebrate each others unique gifts and see themselves as one-of-a-kind works of art in progress. They stop being afraid of one another or needing to be the center of attention all the time. Rather, they are curious about each others stories and genuinely interested to exchange their knowledge. Some women grew up with blood sisters who were less than kind to them. Others experienced betrayed by women friends. Only when we as women bring forward a willingness to transform any old stories can we find the deeper connection with ourselves and each other that we are longing for.

The power of sisterhood shows up and is a mighty force when women feel secure enough in themselves to become allies and show up in our authentic strengths and vulnerabilities. We don’t have to agree with each other all the time. Even when there is a fundamental difference of opinion we can still accept each other.

When women come together to connect and raise each other up we are an unstoppable force.

Art by Cheryl Braganza

I lead a song circle where women from 18-82 come and sing together. I get to witness first hand what happens in the circle of safety where each woman knows she won’t be judged for her shaky voice as she begins to sing or her tears when she speaks of her deepest passions or losses. She won’t be left behind if she forgets the words or has no wisdom to add in the moment of sharing. She will be accepted and embraced for who she is. She will be supported for where she in on her journey. There is so much wisdom in a circle of women when we share stories, knowledge and songs.

In that moment of feeling a sense of belonging and knowing that she is safe to be herself, she blossoms.

Women’s circles are an age old gathering to share wisdom, knowledge and support. We are the bringers of life and have always known that our very survival depends on having strong community and allies to help with children, food, and all the challenges life has to offer.

If you’re a woman and feeling isolate or disconnect in your life, find or start a women’s circle. Reach out and don’t stop looking until you find your Phenomenal Sisterhood. You’ll know you’ve found it because after you gather a few times you’ll crave the connection and sense of belong. You’ll feel at home and find acceptance on your best and worst days. From my perspective singing and ritual is a great gathering point because it’s filled with life, music and fun. Find a women’s circle in your area where you can connect in a genuine way with other women, preferable of different ages to do something you love to do.

Why be part of a women’s group? Women’s groups improve confidence and self-esteem. Self-esteem is a challenging component for so many women. Even though studies show that women in general have sharper problem-solving and multi-tasking capabilities, the high occurrence of poor self-esteem in women keeps many women from reaching their potential at every level from asking for the dollar amount they are worth to seeking out advancement. Phenomenal Sisterhood transmutes whatever has held you back and helps your find your rhythm and sing your song with confidence.
Women more readily share and celebrate small victories in both personal and professional areas in female-only environments. In a world where there are too few supportive bosses, and where fathers, husbands, and children often don’t understand how much women need their support, small victories shared in an intimate gathering of sisters are the spark that ignites hope in their hearts. The little victories are the chances to celebrate everyone’s success!

Women who have close women friends live longer and have happier lives. Women who have allies are able to make a great contribution and to build their confidence and their networks. Even women who appear to be fulfilled and successful from the outside need a place to be genuine, vulnerable and authentic and have the power to bring the life giving feminine essence to their lives.

I love to see a woman’s eyes light up in the presence of phenomenal sisterhood. She trusts herself enough to BE herself. With arms to catch her if she falls she rises into her power to live her best life.

Years ago I was performing in Japan, singing and playing piano in a fancy little club. It was such a huge cultural difference and an amazing experience that inspired me to look at some of the beliefs about music I’d formed. Like the idea I’d learned in university that music was primarily a commodity for entertainment, and the better you could play and sing, the more money you would make. Something happened that rocked my world and completely changed the way I perceived music. A Japanese friend I made took me to the ancient city of Kyoto. We entered a temple where thousands of people were chanting and I could feel a power that literally made my hair stand on end.

My friend explained to me that there had been horrific mud slide in Columbia and that the people were chanting to send solace to the survivors. I understood that as tangibly as a radio or television signal could travel the world, so too could the energy and intent of chanting.  For me a light bulb or awareness went on that led me to a lifelong passion with the power of chanting and a desire to research and share this knowledge.

Music is the language of the soul

In many traditions, sound is considered the primary force in all creation. Some sounds can energise and stimulate, while others can relax and calm us. Sound can awaken our inner fire and can also heal and soothe. Sound is the energy of vibration and since we are all fundamentally made from energy, we all react to sound on an energy level whether we are aware of it or not. Sound can move us to tears or joy, evoke long forgotten memories, and touch us at a soul level. Sound has considerable power to heal.

Ancient cultures knew all about the true power of sound and music, far beyond a commodity designed to sell and entertain. Shamans and healers sang, chanted and drummed people to health as part of everyday life. They understood at a deep level that we live in a constant state of vibration from which sound is derived and that sound has significant influence on us.

We still gather to drum, sing and dance to feel the connection to our ancestors and our current community.

Music speaks to the soul because it is the soul’s language. It transcends the limitations of the rational mind.

Ludwig van Beethoven said that “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy”.

When Albert Einstein was asked about his theory of relativity, he said: “It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the result of musical perception”.

Finding Your Voice

The greatest instrument of healing is the human voice. Natural sounds like crying, laughing, sighing, wailing, humming, yawning, whistling, and the sounding of single vowels are all part of a self-healing technique called Toning, which is the use of voice to release pain and stress and to align imbalances. The sustained, vibratory sound of single tones, without the use of melody, rhythm or words, bypasses language entirely and allows us to express the heart and soul directly, quietening the over-active mind.

When you’re connected to your body and natural breath cycles and allow your intuition to let your soul sounds emerge from deep within you begin to reclaim the expression you were born with. People are amazed at the sounds they can make, especially when they let go of the fear of their voice being heard.

I’m passionate about helping people reclaim their authentic voices. Over and over I see how it impacts their whole lives by raising their confidence and their mood.

The Power of Chant

From a simple individual prayer, to a whole gathering of people singing in unison, many spiritual rituals and events involve chanting of mantras or hymns. 

The word ‘mantra’ is often used to describe a frequently repeated phrase. However, it actually comes from the ancient Indian Sanskrit language and is derived from the root manas which means “to think” and tram, “to protect” or “liberate from bondage of the physical world”. A mantra, therefore, is thinking which liberates or protects.

Mantras are sonic formulations evoking vibrations that heal, enlighten and promote spiritual growth, and are said to be sacred sounds that speak to the gods. It is the power of word; a compelling force that not only vibrates in the being of the person who utters them but also connects them to a universal energy. Mantras are Vedic in origin, but transcend all language and all religion.

I love many of the traditional chants and have found incredible benefit for myself and for others in learning specific chants for specific outcomes. As a composer I’ve also been inspired to create many chants. The repetitive nature of the chant helps the brain to relax and turn off over thinking allowing the healing to happen.

Scientific Research

Whether it’s to connect to a higher spiritual power or to tap into our own strength and power, chanting has been part of the fabric of human spiritual culture for thousands of years. What is it about chanting that makes it essential to virtually every spiritual practice?

The effects of chanting are not just based on belief, or a placebo effect. Scientists have researched the effect of chanting numerous times in the past years, to find out why chanting produces the effects they do.

In general, chanting has been found to have a therapeutic effect on the body, soothing and harmonizing the body’s multiple systems and kick starts the body’s natural healing abilities, as well as help deal with addiction. This is according to research done by Alfred Tomatis at the French Academy of Science and Medicine, as well as by the experts at Cleveland University. This happens because of what are known as the Neuro-Linguistic Effect and the Psycho-Linguistic Effect. The NLE is a melodious effect created by the rhythmic tones of chanting, and the PLE the body’s reaction to the meaning of the chants being chanted. These two effects signal the brain to produce and spread the curing, healing, and feel-good chemicals of the body.

Other studies, like the one done by Dr. Alan Watkins of the Imperial College in London, have shown that heart rate and blood pressure dip to their lowest while chanting, as well as normalize the levels of adrenaline, cholesterol, and unruly brainwave patterns, due to the vibrations of the sounds produced during chanting. As well, neuroscientist Marian Diamond of University of California discovered that chanting inhibits the release of stress-hormones.

Whether it’s for meditation, yoga, prayer, or to take a short break from the rigors of everyday life, chanting can definitely improve your well-being. Depending on what you chant you can promote healing, resilience, forgiveness, and cultivate compassion and self-love.

Rewire Your Brain

Research shows that self-created sounds like chanting cause the left and right brain hemispheres to synchronise. Chanting oxygenates the brain, lowers blood pressure, reduces heart rate and causes the brainwaves to calm down. Studies also show that chanting regulates breathing, which has many health benefits. While breathing alone is rejuvenating, breathing in synch with others, as one would when chanting in a group, amplifies the effect as the entire group entrains their breathing with each other. The vibrations contained in that synchronised sound radiate out in concentric circles, healing the group and touching the world.

by Julie Blue

Singing, in and of itself is a joyous and uplifting experience. It taps us into the power of breath and the world of resonance and vibration. I love to sing all kinds of songs and discovered I felt most in harmony when I invited others to sing with me. During performances, healing sound courses, a big choir I led for years or the singing circles I offer now, the same kind of magic would always happen. Science is now showing all the reasons why when people move into their hearts, the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin lower, and the happy bonding hormones of oxytocin and dopamine rise. I have so much to share about this from years of research and will do so in my next blog. In this blog I want to focus on the healing power of chant.

The first time I experience the power of chant I was living and performing in Japan. A friend took me to a temple in Kyoto where hundreds of people were chanting to send love and solace to survivors of a terrible mudslide in Columbia. Like a light bulb going on in my music school conditioned mind, I understood on an experiential level that energy was being created that transmitted as tangibly as a radio or television signal. I didn’t understand the words in the chant. I didn’t subscribe to any religious view but I could FEEL something and it felt like love.

This experience influenced my composing work and I began collecting and creating original versions of traditional chants and mantras from different spiritual paths. I also began a 30-year journey of channelling my own healing chants. As a professional composer I haven’t yet been brave enough to publicly use the term “channelling”. The experience of creating my series of chants is more like transcribing something I am hearing on what I call “the creation station”, rather than setting out to craft a piece of music.

On a visit to Maui I met a woman who had a tremendous impact on my life. At the time I met her, Arlette Alexander lived in the jungles of Maui. She held a doctorate of psychology, was a dedicated Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and a Queen of fun and mischief. During our many visits back and forth, Arlette introduced me to her practices and taught me the Medicine Buddha chant. She brought me to meet her teacher Thrangu Rimpoche, and I received his transmission of the Medicine Buddha teachings.

Arlette’s dedication and enthusiasm touched and inspired many people. With this article and recording, I honour her and our deep friendship.

I’m writing this as someone who is not a practicing Buddhist or scholar. I’m writing this as a singer, composer and vibrational healer who is in awe at the profound healing that occurs for me and those that sing and chant with me.

There are so many chants to share with you. For today, very close to a year after Arlette’s death, to honour her memory I’ll share the chant she first taught to me all those years ago walking in the Maui jungle. To respect and offer just a little bit of the profound teachings in this chant, the following is edited and condensed from a talk during Medicine Buddha Puja by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

“When speaking of the Medicine Buddha chant, the Fifth Dalai Lama explains that the reason it is so powerful is due to Medicine Buddha’s strong compassion and dedications for his name to be wish fulfilling and bring happiness. It is extremely important in our daily life to practice Medicine Buddha and to chant his name for the animals. It’s an unbelievably easy way to liberate yourself and to help others too. Normally people think that Medicine Buddha is for healing but it’s not only that, it’s also very powerful for purifying negative karma and very powerful for success. The Medicine Buddha practice is so precious. It seems that you can do Medicine Buddha for ANY purpose, ANY problem, ANYTHING. You can use the Medicine Buddha practice for any kind of problem, for court cases, to stop wars, to stop violence, anything. It is very good for business, for mothers who are pregnant to give birth successfully, anything”.

Medicine Buddha’s Mantra: Tayata Om Bekandze Bekandze Maha Bekandze Radza Samudgate Soha.

• • Tayata – means “like this”.
  • Om – is composed of the three pure sounds A U and MA, which signifies one’s own body, speech and mind that get transformed into the holy body, speech and mind.
  • Bekandze bekandze -“eliminating pain, eliminating pain”. What eliminates pain is medicine. This pain is not ordinary pain – even animals do not want to experience that. The first eliminating pain is true suffering, the second is the true cause of suffering.
  • Maha bekandze -“the great eliminating pain” eliminates the three poisons of ignorance, hatred and attachment, the sicknesses of the mind from which come the physical sicknesses – cancer, depression, etc.
  • Radza – is king.
  • Samudgate – ocean of goodness.
  • Soha – to establish the foundation in the heart, the blessing, the devotion from which the realization comes.

It helps to have the intellectual understanding of what you are chanting and why you are chanting it. Yet, I have experienced that the power of the vowels, the breath, and the intention to calm the mind and connect with the heart is medicine in and of itself. This beautiful chant is the most powerful healing chant that I know. You can listen to it on my website. I look forward to sharing more healing chants with you and wish you every bright blessing in your life.