The Practice--Indulge Your Soul with Music

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Wikipedia Soulful lions
Often we feel empty and we look to food to satisfy our craving or we escape into another type of addiction. Sometimes we feel disconnected from the life around us or we lose our connection to our Divine Source, whatever name you want to call it.  During those times, I recommend indulging in soul music, a term that came about in the 1960s or 1970s that categorized songs of African-American musicians.

 Roots for soul music vary going all the way back to the Mandinka and other ancient African kingdoms or most recently to the African-American Church or "Black Church" while finding inspiration from African-American spirituals, blues, jazz, and gospel (not be confused with spirituals).  Some of the favorite artists to come from the genre include Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodors, Bill Withers... The songs reached deep into our souls allowing us to feel an array of emotions from defiance, sensuality, spirituality, sadness, and joy.  With soul music we feel our emotions more deeply, which has led to the popularity of this genre.  Many young people listen to the soul music classics from the 1960s through 1980s when the genre all but disappeared or transformed into syrupy pop music dripping with sentimentality.

 So let's dig some deep soulful songs.  I'm including some of my favorites here and if you have trouble watching these YouTube videos, check out your local library for the entire albums by these artists.

 The first two songs remind us that no matter how hard life seems, there is sunshine behind the clouds and soon we'll find our way back into the light.


Johnny Nash, "I Can See Clearly Now"

 Many people enjoy soul music as a route to seduction and often this type of music played in the background of bedrooms or a candle light dinner.



 

Soul songs also found their way into Civil Rights situations or provide an act of defiance



Finally, soul music helps us get in touch with our spiritual destiny 

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