Harmoniaalto A Wave to Harmony

I am so happy and proud to be part of the amazing team from Berkeley Community Acupuncture as we return to the Navajo Nations at the end of April. We will be offering free acupuncture, massage, healing sounds, healthy meals and consultations. The mission was and is to provide sustainable natural wellness tools and resources for the Navajo community. To do this, we spent years in connection with the local community to better understand what is needed and how to make our proje...ct sustainable. This involved the building of on-going relationships with community members, learning about the varied life and lifestyles of the Dine people, as well as bringing in our tools and resources through free pop-up clinics. Currently, the infection rates are the lowest they've ever been and while we are still focusing our efforts on recovery help, we will be continuing our work to sustainably offer the tools of Chinese medicine to the local communities. We have high hopes for this wellness program, with the dream to ultimately build a healing center in Navajo Nation where our interns can practice from. Would you like to contribute to our project? We are collecting donations for the ongoing cost of our pop-up clinic, intern program as well as ultimately creating a thriving healing center for the Dine people free of cost to the native population. https://my-site-104483-102797.square.site/

Sound is a universal language. It has the potential to shift the frequency of space and matter. Adding lyrics, it carries powerful messages through out the planet to expand our perception to each other. Kudos to Peter Gabriel and all the amazing musicians of this wonderful re-make of his 40-year old song. Inspired by the death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko while in police custody, this song’s relevance still holds true with the unfortunate police brutality that continues to take place in the USA, Nigeria and many places around the world. More than 25 musicians from seven countries join Gabriel for this global rendition to share a message of unity, peace, and hope, including Beninese vocalist and activist Angélique Kidjo, Silkroad’s Yo-Yo Ma, and bass legend Meshell Ndegeocello.

This incredible documentary "Music got me here" came out today in Amazon, Apple and iTunes. Meet my new heroes: - music therapist Tom Sweitzer, whose childhood was far from perfect with alcoholic and schizophrenic farther. He talks about how music gave him a place of refuge from very early on. And the leading man himself - Forrest, who at age 18 suffered a life threatening traumatic brain injury that left him trapped inside himself -- unable to speak or move for nearly two ...years. Forrest received multiple forms of therapy and over 15 surgeries. The doctors confirm that music opened up his communication ability better than any other know method. Music can find pathways in the brain which speech alone cannot. If you are up for a story of hope and miracles - check this out. Truly a heartfelt story showing that healing takes time, courage, community and it's not linear.

Probably most of us back in March and April were thinking "when are we going back to normal" - right? By now, most of us know that there is no going back - only forward. These amazing women changed the course of their lives during pandemic even when it must have looked impossible at times. They don't think about themselves being amazing. They do what they feel they have to in order to survive and/or better their lives in difficult situation. Their wisdom applies to all of us.... Here's the advice they give - I highly recommend reading the full story to learn more. 1) Don't quit 2) Don't hold yourself to pre-pandemic standards 3) Don't squander this moment 4) Your responsibility is to also continue 5) Slow down or you will crash 6) Remind yourself why you do what you do, and 7) Honor grief and the medicine it brings https://www.npr.org//slow-down-dont-quit-advice-from-7-wom

Sound is vibration. Vibration is energy. Energy is everything everywhere. This very interesting series "World according to sound" explores everyday sounds composed by talented musicians. This is definitely NOT a "soothing sound bath" experience. You will be hearing hair dryers, washing machines, knees popping (yes, you read correctly!), icebergs, nature sounds, machine sounds - everything that is out there, put together in extraordinary ways once a week for nine weeks starti...ng Thursday December 3rd - it's not too late to join now. I'm no way involved with this in any way other than fascinated by sound in general. No sound is good or bad. Sound can be dissonant, loud and arrhythmic - yet it is still "just"sound. Are you ready to take this journey? I just got my ticket! UPDATE: I listened the second episode tonight and it was just WOW! Soundscape took me all around the world streets of Kairo, townhouse in Manhattan, sounds of war in Vietnam (1968), deep down in the ocean, mud pots in California (my absolute favorite sounds in tonights episode), waterfalls made digital, and the list goes on. Such a rich and inspiring experience. There is a Q&A at the end of the episode with an interview of one of the artists. Super well done! And so fitting for this era we are living - too much on screen. This is just sound and you can make the visuals in your mind. You come out with your body, mind and spirit expanded! https://www.theworldaccordingtosound.org/outside-in/

Sometimes life brings you serious lessons and today was my turn to learn about impermanence and non-attachment. About a week ago friend of mine found an abandoned broken piano on an alley in Berkeley. The keyboard was gone and the only way to play it was the strings. He invited me to participate his project he called Songs for the broken piano. I said immediately YES! Thursday afternoon I excitedly packed bunch of mallets, chop sticks and other means to play. As I started d...riving to get to the place all my memories from childhood washed over me. The deepest trauma in my life relates to playing the piano. I don’t want to get into details, but this is something I have carried with me every day. I haven’t touched the piano in almost 40 years. How did I forgot this? I cried all the way and was angry with myself for agreeing to this project without thinking. When I arrived to the alley nobody was there. I decided to get out of the car, wait for my friend and tell him that I can’t do this. As I was waiting him to arrive, I looked at the piano - without keyboard it didn’t look so scary. I took my mallets out, walked closer to the piano and started very slowly making sounds. My curiosity won me over and suddenly I was making all kinds of sounds. I was laughing and becoming quite mesmerized. You found the piano I heard Paul saying some time after. Yes and playing it is so much fun and so healing! He doesn’t know my story and at that point it was irrelevant. When he was recording me playing, all the surrounding cars started making their noises and sometimes it was hard to hear what I was doing. I needed to fully focus and rely on the vibration I was feeling in my body. This felt very familiar as it is the way I play my healing sounds. Little did I know how huge part this broken piano was playing on my recovery . Today I drove back to the place just to find out that the broken piano is gone and only the back board is left. I could have felt anger and sadness, but instead I chose to feel gratitude for the moments of pure joy and healing the had offered me few days ago. True lesson of impermanence and non-attachment. Joy lives in the moment. https://www.facebook.com/15387068/videos/10223379636669321/

I was inspired by my teacher John Beaulieu to take a closer look at my relationship with chaos. I figured that the best way to do this is in nature. I chose a trail that I hadn’t walked before and knew nothing about. I set my intention and started walking. I remind myself of an event not that long ago that stir me up and started going through all the details of that event. At the same time I was paying attention and looking forward clues around me on the path. I came by a tr...ee with red berries and started taken close up photo. I couldn’t get it to focus and it made me frustrated. After few tries I gave up and decided that it’s just for me to enjoy at the moment. After that I gave it one more try and there it was - nice focused shot. I could not force it - it came naturally. Next I came by a tree which branches looked like they were creating windows. Maybe - if I don’t look at the chaos as a whole, but just parts of it would make it more tolerable? Some time later I started to get anxious about not having time to get all the way down to the beach and back as I only had about two hours for the walk. As soon as this though appeared, I heard an airplane flying low offering a drone like sound - I started humming with it and my nervous system calmed down. Eventually I didn’t make it to the beach and made a commitment to come back on a better time when I’m not rushed. Many things and insights came up leaving me at awe. I learned a lot about my reaction to chaos and that building a more coherent relationship with it will take some time and effort. It also made me realize that there is no need to analyze all of it - I can simply meditate with them and invite them into my dreams. I’m excited to learn more. Next time you go for a walk - pick a topic, an intention and open your senses what comes up.

I don't know about you, but this year it feels as the seasons in my being are upside down. I spent the summer in hibernation, mostly at home meditating and listening to webinars. As the nature turns into fall, I feel as I am just about to burst into spring with fresh and vibrant new ideas. It's still not quite the time to go fully out, but the ideas are cooking and the excitement is rising. It's time to envision how I want to show up in this new world. How can I create mor...e inclusion in the world that seems to be turning more into separation. As my Continuum teacher asked today - "how do I include the experience of the other even when it is not my experience"? This feels very potent inquiry and I believe it holds the key to more connection and understanding in this new world