Music Meditations: Sound Healing Bites w/East Forest

In the words of Charles Eisenstein, let us release the "more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible." It's not 99% versus 1%, it's 100% and we're waking up together. Let us let it out. This is the great release from all we have been holding, Let go. Open arms. Wide Heart.

First a heart felt thank you to recent East Forest donations from, Hayden M. Steven T. Your support and thoughtful help keep me motivated and the EF ship running. In this episode of the podcast settle into this live version of Pacific Coast Highway recorded in Utah. Breath into the gentle ebb and flow. Sometimes it takes patience to forgive ourselves in instances when we could have acted smarter or been less careless. But we all dance amongst the full range of colors of habit. It takes errors for us to learn where and how we want to go higher. We have to fall to rise. It is part of the way we learn here - it is Law. Allow it, accept it, and forgive ourselves as we stumble through it. All we can ask is for grace.

Karina and I headed out to go backpacking last weekend and as we were driving to the trailhead the road suddenly ended: there was a giant sinkhole rendering the forest road impassible. It was hot, nearing the middle of the day, and as opposed to turning around we decided to park the car right there and march forward hiking the remaining five miles on foot to the trailhead. While it wasn't the most enjoyable five miles across hot pavement, it reminded me of the importance of flexibility and of moving forward even when we hit the 'end of the road'. When obstacles present themselves or when our planned expectations seem to have run out, consider the alternative perhaps slower approach. We can always put one foot in front of the other and see where each step leads us. The path is curvy and dots don't always connect in a linear fashion but our main job is to continue onward with heart filled trust in a process that is larger than an immediate obstacle - like water finding it's way to the ocean our job is to just keep flowing.

Wow, it's been a bit of a break since my last post! I've been enjoying the Oregon summer, traveling a bunch, and getting started on a few new music projects. Thank you for your patience. First, let me thank recent donation of the EF ship: Jon T. Alison M. Thank you! I have been dreaming up some new creations. The podcast might get (or already has?) a little less than weekly, but I'm thinking of making of a comp album of certain podcast releases. Greatest hits anyone? I'm up for suggestions...

Here is a little slice of a new live ceremony recording now available titled, "portLanders". Download the entire 70 minute concert from the East Forest downloads music page: http://www.eastforet.org/downloads. I will be away for nearly all of July heading into the jungles of Peru. Please excuse the radio silence in the meantime. Enjoy the portLanders sound journey and I hope to have many new field recordings to weave into even wilder East Forest creations upon my return. Many blessings.

What is it like to travel a lifetime (or a thousand) and make your way home after a trip so long that you don't even remember where it began? Close your eyes, listen with calm breath, and see where your heart is leading you. What does it mean to come home?

Live track (well, they're all 'live' - this one just had other people listening at the time of recording) from a ceremony held in Portland Oregon. A lament for the running we do from our center, from the true action, from ourselves. Why do we go?

Rolling with the punches often helps when you take them one at a time. The multi-tasking can leave you breathless and bruised. Take a moment, eyes closed, and listen to this meditation and ponder the focus you have for any task -- that you conquer with gentle singular attention.

Close your eyes and repeat (silently) after me, "It just is". Follow this internal mantra with the rhythm of your breath or perhaps the phrasing of the music and see where it takes you. How does it feel to release into and acknowledge all that is 'so beyond'? The recognition and acceptance of 'what is' is a sweet surrender. Allow it to just exist like a mother waiting for a child to be born.

Like a snake shedding its skin many of us are facing opportunities to shed our old skin - unwanted habits, in-artful behaviors, and just plain sloppy living. An old skin can be very familiar and comfortable but it doesn't always want to let go. Everything changes, everything serves its purpose in its time. Shedding our tired ways might seem like a lot of work but the reward is an entire new way of being that is just waiting to be born. Eyes closed and with simple awareness, what comes up for you while listening to this meditation that might be an invitation to shed?

You can't stare at a plant and watch it grow. You have to give it space, come back another week, and slowly over time, you will notice the increased height, the larger leaves, and the bending towards light. The plant is growing but it takes a little patience to observe. So many things in life require us to just let them be so they can play out, grow at their own pace, and we can check in down the line to appreciate the progress. Obsessing over the details along the way is not only futile but infuriating. A little water, love, and space is all it needs.

How low do we want to go? What depths do we have to reach? How deep does it have to be to clear the way for the more beautiful world we know is possible?

A call to the fire keepers: it is time to tend the fire. Mercury retrograde, the rising of a new season, endless Portland rain, whatever you want to call it, for me, it has been a hell of a few weeks. It seems like nothing is on my side and I have had to go back to the basics: media fast, welcome in base-line consciousness, double up the meditation, and extra nature. Even driving a few hours east into the desert just to get a few hours of sun isn’t doing the trick. I'm searching for grace on the deck of a sinking cultural booze cruise. The Great Cleanse is far from over and I wish to remind us all to tend the fire of hope that remains lit at the core of our being. The fire represents the part of us that knows it’s all ok. The flames are waning but it is far from out. It just needs a little attention. What can you burn?

In honor of the 50th episode of Music Meditations (or 'Sound Healing Bites', or 'Sound Journeys', or whatever you want to call it) please enjoy this gift: a complete 65 minute live sound healing ceremony, recorded live on the spring equinox/full moon of 2011 in the Utah high desert. The equinox is a time of change, hope, and opportunity. What do you want to leave behind and what do you want to plant as a new seed as we tilt closer to the sun in our cycle? I want to try new things, new sounds, new experiences unencumbered by my history or past explorations - I want to invite in the new. Lie down and join the journey! And thank you for listening and participating with me on this podcast adventure.

Apologies for the late release - I was in Utah spinning musical webs. I hope to have a few releases from that trip ready soon. In the meantime here is a musically guided meditation for us to contemplate the notion that we need to 'die to be alive'. What is waiting to be released to allow for your true freedom?