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Showing posts from 2014

The Practice--Finding the Next Best Thought Using Music

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Photo by Patricia Herlevi I found the work of Abraham-Hicks a boon in my life.  Not only that, the practice of aligning with the Vortex or the Source has shown me that all music plays a part in climbing up the emotional scale.  For the following exercise we will travel from depression/hopelessness to hope using four songs found on YouTube. I came up with this concept after watching a Teal Swan video about Spiraling Negativity I watched on YouTube.  She borrowed Abraham-Hicks' emotional scale in finding the better feeling mood.  If we feel depressed we can't take the leap to happiness.  This is why telling someone in despair to think positive thoughts proves impossible.  You can't get there from there as Abraham tells us through Esther Hicks, just like you can't get from Boston to San Francisco without traveling the route. So I'm using the example of a relationship breakup which leaves most people in despair unless they're one of the rare folks that feels

The Practice--Raising Consciousness with Classical Music

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Orpheus, Wikipedia I'm including another excerpt from my book Whole Music (Soul Food for the Mind Body Spirit) .   If you are an agent or book publisher interested in this title, please contact me at wholemusicexp at gmail dot com. This exercise comes from the end of Chapter 8. The Practice--The Art of Listening The first music appreciation class I took in college featured classical music.   While you could do the following practice with any genre of music, for this session, I ask you to choose one piece of music by a single composer from baroque to contemporary classical music.   For example, you could choose a cello suite by J.S. Bach which would land you in the heart of the baroque period or you could choose Appalachian Spring by contemporary American composer Aaron Copland. For one week, listen to only listen to this piece of music.   You can listen to the music via headphones or play it within the ambiance of a room.   Listen for changes in key, rhythm

The Practice: Healing Frequencies, Scales and Modes

For the past two months I experienced re-set on my life.  And during this phase, I have relied heavily on frequency and Solfeggio scales featured on YouTube.  I have found the scales, tones and frequencies of sound healing videos extremely healthy.  And in fact, I have spent more time listening to the scales than actual music.   Here are some of my favorites. The following music videos are no longer available. Miracle of Frequencies 528 Hz (This is a short documentary) Here is an enchanting piece of music featuring Archangel Raphael I have also listened to music by Sabra Sibrena off her recordings,   Reiki Master Susan Wilbanks also uses beautiful music with her healings Finally, Ki Kaz provides frequency transformation videos with sound healing tones

In Conversation--Songs of Holy Toledo

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Ana Alcaide (Photo in Google Images) Where Swedish, Spanish and Jewish Cultures Meet  In 2012, I discovered Sephardic (Jewish) songs of Toledo via Ana Alcaide, a Spanish traditional musician.  After watching Alcaide's stunning YouTube videos in which she plays the Swedish keyed fiddle (nyckelharpa) and sings Ladino (Spanish Jewish culture) songs, I thought of interviewing the musician for this blog. I encourage anyone reading this to check out Ana Alcaide's videos on YouTube because you will learn a lot from this fascinating woman who bridges the scientific world with the musical one.  I caught up with Ana via e-mail and I'm honored to include her on this blog of musical healers. WME: How do your biology studies wed with your musical explorations? I ask this question because some musicians have taken music into the natural realm or have found musical aspiration from nature. Ana Alcaide: Right! In fact, nature is one of my great sources of inspir

The Practice--Purposeful Music for Creativity & Artistic Pursuits

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Mural at Boulevard Park, Bellingham, Washington Perhaps I take for granted my multimedia approach to artistic projects.  Art involves all the senses, even the 6th sense to such a degree that it seems foolish not to play music in the foreground or background when in the throes of making art. For instance, some writers prefer silence or the birds in trees or wind flowing through an open window while other writers play their favorite music to get them into the flow.  So let's look at the musical benefits for writers, both fiction and non-fiction. As we know music creates flow and works different parts of our brain with some music bridging the gap between the left and right hemispheres. For writers who are also musicians, taking a music break.  Playing an instrument or singing enhances our creative problem-solving abilities while engaging us deeper into the flow.  Certain types of music also uplift us, put us in a good mood, and help us to release doubts, wo

21st Century Musical Healer--Cedar Songs

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Peter Ali On the Solstice, I felt exhausted, but I wanted to check out the Fairhaven District Art Walk.  So I dragged myself by bus to the event.  When I stepped into Village Books, I heard Peter Ali talking about his introduction to Native American and other traditional flutes. While I was only planning on staying for one or two songs (since I wanted to see as much art as possible), I ended up staying much longer.  I found Peter engaging as he shared stories about his life experiences in relationship to his flute.  One of those stories involved performing for the 14th Dalai Lama and another story revolved around surviving cancer and its brutal chemo treatment. However on that particular evening, I felt drawn to the soothing qualities of Indigenous flutes and Peter's healing stories that went along with his improvised songs. Coming from mixed heritage, Peter could call himself a true world citizen and one with a healing heart.  So let's celebrate another 21st Century Mu

The Practice--Song Manifestations

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Wikipedia One question we hear a lot from metaphysical teachers comes up, "do you like what you experience in your world?" And I would add, "do you like what you hear in your world?"  Do you believe strongly in the lyrics of your favorite songs or even your least favorite songs? And be honest, what type of reality are your favorite songs creating for you to experience? Now, I'm not going to label experiences as negative or positive. I'll let you decide.  What I will ask is this, what pleases you more, living a life of drama or one of joy? Again, you decide.  But maybe you don't believe a life of joy is possible or maybe you tossed out your dreams in favor of fitting into the status quo and not rocking the proverbial boat.  A small life seems comfortable on the surface and only requires a knack of putting up with situations, people, and events. What if I told you that the songs we listen to provide mantras in our lives? And what if I told you that